.  .    LIBRARY    .  . 

Connecticut 
Agricultural  College. 


VOL.       9^b^ 

CLASS    NO-  .    .  -'    "-^    ^ 

DATE Ylin}.y...sL.U 

....laA.-L. 

Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2009  with  funding  from 

Boston  Library  Consortium  Member  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/glacialformationOOIeve 


DEPARTMENT   OF   THE    INTERIOR 


MONOGRAPHS 


United  States  Geological  Survey 


VOLUME    XLI 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT     PRINTING    OFFICE 
1902 


UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 

CHARLES  D.  WALCOTT,  DIRECTOR  ' 


GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  AND  DfiAINAGE  FEATURES 


EEIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS 


FRANK   LEVERETT 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE 
1902 


5  3  feb^ 


CONTENTS 


Page. 

Lettee  of  tkansmittal 17 

Abstract  of  volume 19 

Chapter  I. — Introduction 23 

Outline  of  the  area  and  subjects  discussed 23 

Outline  of  previous  publications 2-1 

Bibliography 28 

Outline  of  time  relations  or  glacial  succession 49 

Outline  of  drift  sheets  and  intervals 50 

Outline  of  rock  formations 52 

Trenton  limestone  and  Utica  shale 53 

Hudson  River  group 54 

Medina  group 54 

Clinton  group 54 

Niagara  group 54 

Salina  and  Waterlime,  or  the  Onondaga  series 55 

Lower  Helderberg  limestone 56 

Oriskany  sandstone 56 

Corniferous  limestone 56 

Marcellus  shale  and  Hamilton  formation 57 

Genesee,  Portage,  and  Chemung,  or  Ohio  shale  series 58 

Waverly  or  Bedford  shale 61 

Berea  grit  and  shale  (Catakill?) .' 62 

Cuyahoga  shale  (part  of  Pocono  sandstone  of  Pennsylvania) 62 

Logan  conglomerate  (part  of  Pocono  sandstone  of  Pennsylvania) 63 

Pottsville,  or  Conglomerate  Coal  Measures 64 

Allegheny,  or  Lower  Productive  Coal  Measures 64 

Conemaugh,  or  Lower  Barren  Coal  Measures 65 

Monongahela,  or  Upper  Productive  Coal  Measures 65 

Dunkard  beds  (Permian?) 65 

Chapter  II. — Physical  features 66 

Altitude 66 

Topography 67 

Low  plain  south  of  Lake  Ontario 68 

Niagara  escarpment 70 

Plain  south  of  Niagara  escarpment 71 

Corniferous  escarpment 73 

Plain  south  of  Corniferous  escarpment 73 

Grand  River  Basin } _ 74 

Scioto  River  Basin 75 

Maumee  River  Basin 76 

Upland  plain  of  western  Ohio  and  eastern  Indiana 77 

Knobstone  escarpment  and  shale  basin  of  southern  Indiana 77 

Hilly  country 77 

5 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter  III. — Drainage  systems 82 

Section  I. — Ohio  River  system 82 

OhioEiver 82 

Rate  of  fall 82 

Effect  of  rock  resistance  on  size  of  valley 84 

Eock  islands  in  the  valley 84 

Upper  Ohio  or  old  Monongahela  system 88 

The  old  divide 88 

The  northward  outlet 94 

Extent  of  the  old  Monongahela  system 98 

The  old  divide  on  the  Allegheny 98 

Middle  Ohio  or  old  Kanawha  system 100 

The  northward  outlet 101 

Deflections  of  drainage 104 

Lower  Ohio  system 109 

Probable  extent  109 

Relation  to  topographic  features 109 

Tertiary  fluvial  deposits Ill 

Gradation  plains  below  the  level  of  the  Tertiary  deposits 113 

Drainage  changes  near  Cincinnati 116 

Relation  of  the  glacial  deposits  to  the  erosion  features  of  the  Ohio  Valley 118 

On  the  Lower  Ohio 118 

On  the  Middle  Ohio -  119 

On  the  Upper  Ohio 121 

Allegheny  Eiver 125 

Rate  of  fall.. 125 

Rock  floor 127 

Description  of  the  valley 128 

Old  Upper  Allegheny  drainage  system 129 

Old  Middle  Allegheny  drainage  system 132 

Old  drainage  between  the  Upper  and  Middle  Allegheny  drainage  systems 138 

Lower  Allegheny  and  its  tributaries 143 

Beaver  River 148 

Little  Beaver  River 152 

Muskingum  River 153 

The  old  westward  outlet 155 

The  present  line  of  discharge 156 

Deposits  on  the  lower  course  of  the  Muskingum 157 

Striated  blocks  in  Muskingum  Valley  near  McConnelsville 158 

Extent  of  the  old  Muskingum  drainage  basin 158 

Drainage  tributary  to  the  westward  outlet 160 

Changes  in  Owl  Creek  drainage  basin 160 

Changes  in  Clear  Fork  of  Mohican  Creek 162 

Changes  in  other  headwaters  of  Mohican  Creek 162 

Killbuck  Creek 165 

The  old  Upper  Tuscarawas  drainage 165 

Hocking  River 169 

The  present  drainage 169 

Changes  in  the  headwater  jiortion 169 

Raccoon  Creek 172 

Symmes  Creek 173 

Little  Scioto  River 173 

Scioto  River 174 

The  headwater  portion 175 

The  lower  course 177 


CONTENTS.  7 

Chapter  III. — Drainage  systems — Continued.  Page. 
Section  I. — Oiiio  River  system — Continued. 

Scioto  River — Continued. 

Western  tributaries  south  of  the  glacial  boundary 177 

Beaver  Creek 178 

Salt  Creek 178 

Little  Miami  River 180 

Rate  of  fall 180 

Changes  in  drainage 180 

Great  Miami  River 182 

The  present  system 182 

Changes  in  drainage 183 

Whitewater  River 184 

The  present  system 184 

Changes  in  drainage 185 

Tributaries  of  the  Ohio  in  Indiana 185 

Wabash  River  system 186 

Wabash  River : 187 

Salamonie  River. .., 189 

Mississinawa  River 190 

Eel  River 190 

Tippecanoe  River. 191 

West  AVhite  River '. 191 

East  White  River 193 

Patoka  River 195 

Western  tributaries  of  the  Wabash  in  Illinois 196 

Causes  of  changes  in  drainage 196 

Glaciation 196 

Piracy 198 

Earth  movements 199 

Section  II.  St.  Lawrence  system 200 

Genesee  drainage  basin 201 

Genesee  River 201 

Genesee  glacial  lakes 204 

Morainal  lakes 206 

Changes  of  drainage  on  the  tributaries 207 

Minor  tributaries  of  Lake  Ontario  in  western  New  York 209 

Tonawanda  Creek 210 

Tributaries  of  Lake  Erie 211 

Buffalo  Creek 211 

Eighteenmile  Creek 212 

Cattaraugus  Creek 212 

Small  tributaries  between  Cattaraugus  and  Conneaut  creeks 213 

Conneaut  Creek 214 

Ashtabula  Creek : 215 

Grand  River 215 

Chagrin  River 215 

Cuyahoga  River 216 

Rocky  River 216 

Black  River 217 

Vermilion  River 217 

Huron  River 217 

Sandusky  River 218 

Maumee  River 218 

Chapter  IV. — The  drift  border  or  glacial  boundary 220 

Section  I.  The  border  of  the  oldest  drift  (Kansan  or  pre-Kansan) 220 


8  CONTENTS. 

Chapter  IV. — The  drift  border  or  glacial  boukdary — Continued.  page. 

Section  II.  Tlie  border  of  tiie  Illinoian  drift 222 

Section  III.  Tlie  border  of  tlie  Wisconsin  drift 226 

Chapter  V. — The  oldest  drift  (Kansan  or  pre-Kansan) 228 

General  statement , 228 

Description  of  the  drift 228 

Amount  of  erosion : 235 

Character  of  the  outwash 237 

Tionesta  Valley 238 

Lower  Allegheny  Valley 239 

Upper  Ohio  Valley 249 

Beaver  Valley 251 

Chapter  VI. — The  Illinoian  drift  sheet 253 

Section  I.  Features  near  the  drift  border 253 

General  statement 253 

Topographic  expression  of  the  drift  border 254 

Structure  of  the  drift  border 261 

Section  II.  General  aspects  of  the  Illinoian  drift  sheet 270 

Section  III.  Character  of  the  outwash 285 

General  statement 285 

Sandy  Creek  Valley 285 

Tuscarawas  and  tributaries 286 

Licking-Muskingum  Valley - 286 

Hocking  Valley 288 

Salt  Creek  Valley 289 

Scioto  Valley ~ 289 

Middle  and  Lower  Ohio  valleys 290 

Chapter  VII. — The  Sangamon  soil  and  weathered  zone 292 

Chapter  VIII. — The  loess  and  associated  silts 295 

General  statement 295 

Distribution _ 295 

Thickness  of  the  silt. 296 

Characteristics 297 

Color 297 

Texture 297 

Chemical  constitution 298 

Mineralogical  constitution 298 

Probable  lowan  age 298 

Mode  of  deposition 299 

Chapter  IX. — The  Peorian  or  post-loessial  soil  and  weathered  zone  (Toronto  formation?)  .  302 

Chapter  X. — The  early  Wisconsin  drift 304 

General  statement 304 

Section  I.  Early  Wisconsin  drift  of  the  Miami  lobe 304 

The  outer  or  Hartwell  moraine 304 

Distribution 304 

Relief 307 

Range  in  altitude 307 

Topography 308 

Structure  and  thickness  of  the  drift 312 

Bowlders 325 

Striae 326 

Inner  border  district 328 

Topography 328 

Structure  of  the  drift 330 

Character  of  the  outwash 334 


CONTENTS.  9 

Chapter  X. — The  early  Wisconsin  drift — Continued.  Page. 

Section  II.  Early  Wisconsin  drift  of  the  Scioto  lobe 340 

Introductory  statement 340 

The  outer  or  Cuba  moraine 341 

Distribution 341 

Relief 342 

Eange  in  altitude 343 

Topography 343 

Structure  and  thickness  of  the  drift 344 

Bowlders 347 

Inner  border  phenomena 347 

Strife 348 

Outer  border  phenomena 349 

Section  III.  Probable  early  Wisconsin  drift  of  the  Grand  River  lobe 351 

Chapter  XI. — The  interval  between  the  early  and  late  Wisconsin  drift 352 

Chapter  XII. — The  main  morainic  system  of  the  late  Wisconsin  stage 354 

Section  I.  In  the  Miami  lobe 354 

The  moraines 354 

General  statement 354 

Distribution 354 

Relief 356 

Range  in  altitude 356 

Topography 357 

Thickness  of  the  drift 361 

Structure  of  the  drift 362 

Bowlders 371 

Character  of  the  outwash 373 

Strife 380 

Inner  border  phenomena 381 

Section  II.  In  the  Scioto  lobe 382 

The  members  of  the  system 382 

*              Distribution 382 

Range  in  altitude 385 

Rehef 386 

Topography 387 

Structure  and  thickness  of  the  drift 399 

Interlobate  tract  east  of  the  shoulder 401 

The  shoulder  of  the  Scioto  lobe 403 

The  eastern  limb  of  the  main  lobe 405 

The  western  limb  of  the  main  lobe 414 

Bowlders 420 

Stri* 422 

Inner  border  phenomena 426 

General  features 426 

Weak  moraines 426 

Pickerington  esker 428 

Circleville  esker 429 

Structure  and  thickness  of  the  drift 431 

Bowlder  belts 435 

Inner  border  phenomena  in  the  shoulder 436 

Section  III.  In  the  Grand  River  lobe 437 

Moraines  of  the  system 437 

Distribution 437 

Range  in  altitude 439 

Topography 441 


10  CONTENTS. 

Chapter  XII. — The  main  mohainic  system  of  the  late  Wisconsin  stage — Continued.  Page. 
Section  III.  In  the  Grand  River  lobe — Continued. 

Moraines  of  the  system — Continued. 

Structure  and  thicl^ness  of  the  drift 452 

Bowlders 463 

Character  of  the  outwash 463 

Strife 464 

Inner  border  phenomena 468 

General  features 468 

Weak  moraines 469 

Eskers 470 

Drumlins  (?) 471 

Till  plains - 471 

Terraces 472 

Correlation  and  chronological  position 472 

Chaptee  XIII. — Minor  moraines  op  the  late  Wisconsin  stage 475 

Section  I.  Moraines  of  the  Maumee-Miami  lobe 475 

Union  moraine 475 

Distribution 475 

Relief 477 

Range  in  altitude 477 

Topography 478 

Thickness  and  structure  of  the  drift 481 

Strife 487 

Outer  border  phenomena 488 

Inner  border  phenomena 489 

The  Richland  esker 489 

The  Muncie  esker 491 

Mississinawa  moraine 494 

Distribution 494 

Relief 496 

Range  in  altitude 497 

Topography 498 

Thickness  and  structure  of  the  drift 500 

Inner  border  phenomena 505 

Outer  border  phenomena 506 

St.  Johns  or  Salamonie  moraine 509 

Distribution 509 

Rehef 511 

Range  in  altitude 512 

Topography 512 

Thickness  and  structure  of  the  drift 515 

Inner  border  phenomena 522 

Outer  border  phenomena 523 

Section  II.  Moraines  of  the  Scioto  lobe 524 

Powell  moraine 524 

Distribution 524 

Range  in  altitude 525 

Relief 525 

Topography 526 

Thickness  and  structure  of  the  drift 526 

Bowlders 529 

Stria 529 

Outer  border  phenomena 529 

Inner  border  phenomena 530 

Winchell's  observations 530 


CONTENTS.  11 

Chapter  XIII. — Minor  moraines  of  the  late  Wisconsin  stage — Continued.  Page. 
Section  II.  Moraines  of  the  Scioto  lobe— Continued. 

Broadway  moraine 531 

Distribution 531 

Range  in  altitude 532 

Belief 532 

Topography 532 

Thickness  and  structure  of  the  drift - 534 

Bowlders 535 

Strife ,536 

Outer  border  phenomena 536 

Inner  border  phenomena 537 

Taylor  Creek  esker 538 

Rich  wood  esker 540 

Radnor  esker 540 

Lees^'ille  esker 542 

Correlations 542 

Mount  Victory  moraine 543 

Section  III.  Moraines  of  the  Maumee  lobe 546 

Wabash  moraine 545 

Distribution 545 

Relief 548 

Range  in  altitude 548 

Topography 550 

Thickness  of  the  drift 555 

Structure  of  the  drift 555 

Inner  border  phenomena -  - .  561 

Outer  border  phenomena 562 

St.  Marys  or  Fort  Wayne  moraine 566 

Distribution -  - 567 

Relief 569 

Range  in  altitude 569 

Topography - 570 

Thickness  and  structure  of  the  drift 574 

Outer  border  phenomena 578 

Inner  border  phenomena 579 

Stria 580 

Blanchard  or  Defiance  moraine 581 

Distribution 581 

Relief 582 

Range  in  altitude 583 

Topography 583 

Structure  of  the  drift 591 

Silt  deposits  beneath  morainic  deposits 604 

Striffi - 607 

Outer  border  phenomena -  -  610 

Small  glacial  lakes - 610 

Relation  of  the  Defiance  moraine  to  Lake  Maumee 611 

Inner  border  phenomena 613 

Topography  of  the  drift 614 

Thickness  of  the  drift 614 

Structure  of  the  drift 615 

Bowlders - 615 

The  Hartland  esker 615 

The  old  valley  of  Rocky  River 617 


12  CONTENTS. 

Chapter  XIII. — Minor  moraines  of  the  late  Wisconsin  stage — Continued.  Page. 

Section  IV.  Moraines  of  the  Erie  lobe 619 

Cleveland  moraine ; 619 

Distribution 619 

Range  in  altitude 625 

Relief 627 

Topography 627 

Thickness  of  the  drift 640 

Structure  of  the  drift 641 

Outer  border  phenomena 647 

Inner  border  phenomena 650 

Postglacial  ridges 650 

Relation  of  the  Cleveland  moraine  to  Lake  Maumee 651 

Lake  Escarpment  morainic  system _ 651 

Distribution __  652 

Range  in  altitude -. 657 

Relief 659 

Topography 659 

Structure  of  the  drift. 666 

Outer  border  drainage 669 

Inner  border  phenomena 671 

Relation  to  Lake  Maumee 672 

Section  V.  Moraines  of  western  New  York  south  of  Lake  Ontario 672 

Gowanda  moraine 673 

Distribution 673 

Range  in  altitude 674 

Topography 674 

Structure  of  the  drift 674 

Outer  border  drainage 675 

Inner  border  phenomena 677 

Hamburg  moraine 677 

Distribution 677 

Range  in  altitude 678 

Surface  contours 678 

Structure  of  the  drift 679 

Outer  border  drainage 679 

Marilla  moraine 681 

Distribution 681 

Range  in  altitude 681 

Topography 682 

Structure  of  the  drift 682 

Relation  to  Lake  Whittlesey 683 

Outer  border  drainage 683 

Alden  moraine -   684 

Distribution 684 

Range  in  altitude 684 

Topography 684 

Structure  of  the  drift --.  685 

Outer  border  drainage 685 

Relation  to  Lake  Warren 685 

Pembroke  ridges - 685 

Distribution 685 

,            Range  in  altitude 686 

Topography 686 

Structure  of  the  drift 687 

Outer  border  drainage 687 


CONTENTS.  13 

Chapter  XIII. — Minor  moraines  of  the  late  Wisconsin  stage — Continued.  page. 
Section  V.  Moraines  of  western  New  York  south  of  Lake  Ontario — Continued. 

Batavia  moraine 688 

Distribution 688 

Range  in  altitude 689 

Topography 690 

Structure  of  the  drift : 690 

Western  New  York  drumlin  belt 691 

Distribution 691 

Range  in  altitude 692 

Topography 692 

Structure  of  the  drift 693 

Relation  to  Lake  Warren 694 

Barre  moraine  and  associated  eskers 695 

Distribution 695 

Range  in  altitude 696 

Topography 697 

Structure  of  the  drift 700 

Relation  to  Lake  Warren 701 

Albion  moraine 701 

Distribution 701 

Range  in  altitude. ,.  703 

Topography 1 703 

Structure  of  the  drift 706 

■Relation  to  Lake  Warren 707 

Inner  border  phenomena 707 

Glacial  strise 708 

Chapter  XIV. — The  glacial  Lake  Maumee 710 

Introductory 710 

Fort  Wayne  outlet  or  Wabash-Erie  Channel _ 711 

Sixmile  Creek  Channel _.. 713 

Imlay  outlet 713 

The  Maumee  beaches  from  the  Fort  Wayne  to  the  Imlay  outlet 714 

Detailed  description 715 

Variation  in  altitude 723 

The  south  shore  of  Lake  Maumee ;  726 

Detailed  description 726 

Variation  in  altitude 739 

Relation  to  the  ice  sheet 739 

Cause  for  two  beaches 740 

Chapter  XV. — The  glacial  Lake  Whittlesey  741 

Introductory 741 

The  Ubly  outlet 742 

The  Belmore  beach  from  the  Ubly  outlet  to  the  Maumee  River 745 

Distribution 745 

Description  of  the  beach 746 

Variation  in  altitude 747 

The  shore  of  Defiance  Bay 747 

The  south  shore  of  Lake  Whittlesey 751 

Distribution 751 

Variations  in  strength 754 

Variations  in  altitude 755 

Cause  for  the  lowering  of  the  lake 757 

Chapter  XVI. — The  glacial  Lake  Warren 758 

Introductory 758 

Description  of  the  beaches 760 


14  CONTENTS. 

Chapter  XVI. — The  glacial  Lake  Waeren — Continued.  Page. 

The  withdrawal  from  Lake  Warren  to  Lake  Ontario 771 

Lake  Dana  (Lake  Lundy?)  771 

Lake  Iroquois 774 

Chapter  XVIL— Soils 776 

Sources  of  soil  material 776 

Classes  of  soil 777 

Residuary  soils 779 

Stony  clay  soils 779 

Gravelly  or  stony  soils 779 

Sandy  soils 780 

Silty  soils 780 

Peaty  or  organic  soils 781 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Plate  I.  Topographic  map  of  area  discussed 22 

II.  Glacial  map  of  area  discussed 50 

III.  Pleistocene  map  of  the  district  between  Niagara  River  and  Rochester,  X.  Y 68 

IV.  The  Olean,  N.  Y.,  topographic  sheet In  pocket. 

V.  Topographic  map  showing  drainage  features  near  Cincinnati,  Ohio 84 

VI.  The  Owensboro,  Ky. ,  topographic  sheet .  - In  pocket. 

VII.  Topographic  map  showing  drainage  features  near  Ironton,  Ohio 106 

VIII.  Map  showing  change  of  drainage  near  Franklin,  Pa 136 

IX.  A,  Middle  Falls  of  Genesee  River  at  Portage,  N.  Y.;  B,  Genesee  River  Canyon  below 

Middle  Falls 202 

X.  Middle  and  Lower  falls  of  Genesee  River  at  Rochester,  N.  Y 204 

XI.  Map  of  the  Maumee-Miami  glacial  lobe 304 

XII.  A,  Section  of  till  at  Lane's  mill,  near  Darrtown,  Ohio;  B,  Exposure  of  till  some  miles 

east  of  Lane's  mill  section 330 

XIII.  Map  of  the  Scioto  glacial  lobe 340 

XIV.  A,  Section  of  peat  and  till  near  Germantown,  Ohio;  B,  Section  showing  wood  included 

in  till  1  mile  south  of  Oxford,  Ohio 364 

XV.  Map  of  the  Grand  River  glacial  lobe 436 

XVI.  A,  Gravel  pit  at  Fort  Wayne,  Ind. ;  B,  Near  view  of  part  of  same  gravel  pit 578 

XVII.  A,  Glaciated  surface  on  Middle  Bass  Island,  in  Lake  Erie;  B,  Large  glacial  groove  on 

Marblehead  Peninsula,  near  Lakeside,  Ohio 608 

XVIII.  Pleistocene  map  of  part  of  the  Girard  and  Erie,  Pa.,  quadrangles 652 

XIX.  Pleistocene  map  of  parts  of  the  Dunkirk,  Cherry  Creek,  and  Silver  Creek,  N.  Y., 

quadrangles 654 

XX.  Map  of  first  Lake  Maumee 710 

XXI.  Map  of  Lake  Maumee  at  its  greatest  expansion 714 

XXII.  Map  of  beaches  near  Sandusky,  Ohio 730 

XXIII.  Map  of  Lake  Whittlesey 740 

XXIV.  Map  of  the  Belmore  Beach  of  Defiance  Bay  and  Lake  Whittlesey  near  Defiance,  Ohio.  748 
XXV.  Pleistocene  features  near  eastern  terminus  of  the  Belmore  beach  southeast  of  Buffalo, 

N.Y 754 

XXVI.  Map  of  Lake  AVarreu 758 

Fig.  1.  Probable  jireglacial  drainage  of  the  Upper  Ohio  region 89 

2.  The  Upper  Ohio  drainage  near  the  supposed  old  divide 90 

3.  The  Old  Kanawha  drainage  in  southern  Ohio 101 

4.  Relation  between  the  present  stream  bed  and  the  rock  floor  along  the  preglacial  Upper 

Allegheny  River 130 

5.  Present  drainage  of  part  of  the  Middle  Allegheny 134 

6.  Probable  preglacial  drainage  of  part  of  the  Middle  Allegheny 135 

7.  Profile  along  the  Low  Grade  Division  of  the  Allegheny  Valley  Railroad 147 

8.  Hydrography  of  the  Genesee  Valley 201 

15 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL. 


University  of  Chicago,  March  13,  1901. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  herewith  the  manuscript  of  a  mono- 
graph by  Mr.  Frank  Leverett  on  the  Pleistocene  geology  of  the  region 
between  the  Ohio  Valley  and  the  Great  Lakes.  This  is  the  second  con- 
tribution of  Mr.  Leverett  to  the  series  of  monographs  in  course  of  prepara- 
tion on  the  glacial  formations  of  the  Northern  States,  and  is  a  fit  companion 
to  his  Monograph  XXXVIII,  on  The  Illinois  Glacial  Lobe.  The  plan  of  the 
monograph  and  the  method  of  its  development  are  essentially  the  same  as 
those  of  its  forerunner.  As  in  the  preparation  of  that  volume,  our  working- 
relations  have  been  of  the  most  intimate  kind,  and  I  join  with  the  author  in 
the  hope  that  it  may  prove  an  acceptable  contribution  to  the  Pleistocene 
problems  of  the  United  States. 
Respectfully,  yours, 

T.  C.  Chamberlin. 
Hon.  Charles  D.  Walcott, 

Director  of  United  States  Geological  Survey. 


ABSTRACT  OF  YOLUME. 


Chapter  I.  Introduction. — The  area  treated  in  this  monograph  extends  from 
the  Genesee  Valley  in  New  York  westward  across  northwestern  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio' to  central  and  southern  Indiana,  and  southward  from  Lakes  Ontario  and  Erie  to 
the  vicinity  of  the  Allegheny  and  Ohio  rivers.  It  includes  the  old  drift  of  north- 
western Pennsylvania,  the  lUinoian  drift  of  Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  southeastern 
Indiana,  and  the  Wisconsin  drift  of  the  Maumee-Miami,  Scioto,  and  Grand  River 
lobes,  as  well  as  the  drift  of  western  New  York.  It  includes  the  portions  of  the 
glacial  Lakes  Maumee,  Whittlesey,  and  Warren,  which  border  the  Lake  Erie  Basin 
on  the  south  and  west,  and  also  their  westward  outlets. 

This  chapter  presents  an  outline  of  previous  publications  on  the  glacial  geology 
of  the  region,  and  also  outlines  the  geologic  foi'uiations  and  the  several  sheets  of 
drift  there  present. 

Chapter  II.  Physical  features. — The  variations  in  altitude  are  great,  rang- 
ing from  about  250  feet  up  to  nearly  2,500  feet  above  sea  level  in  the  drift-covered 
region  south  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  from  below  sea  level  if  that  basin  be  included. 
There  are  series  of  plains  south  of  Lake  Ontario  separated  by  escarpments,  and 
south  of  these  is  a  greatly  eroded  table-land.  Farther  west  are  the  Grand  River 
and  Scioto  basins,  bordered  by  eroded  table-land,  and  still  farther  west  is  the  low 
plain  of  the  central  Mississippi  Basin,  whose  eastern  border  is  found  in  western  Ohio. 

Chapter  III.  Drainage  systems. — This  discussion  includes  not  onl}'  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  present  systems  of  drainage,  but  also  directs  attention  to  important 
changes  of  drainage  that  have  occurred  and  attempts  to  determine  to  some  extent 
the  causes  of  these  changes. 

Chapter  IV.  The  drift  border,  or  glacial  boundary. — It  is  found  that  the 
glacial  boundary  is  not  a  unit,  but  is  formed  in  part  b}^  the  border  of  the  Wisconsin 
drift,  in  part  by  the  lUinoian  drift,  and  in  part  bj^  a  sheet  of  drift  that  appears  to  be 
still  older  than  the  Illinoian. 

Chapter  V.  The  oldest  drift  (Kansan  or  pre-Kansan?). — This  drift,  which 
is  exposed  outside  the  Wisconsin  drift  in  northwestern  Pennsylvania,  is  shown  to 


20  ABSTRACT  OF  VOLUME. 

have  suffered  a  much  greater  amount  of  erosion  and  weathering  than  the  Illinoian 
drift.  Its  characteristics  are  set  forth,  and  the  glacial  drainage  connected  with  it  is 
discussed. 

Chapter  VI.  The  Illinoian  drift. — This  embraces  the  portion  of  the  Illinoian 
drift  exposed  outside  the  Wisconsin  drift  from  the  reentrant  angle  in  the  glacial 
boundary  in  southern  Indiana  eastward  to  central  Ohio,  where  its  border  passes 
beneath  the  Wisconsin  drift  border.  Its  structure  and  topographic  expression  and 
the  character  of  the  glacial  drainage  are  discussed. 

Chapter  VII.  The  Sangamon  soil  and  weathered  zone. — The  weathered 
zone  and  accompanying  soils  and  peat  beds  which  occur  between  the  Illinoian  drift 
and  the  overlying  loess  are  described  in  their  exposures  outside  the  Wisconsin  drift, 
and  to  some  extent  within  the  limits  of  that  drift. 

Chapter  VIII.  The  loess  and  associated  silts. — The  lo wan  drift  does  not 
appear  to  be  exposed  in  this  region  oatside  the  Wisconsin  drift,  but  a  deposit  of  silt 
of  loess-like  characteristics  occupies  the  horizon  of  this  drift  sheet.  It  may  be  to 
some  extent  a  dependency  of  the  lowan  drift,  for  the  loess  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Mississippi  River  is  found  to  have  that  relation,  as  indicated  in  Monograph  XXXVIII. 
The  mode  of  deposition  is,  however,  considered  problematical. 

Chapter  IX.  The  Peorian  or  post-loessial  soil  and  weathered  zone. — 
The  evidence  of  this  interval  between  the  loess  deposition  and  the  Wisconsin  gla- 
ciation  is  found  in  the  relative  amounts  of  weathering  displayed  by  the  loess  and  the 
Wisconsin  drift.  It  maj^  also  be  inferred  from  the  change  in  the  attitude  of  the 
land  by  which  better  drainage  conditions  became  prevalent  in  the  Wisconsin  than 
obtained  in  the  lowan  stage  of  glaciation.  The  marked  difference  in  the  outline  of 
the  lowan  and  Wisconsin  borders  also  indicates  an  interval  of  some  consequence. 

Chapter  X.  The  early  Wisconsin  drift. — The  earty  Wisconsin  drift  is  less 
extensively  exposed  in  this  region  than  in  that  covered  by  the  Illinois  glacial  lobe, 
discussed  in  Monograph  XXXVIII,  there  being  in  southwestern  Ohio  but  one 
moraine  and  a  narrow  till  plain  which  seem  referable  to  this  drift,  while  in  central 
and  eastern  Ohio  and  northwestern  Pennsylvania  it  has  a  still  more  limited  exposure. 
In  southeastern  Indiana  two  moraines  of  the  White  River  lobe  and  one  of  the  Miami 
lobe  seem  referable  to  this  drift.  The  present  report  embraces  only  the  part  of  this 
drift  extending  from  the  Miami  lobe  eastward.  It  treats  of  both  the  drift  and  the 
outwash  connected  with  it. 

Chapter  XL  The  interval  between  the  early  and  late  Wisconsin 
DRIFT. — The  evidence  of  this  interval  is  more  clearly  shown  in  the  region  covered 
by  the  Illinois  glacial  lobe  than  in  this  region,  for  there  the  border  of  the  outer 
moraine  of  the  late  Wisconsin  group  is  strikingly  discordant  with  that  of  the  neigh- 
boring moraine  or  moraines  of  the  early  Wisconsin  group,  while  in  this  region  there 
is  not  a  marked  discordance.  There  is,  however,  in  this  region,  as  well  as  in  the 
Illinois  region,  a  marked  contrast  in  the  topography  of  the  moraines,  those  of  the 
early  Wisconsin  having  smooth  ridges  without  lakes  or  deep  basins  on  them,  while 


ABSTRACT  OF  VOLUME.  21 

the  late  Wisconsin  moraines  present  a  hummock}'  surface,  deeplj'  indented  bj^  basins, 
and  in  places  carry  lakes.  The  interval,  if  measured  by  contrasts  in  weathering, 
seems  much  shorter  than  the  Peorian  and  Sangamon  interglacial  stages. 

Chapter  XII.  The  main  morainic  system  of  the  late  Wisconsin  stage. — 
This  morainic  system  was  brought  to  notice  by  Chamberlin  in  the  Third  Annual 
Report  of  this  Survey  as  the  "Terminal  moraine  of  the  second  Glacial  epoch." 
It  is  by  far  the  strongest  morainic  system  of  the  entire  series.  The  morainic  loops 
in  the  several  lobes — Miami,  Scioto,  and  Grand  River — are  taken  up  in  the  order 
named.  The  question  of  the  equivalent  system  to  the  east  of  the  reentrant  angle 
of  southwestern  New  York  is  left  open.  Till  plains,  eskers,  and  other  features  to 
the  north  of  this  morainic  system  are  discussed,  and  also  the  outwash  to  the  south 
so  far  as  it  is  connected  with  the  morainic  system. 

Chapter  XIII.  Minor  moraines  of  the  late  Wisconsin  stage. — The  several 
moraines  lying  between'  the  main  morainic  system  and  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie  and 
Lake  Ontario  are  taken  up  in  natural  groups,  and  with  them  the  eskers  and  other 
features  of  the  drift.  Those  of  the  Maumee-Miami  Basin  form  one  group,  and 
those  of  the  Scioto  Basin  another,  while  later  moraines  lying  within  the  Maumee 
Basin  are  next  considered,  and  then  those  which  closely  border  Lake  Erie.  The 
chapter  closes  with  the  moraines  and  associated  drumlins  and  eskers  south  of  Lake 
Ontario.  Attention  is  incidentallj'  called  to  glacial  lakes  in  connection  with  the 
discussion  of  the  border  drainage. 

Chapter  XIV.  The  glacial  Lake  Maumee. — This  was  the  highest  of  the 
great  glacial  lakes  which  formed  in  front  of  the  retreating  ice  sheet  as  it  withdrew 
into  the  Huron  and  Erie  basins.  The  chapter  describes  two  beaches,  and  also  other 
features  of  this  glacial  lake,  together  with  the  successive  outlets  past  Fort  Wayne, 
Indiana,  and  Imlay,  Michigan. 

Chapter  XV.  The  glacial  Lake  Whittlesey. — This  lake  was  a  close  successor 
to  Lake  Maumee,  and  stood  onlj'-  about  30  feet  lower.  The  Belmore  beach,  which 
marks  its  shore,  is  described  throughout  its  course  from  southeastern  Michigan 
southward  and  eastward  to  its  apparent  terminus  at  Marllla,  in  western  New  York. 
The  Ubly  outlet,  through  which  the  lake  discharged  westward  to  the  Saginaw  Basin, 
and  the  Grand  River  outlet,  which  led  from  the  Saginaw  Basin  to  Lake  Chicago,  are 
briefly  considered.  As  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the  relation  of  the  ice  sheet  to  the 
extent  of  the  lake  forms  an  important  subject.  A  marked  warping  of  the  eastern 
portion  of  the  beach  is  also  discussed  and  is  shown  to  contrast  strongly  with  the  nearly 
perfect  horizontality  in  Ohio  and  southeastern  Michigan. 

Chapter  XVI.  The  glacial  Lake  Warren. — Lake  Warren  as  here  defined 
was  a  successor  of  Lake  Whittlesey  in  the  Huron  and  Erie  basins.  Its  borders  are 
marked  bj^  a  complex  system  of  beaches  standing  40  to  75  feet  below  the  level  of  the 
Belmore  beach,  two  of  which  are  known  as  the  Arkona  and  Forest  beaches.  Lake 
Warren  also  extended  into  the  Saginaw  Basin  and  discharged  across  Michigan  through 


22  ABSTRACT  OF  VOLUME. 

the  Grand  River  outlet  to  Lake  Chicago  in  the  Lake  Michigan  Basin.  The  discussion 
is  restricted  to  the  part  of  the  beaches  which  border  the  west  and  south  sides  of  the 
Erie  Basin.  Attention  is  called  to  the  marked  warping  displayed  by  the  beaches  in 
the  eastern  part  of  the  Erie  Basin,  and  the  contrast  with  the  nearly  horizontal  attitude 
to  the  west. 

In  this  chapter  the  lowering  of  the  lake  from  Lake  Warren  to  Lake  Iroquois  is 
briefly  considered,  and  the  probable  relations  of  the  lake  to  the  ice  sheet  are  set  forth. 

Chapter  XVII.  Soils. — The  soils  are  classiiied  according  to  their  origin,  the 
following  classes  being  recognized :  Residuary  soils,  bowlder-clay  soils,  gravelly 
soils,  sandy  soils,  loamy  soils  grading  into  fine  silts,  peaty  or  organic  soils. 


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GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  AND  DRAINAGE  FEATURES  OF 
THE  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


By  Frank  Leverett. 


CHAPTER    I. 
INTRODUCTION. 

OUTLINE    OF    THE   AREA   AND    SUBJECTS    DISCUSSED. 

The  region  embraced  in  this  discussion  has  for  its  northern  boundary 
the  south  Hne  of  Michigan  and  the  southern  borders  of  Lakes  Ei-ie  and 
Ontario;  for  its  eastern  boundary  the  Genesee  River;  for  its  southeastern 
and  southern  boundary  the  Allegheny  and  Ohio  rivers,  except  in  northern 
Kentucky,  where  the  southern  limits  of  the  drift  extend  beyond  the  Ohio 
River ;  and  for  its  western  boundary  the  driftless  part  of  southern  Indiana. 

There  is  included  at  the  east  a  system  of  interlobate  moraines  lying 
between  the  lobe  of  the  Finger  Lakes  region  in  New  York  and  the  Grand 
River  lobe  of  northeastern  Ohio  and  the  neighboring  parts  of  Pennsylvania 
and  New  York,  but  no  discussion  of  the  moraines  of  the  Finger  Lakes 
region  is  attempted.  The  deposits  and  features  of  the  region  covered  by 
three  glacial  lobes  of  Wisconsin  age  are  described — the  Grand  River,  the 
Scioto,  and  the  Miami — with  the  interlobate  tracts  between,  and  the  valley 
gravels  leading  away  from  these  lobes.  The  older  drift  lying  outside 
and  also  beneath  the  Wisconsin  deposits,  and  the  silt  dejDOsits  which  cover 
this  older  drift,  are  also  described.  In  addition  to  this  an  attempt  is  made 
to  interpret  some  of  the  drainage  features  of  the  region.  There  is  also  a 
discussion  of  a  part  of  the  lake  history  succeeding  the  withdrawal  of  the 
ice  sheet. 

23 


24  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

This  report,  like  that  on  the  Illinois  glacial  lobe  (Monograph  XXXVIII), 
presents  the  results  of  an  investigation  carried  on  for  several  years  under 
the  direction  of  Prof.  T.  C.  Chamberlin,  who  preceded  the  writer  in  a 
reconnaissance  of  the  region,  and  has  published  a  preliminary  report.^  To 
these  earlier  results,  as  well  as  to  Chainberlin's  direction  and  suggestions, 
the  writer  is  greatly  indebted. 

Indebtedness  is  also  acknowledged  to  many  others  who  were  earlier  on 
the  ground,  and  to  many  who  thi-oughout  the  investigation  have  aided  by 
contribution  of  material  and  by  suggestions  concerning  the  interpretations 
of  the  phenomena. 

OLTTLi:P<rE   OF   PREVIOUS   PUBLICATIONS. 

It  is  impracticable  to  give  a  full  review  of  the  man}^  papers  which  deal 
with  the  surface  geology  of  the  region.  About  500  of  these  papers  have 
been  examined  and  an  endeavor  has  been  made  to  dxilj  accredit  those  which 
have  materially  advanced  the  interpretations.  In  addition  to  this  a  list  of 
all  the  papers  which  have  come  to  the  writer's  notice  is  presented. 

Upon  turning  to  this  list  the  reader  will  find  that  Niagara  River  and 
its  falls  and  gorge  have  furnished  themes  for  not  fewer  than  thirty  geolo- 
gists and  travelers  from  the  time  these  striking  natural  features  were  first 
brought  to  the  attention  of  civilized  man  in  1535. 

The  gigantic  mammals  which  once  roamed  this  region,  but  which  are 
now  extinct,  furnished  a  theme  for  animated  discussion  at  the  early  meet- 
ings of  scientific  associations  in  America.  The  discovery  of  their  bones 
at  Big  Bone  Lick  in  Kentucky  in  1744  was  followed  by  numerous  other 
discoveries  in  all  parts  of  the  region  here  described,  as  well  as  in  other 
parts  of  North  America.  This  subject  has  received  less  notice  in  recent 
years  than  in  the  first  half  of  the  last  century,  and  the  present  report  has 
-nothing  new  to  offer. 

The  glacial  drift  of  the  region  appears  to  have  attracted  notice  from  the 
earliest  days  of  settlement.  This  is  especially  true  of  Ohio,  as  shown  by 
the  papers  of  Drake  in  1817,  of  Atwater  from  1818  to  1826,  of  Grranger 
in  1823,  of  Hildreth  from  1827  to  1837,  of  Darius  and  Increase  Lapham 
in   1832,    of  Riddell   in   1837,   and  by  the   Greological   Reports   for   1838 

'Preliminary  paper  on  the  terminal  moraine  of  the  second  Glacial  epoch,  by  T.  C.  Chamberlin: 
Third  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  1883,  pp.  330-352. 


OUTLINE  OF  PREVIOUS  PUBLICATIONS.  25 

prepared  by  Mather,  Whittlesey,  Locke,  Foster,  and  Briggs.  Hall  and 
Horsford  had  given  it  attention  in  southwestern  New  York  in  1838  and 
1839.  As  early  as  1838  it  had  become  established  that  the  drift  extends 
to  the  Ohio  River  in  southwestern  Ohio,  and  to  the  "hill  country"  of 
southeastern  Ohio.  It  was  also  known  equally  early  that  it  extends  to  the 
hilly  districts  of  southern  Indiana  and  southern  Illinois.  At  that  date  its 
limits  in  northwestern  Pennsylvania  were  perhaps  less  definitely  known. 
Striae  were  reported  at  Sandusky,  Ohio,  by  Granger  in  1823;  near  Lock- 
port  and  Brockport,  N.  Y.,  by  Thomas  in  1830;  near  Buifalo,  N.  Y.,  by 
Hayes  in  1837;  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  by  Dewey  in  the  same  year;  and  near 
Dayton,  Ohio,  by  Locke  in  the  succeeding  year. 

In  explanation  of  the  drift  and  of  the  striae,  it  seems  to  have  been  gen- 
erally recog-nized  as  early  as  1839  that  currents  from  the  north  were  the 
agency  of  transportation,  and  that  these  currents  carried  large  masses  of 
ice  which  were  laden  with  rock  material.  It  was  early  recognized  that 
striae  could  not  be  the  result  of  ordinary  currents  of  water.  In  reference  to 
the  striation  at  Sandusky,  Grranger  remarked  in  1823: 

The  surface  is  poli.shed  as  if  by  friction.  It  has  the  appearance  of  having  been 
formed  bj^  the  powerful  and  continued  attritioli  of  some  hard  body.  The  flutings  in 
depth,  width,  and  direction  are  as  regular  as  if  thej'  had  been  cut  out  bj'  some  groov- 
ing plane.  This  running  water  could  not  effect,  nor  could  its  operation  have  produced, 
that  glossy  smoothness  which  in  manj^  parts  it  still  retains.^ 

Locke  remarked  in  1838,  concerning  strige  near  Dayton,  Ohio: 

It  is  impossible  to  account  for  the  phenomena  by  supposing  them  to  be  the  effect 
of  alluvial  action.  The  motion  occasioned  b}'  a  river  ma}-  wear  a  surface  in  general 
smooth,  but  not  to  any  extent  to  a  perfect  plane.  It  may  roll  stones  or  slide  them 
along,  but  seldom,  if  ever,  so  as  to  engrave  lines  so  perfectly  straight  and  parallel. 
I  deem  it  proper  here  to  observe  that  I  did  not  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  above- 
described  grooves  were  ancient  or  ' '  diluvial  grooves  "  without  caution  and  particular 
examination.'^ 

Dewey  remarked,  in  1839,  concerning  striae  in  western  New  York,  that 
they  apparently  support  the  glacial  theory  of  Agassiz.  He  thought,  how- 
ever, that  great  masses  of  floating  ice  miglit  produce  the  j^henomena,  and 
that  floods  were  required  to  account  for  the  transportation  of  bowlders 
across  high  ridges.^ 

1  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  1st  series,  Vol.  VI,  1823,  pp.  179-180. 

2  Second  Ann.  Kept.  Geol.  Survey  Ohio,  1888,  pp.  231-232. 

■'  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  1st  series.  Vol.  XXXVII,  1839,  pp.  240-242;  idem,  1st  series,  Vol.  XLIV,  1843,  pp. 
146-150. 


26  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

By  many  of  the  early  students  the  surface  bowlders  were  thought  to 
be  a  distmct  deposit  from  the  sheet  of  drift  which  they  cover,  but  some  of 
the  earliest  writers  found  them  to  be  a  part  of  that  sheet.  Thus,  Darius 
and  I.  A.  Lapham  noted,  in  1832,  the  occuri-ence  of  bowlders  in  the  blue 
and  yellow  clays  of  the  "diluvium"  near  Circleville,  Ohio.  They  remarked 
also  that  the  rounding  of  the  bowlders  is  independent  of  modern  stream 
action.^ 

The  effect  of  the  drift  on  the  northern  tributaries  of  the  Ohio  was  early 
recognized  by  Drake,  who,  in  1817,  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
drift  terraces  are  found  on  northern  but  not  on  southern  tributaries,  and 
that  the  northern  tributaries  have  been  so  filled  by  the  drift  that  their 
descent  to  the  Ohio  is  much  more  rapid  than  that  of  southern  tributaries. 
Drake  also  discussed,  quite  clearly  for  so  early  a  date,  the  extent  of  the 
erratics  in  the  Mississippi  Basin,  his  discussion  being  based  upon  his  own 
observations,  coupled  with  those  of  his  friends,  Nuttall,  Goforth,  and 
Warren.  The  agent  of  transportation  is  thought  by  him  to  have  been 
icebergs.^ 

Among  other  early  papers  worthy  of  special  mention  is  one  by  J.  T. 
Plummer,  of  Richmond,  lud.,  which  contains  a  lucid  description  of  strife 
and  drift  in  the  vicinity  of  that  city."^  Several  papers  by  Whittlesey  are 
full  of  important  data,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  Notes  on  the  Drift 
of  Ohio  and  the  West,*  Fresh  Water  Glacial  Drift  of  the  Northwestern 
States,'  and  Ice  Movements  in  the  St.  Lawi'ence  Valley."  Alfred  T.  King 
presented  a  brief  but  discriminating  discussion  of  the  Ancient  Alluvium 
of  the  Ohio  and  Tributaries  in  an  early  volume  of  the  Philadelphia  Academy 
of  Sciences.^  0.  N.  Stoddard  early  called  attention  to  a  bowlder  pave- 
ment in  Ohio  and  urged  it  as  evidence  of  glacial  action.* 

E.  B.  Andrews  discussed  the  relation  of  the  river  terraces  of  southern 
Ohio  to  drift  theories,  and  held  that  they  were  glacial  dependencies,  rather 

1  Am.  Jour.  Sci. ,  1st  series,  Vol.  XXII,  1832,  pp.  300-303. 

''  Paper  read  before  the  American  Pliilosophical  Society  in  1818;  published  in  Trans.  Am.  Philos. 
Soc,  new  series.  Vol.  II,  1825,  pp.  124-139. 

'Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  1st  series.  Vol.  XLIV,  1843,  pp.  281-315. 

*Idem,  2d  series,  Vol.  V,  1843,  pp.  205-217. 

'Smithsonian  Contrib.,  Vol.  XV.,  1867,  32  pages. 

«Proc.  Am.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  Vol.  XV,  1867,  pp.  43-54. 

'Proc.  Phila.  Acad.  Sci.,  Vol.  VII,  1856,  pp.  4-8. 

*Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  2d  series.  Vol.  XXVIII.,  1859,  pp.  227-228. 


OUTLINE  OF  PREVIOUS  PUBLICATIONS.  27 

than  marine  or  lacustrine.'  He  called  attention  also  to  the  fact  that  the 
termination  of  the  drift  is  on  a  southward- sloping  country  and  that  its  dis- 
tribution is  consistent  only  with  the  glacial  hypothesis. 

The  drift  and  drainage  features  were  given  only  incidental  notice  in 
the  first  geological  surveys  of  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania,  and  but  limited 
attention  by  the  New  York  siu'vey.  The  second  geological  survey  of 
Ohio,  organized  in  1869  under  Newberry,  has  given,  in  the  reports  for 
each  county,  a  brief  discussion  of  these  features.  In  addition  to  this,  New- 
berry presented,  in  Volume  II  of  the  Geology  of  Ohio,  a  special  discussion 
of  surface  geology,  covering  about  80  pages,  in  which  the  pi'incipal  facts 
scattered  through  Volumes  I  and  II  are  brought  together  and  interpreted. 
The  data  collected  by  that  survey  are  discussed  in  some  detail  in  the  body 
of  this  report  in  connection  with  those  collected  subsequently  by  tlie  writer 
and  others. 

The  second  geological  survey  of  Pennsylvania,  under  the  direction  of 
Lesley,  collected  in  the  decade  beginning  in  1875  many  facts  bearing  on 
the  drift  and  drainage  features  of  northwestern  Pennsylvania.  These 
appear  in  connection  with  the  study  of  the  underlying  rock  formations  in 
Reports  I',  P,  and  P,  prepared  by  Carll;  in  K,  KK,  and  KKK,  by 
Stevenson;  in  Q,  QQ,  Q^,  and  Q^,  by  White;  and  in  VV,  by  Chance.  In 
addition  to  these,  a  special  study  of  the  glacial  boundary  in  Pennsylvania 
and  southwestern  New  York  was  made  in  1882  by  Lewis,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  Gr.  F.  Wright,  which  forms  Report  Z  of  the  Pennsylvania  survey. 
The  data  thus  collected  are  more  carefully  noted  in  the  body  of  this  report. 

The  mapping  of  the  glacial  boundary  was  continued  by  Wright  across 
Ohio  and  northern  Kentucky  under  the  auspices  of  the  Western  Reserve 
Historical  Society  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  across  Indiana  and  Illinois  under 
the  present  Survey.  The  results  of  the  former  study  appeared  in  a  bulletin 
of  the  society,  while  the  main  results  of  the  entire  study  are  presented  in 
Bulletin  58  of  this  Survey.  Wright  has  also  incorporated  this  material  in 
his  Ice  Age  in  North  America,  while  special  topics  connected  witli  these  and 
other  studies  have  been  discussed  by  him  in  various  scientific  journals.  The 
mapping  by  Wright  is  found  to  applj^  in  northwestern  Pennsylvania  and 
eastern  and  central  Ohio  chiefly  to  the  border  of  the  Wisconsin  drift,  but  in 
southwestern  Ohio  and  districts  farther  west  it  indicates  the  approximate 

iProc.  Am.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  Vol.  XIII,  1860,  pp.  319-321. 


28  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

border  of  the  older  drift.  In  portions  of  central  Ohio  and  northwestern 
Pennsylvania  the  older  drift  extends  several  miles  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
Wisconsin,  and  thus  invalidates  the  use  of  the  term  glacial  boundary  for 
portions  of  the  line  traced  by  Lewis  and  Wright,  since  it  was  not  on  the 
boundary.  The  name  terminal  moraine,  however,  is  more  pertinent  to  this 
portion,  since  it  is  the  Wisconsin  terminal  moraine. 

Within  the  portion  of  Indiana  under  discussion  much  attention  has  been 
given  by  the  Indiana  geological  survey  to  the  drift  of  the  northeastern 
counties,  which  are  reported  upon  by  Dryer,  and  to  a  few  counties  in  the 
eastei'n  and  southeastern  portions,  reported  upon  by  Phinney,  McCaslin, 
Elrod,  Warder,  and  Borden.  The  reports  of  Dryer  and  Phinney  have  given 
due  attention  to  moraines  and  other  drift  forms,  and  are  notably  in  harmony 
with  present  methods  of  classification.  Each  of  the  other  reports  also  contains 
valuable  data. 

The  preliminary  report  by  Chamberlin,  referred  to  above,  deals  chiefly 
with  a  strong  morainic  system  which  he  traced  from  Wisconsin  southeast- 
ward into  Indiane.  and  thence  eastward  into  New  York,  and  found  to  be  dis- 
posed in  loops  around  the  western  and  southern  ends  of  the  great  basins  of 
the  region.  In  this  and  subsequent  papers  Chamberlin  has  sought  to  dis- 
criminate between  drift  sheets  of  different  ages  and  to  determine  the  several 
stages  of  the  Grlacial  epoch. 

Aside  from  the  reports  and  papers  already  mentioned  there  are  several 
papers  by  Chamberlin,  Claypole,  Dryer,  Fairchild,  Foshay,  Hice,  Spencer, 
Taylor,  Tight,  Upham,  White,  Wright,  and  others,  which  throw  light  on  the 
glacial  history  of  tliis  region,  as  shown  in  the  course  of  the  discussion.  For 
titles  and  places  of  publication  of  these  and  other  papers  bearing  upon  the 
region  the  subjoined  list  may  be  consulted: 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

(Brought  down  to  the  close  of  the  year  1899.) 

Andrews,  E.  B.     Relation  of  the  river  terraces  of  southern  Ohio  to  the  drift  and 
drift  theories:  Proc.  Am.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  Vol.  XIII,  1860,  pp.  319-321. 

General  features  and  drift  of  the  second  disti'ict:  Rept.  Geol.  Survey  Ohio, 

1869,  pp.  57-64. 

Bowlders   and  surface  drift   of   the   second  district:    Rept.  Geol.  Sui'vey 


Ohio,  1870,  pp.  57-58. 
On  a  peat  bed  under  drift  in  Ohio:  Am.  Naturalist,  Vol.  V,  1871,  p.  523. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  29 

Andrews,  E.  B.     Surface  geology'  of  southeastern  Ohio:  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  II, 

187i,  pp.  441-452. 
AsHBUENER,  Charles  A.     The  geology  of  McKean  County,  Pennsylvania:  Second 

Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Report  R,  1880. 
Atwater,  Caleb.     On  the  prairies  and  barrens  of  the  West:  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  1st 

series.  Vol.  I,  1818,  pp.  116-125. 
Ancient  human  bones,  bones  of  the  mastodon  and  mammoth,  and  various 

shells  found  in  Ohio  and  the  West:  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  1st  series,  Vol.  II,  1820,  pp. 

242-246. 

Climate,  diseases,  geology,  and  organized  remains  of  part*  of  the  State  of 


Ohio:  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  1st  series.  Vol.  XI,  1826,  pp.  224-231. 
Bakewell,  R.     Origin  of  the  whirlpool  and  rapids  below  the  Falls  of  Niagara:  Am. 
Jour.  Sci.,  2d  series.  Vol.  IV,  1847,  pp.  25-36. 

Observations  on  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  with  reference  to  the  changes  which 

have  taken  place  and   now  are  in   progress:    Am.  Jour.'  Sci.,  2d   series,  Vol. 
XXIIl,  1857,  pp.  95-96. 

Ballou,  W.  H.     Niagara  River:  Sci.  Am.  Supp.,  Vol.  XIII,  1882,  pp.  5045-5046. 
Bennett,  L.  F.     The  eastern  escarpment  of  the  knobstone  formation:  Proc.  Indiana 

Acad.  Sci.,  1898,  pp.  283-288. 
Bishop,  Irving  P.     Geology  of   Erie  County,  New  York:    Fifteenth  Ann.  Rept. 

New  York  Geol.  Survey,  Vol.  I,  1897,  pp.  17-18,  305-392. 
Borden,  W.  W.     General  features  and  drift  of  Scott  County  and  Jefferson  County, 

Indiana:  Sixth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Surve}'  Indiana,  1874,  pp.  112-118,  135-145. 

Quaternary  beds  and  surface  features  of  Jennings  and  Ripley  counties, 

Indiana:  Seventh  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.    Surve}^  Indiana,  1875,  pp.  146-147,  171- 
178,  181-182,  195-196. 

BowNOCKER,  J.  A.     A  deep  preglacial  channel  in  western  Ohio  and  eastern  Indiana: 

Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  XXIII,  1899,  pp.  178-182. 
Briggs,  C.     Fossil  bones;  mammoth,  or  fossil  elephant:  Rept.  Geol.   Survey  Ohio, 

1888,  pp.  96-97. 

Superficial  material  of  Wood  and  Crawford  counties,  Ohio:    Rept.  Geol. 

Survey  Ohio,  1838,  pp.  111-118,  122-129. 

Brown,  R.  T.     General  sketch  of  Indiana  geology :  Third  Rept.  Indiana  Board  Agr. , 
1853,  pp.  299-322. 

Geological  and  tojjographical  survey  of  Marion  Countj^  Indiana:  Twelfth 

Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1882,  pp.  79-99. 

Geological  and  topographical  survej'  of  Hamilton  and  Madison  counties, 

Indiana:  Fourteenth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Survej^  Indiana,  1884,  pp.  20-40. 

Survey  of  Hancock  County,  Indiana:  Fifteenth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Survey 


Indiana,  1886,  pp.  187-197. 
Brtson,  John.     The  terminal  moraine  near  Louisville,  Kentucky:  Am.  Geologist, 

Vol.  IV,  1889,  pp.  125-126. 
Preglacial  channels  at  the  falls  of  the  Ohio:  Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  V,  1890, 

pp.  186-188. 
Burke,  M.  D.     Drift  near  Cincinnati  as  a  source  of  water  supply:  Jour.  Cincinnati 

Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  Vol.  II,  1888,  pp.  69-75. 


30  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Carll,  J.  F.     Report  of  progress  in  the  Venango  district:  Second  Geol.    Surve}' 

Pennsylvania,  Rept.  I,  1875,  p.  47. 
A  discussion  of   the  preglacial  and  postglacial  drainage  in  northwestern 

Pennsylvania  and  southwestern  New  York:  Second  Geol.  Survey  Penns3''lvania, 

Rept.  Ill,  1880,  pp.  1-10,  330-397. 

Geology  of  Warren  County,  Pennsylvania:  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsyl- 


vania, Rept.  IS  1883. 

Chamberlin,  T.  C.     La  moraine  terminal  du  Amerique  du  nord:  Proc.   Internat. 
Congr.  Geol.,  Paris,  August,  1878. 

Extent  and  signiticance  of  the  Kettle  moraine:  Trans.  Wisconsin  Acad.  Sci.; 

Vol.  IV,  1878,  pp.  201-234,  map. 

Bearings  of  some  recent  determinations  on  the  correlation  of  the  eastern 

and  western  terminal  moraines:  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series,  Vol.   XXIV,  1882, 
pp.  93-97. 

Preliminary  report  on  the  terminal  moraine  of  the  second  Glacial  epoch: 

Third  Ann.  Rept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  1883,  pp.  291-402. 

Hillocks  of  angular  gravel  and  disturbed  stratification :  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d 

series,  Vol.  XXVII,  1884,  pp.  378-390. 

An  inventory  of  our  glacial  drift:  Proc.  Am.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.  .Vol.  XXXV, 

1886,  pp.  195-211. 

The  rock-scorings  of  the  great  ice  invasions:    Seventh  Ann.   Rept.  U.  S. 

Geol.  Survey,  1888,  pp.  174-248. 

Bowlder  belts  and  bowlder  trains:  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  I,  1890, 

pp.  27-31. 

The  glacial  boundary  in  western  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Illinois: 


Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  58,  1890,  pp.  13-38. 

—  Attitude  of  the  eastern  and  central  portions  of  the  L^nited  States  during  the 
Glacial  period:  Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  VIII.  1891,  pp.  267-275. 

—  Nature  of  the  englacial  drift  in  the  Mississippi  Basin:  Jour.  Geol.,  Vol.  I, 
1893,  pp.  47-60. 

—  Horizon  of  drumlin,  osar,  and  kame  accumulations:  Jour.  Geol.,  Vol.  I, 
1893,  pp.  255-267. 

—  The  diversity  of  the  Glacial  period:  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series.  Vol.  XLV, 
1893,  pp.  171-200. 

—  Further  studies  in  the  upper  Ohio  region:  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series.  Vol. 
XLVII,  1894,  pp.  247-283,  483. 

—  Proposed  genetic  classification  of  glacial  deposits:  Jour.  Geol.,  Vol.  II,  1894, 
pp. 517-538. 

—  The  glacial  phenomena  of   North  America:   Geikie's  Ice  Age,  3d  edition. 
pp.  724-775.     London  and  New  York,  1894. 

Classification  of  American  glacial  deposits:  Jour.  Geol.,  Vol.  Ill,  1895,  pp. 


270-277. 

—  Age  of  the  second  terrace  on  the  Ohio,  near  Steubenville:  Jour.  Geol.,  Vol. 
IV,  1896,  p.  219. 

—  Classification  of  the  glacial  deposits:  Jour.  Geol. ,  Vol.  IV,  1896,  pp.  874-878. 


BIBLIOGEAPHY.  31 

Chamberlin,  T.  C.  Several  papers  by  Chamberlin  on  the  glacial  phenomena  of 
Greenland,  published  in  the  Journal  of  Geology,  throw  light  on  the  method  of 
deposition  of  the  glacial  deposits  of  the  region  embraced  in  this  report. 

Chance,  H.  M.  Survey  along  the  .Beaver  and  Shenango  rivers:  Second  Geol.  Survey 
Pennsylvania,  Report  of  Progress,  Vol.  XVII,  1879. 

The  geology  of  Clarion  County,  Pennsylvania:  Second  Geol.  Survej^  Penn- 
sylvania, Report  VV,  1880,  pp.  ix-x,  lY-22. 

Christy,  David.     Letters  on  geologj'  and  an  essay  on  the  erratic  rocks  of  North 

America.     Oxford,  1848. 
Clarke,  John  M.     Sink  holes  at  Attica,  New  York:  Sixth  Ann.  Rept.  New  York 

Geol.  Survey,  1886,  pp.  34-35. 

Bones  of  Mastodon,  or  Elephas,  found  associated  with  charcoal  and  pottery 

at  Attica,  New  York:     Forty -first  Rept.  New  York  State  Museum  Nat.  Hist., 
1888,  pp. 388-890. 

Claypole,  E.  W.     Pregiacial  topography  of  the  Gi'eat  Lakes:  Canadian  Naturalist, 

Vol.  VIII,  1878,  pp.  187-206. 
. Origin  of  the  basins  of  Lake  Erie  and  Lake  Ontario:   Proc.  Am.  Assoc. 

Adv.  Sci.,  Vol.  XXX,  1881,  pp.  147-159.     Also  Canadian  Naturalist,  new  series. 

Vol.  IX,  1881,  pp.  213-227. 

Buffalo  and  Chicago,  or  ''What  might  have  been:''    Am.  Naturalist,  Vol. 

XX,  1886,  pp.  856-862. 

The  old  gorge  at  Niagara:  Science,  Vol.  VIII,  1886,  p.  236. 

The  lake  age  in  Ohio:     Trans.   Edinburgh  Geol.   Soc,  Vol.   V,  1887,  pp. 

421-458. 

Falls  of  rock  at  Niagara:  Nature,  Vol.  XXXIX,  1889.  p.  367. 

Megalon3rx  in  Holmes  Countj%  Ohio:  Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  VII,  1891,  pp. 

149-153. 

Deep  pregiacial  river  bed  near  Akron,  Ohio:  Proc.  Am.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci., 

Vol.  XL,  1891,  p.  259. 

Deep  boring  near  Akron,  Ohio:  Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  VIII,  1891,  p.  239. 

Human  relics  in  the  drift  of  Ohio:  Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  XVIII,  1896,  pp. 

302-314. 

Collett,  John.  Geology  of  Brown  Count}',  Indiana:  Sixth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol. 
Survey  Indiana,  1S74,  pp.  77-110. 

Geology  of  Harrison  and  Crawford  counties,  Indiana:  Tenth  Ann.   Rept. 

Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1878,  pp.  292-302,  426-429. 

Geolog}^  of  Shelby  County,  Indiana:  Eleventh   Ann.   Rept.    Geol.   Survey 

Indiana,  1881,  pp.  55-88. 

Cox,  E.  T.  G'jology  of  Jackson  County,  Indiana:  Sixth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Survey 
Indiana,  1874,  pp.  41-42,  55-60. 

General  discussion  of  glacial  drift  in  Indiana:     Tenth  Ann.  Rept.   Geol. 

Survey  Indiana,  1878,  pp.  98-120. 

Geolog}^  of   Wayne   Countj^,    Indiana:     Tenth   Ann.    Rept.    Geol.    Survey 


Indiana,  pp.  171-232. 
CuLBERTSON,  Glenn.     Reference  marks  for  estimating  the  rate  of  recession  of  falls 
near  Madison,  Indiana:  Proc.  Indiana  Acad.  Sci.,  1897,  p.  242-243. 


32  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Darby,  William.     The  emigrants'  guide  to  the  Western  and  Southwestern  States 

and  Territories  (geographical  and  statistical).     New  York,  1818. 
Davis,  H.  J.     Modification  of  the  Jonathan  Creek  drainage  basin:  Bull.  Denison 

Univ..  Vol.  XI,  pp.  15.5-173,  March,  1899. 
De  Geer,  Gerard.     Pleistocene  changes  of  level  in  eastern  North  America:  Am. 

Geologist,  Vol.  XI.  1893,  pp.  22-44;  also  Proc.  Boston  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  Vol. 

XXV,  pp.  464-477. 

Isobases  of   the   postglacial   elevation:  Am.   Geologist,  Vol  IX,  1892,  pp. 

247-249. 

Desor,  E.     On  marine  shells  in  Lake  Ontario  basin  up  to  310  feet:  Bull.  Soc.  geol. 
France,  2d  series.  Vol.  VIII,  1851,  pp.  420-423. 

Note  on  terraces  of  Lake  Erie:  Proc.  Boston  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,   Vol.   Ill, 

1851,  pp.  291-292. 

On  the  ridge  road  from  Rochester  to    Lewiston:  Proc.  Boston    Soc.  Nat. 

Hist.,  Vol.  Ill,  1851,  pp.  358-359. 

Ueber  Niagara  Falls:  Zeitschr.  Deutsch.  geol.  Gesell.,  Vol.  V,  1S53,  pp.  643- 


644. 
Dewey,  Chester.     Bones  of  the  Mammoth  in  Rochester,  New  York:  Am.  Jour. 

Sci.,  1st  series.  Vol.  XXXIII,  1838,  p.  201. 
On  the  polished  limestone  of  Rochester:  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  1st  series.  Vol. 

XXXVIl,  1839,  pp.  240-242:  also  Trans.  Assoc.  Am.  Geol.  and  Nat.,  1843,  pp. 

264-266. 

Striffi  and  furrows  of  the  polished  rocks  of  western  New  York:  Am.  Jour. 


Sci.,  1st  series.  Vol  XLIV,  1843,  pp.  146-160. 

Drake,  Daniel.  Geological  account  of  the  valle}^  of  the  Ohio:  Trans.  Am.  Philos. 
Soc,  new  series.  Vol.  II,  1825,  pp.  12-J^139. 

Dryer,  C.  R.  Geology  of  Allen  County.  Indiana:  Sixteenth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Sur- 
vey Indiana,  1888,  pp.  106-130. 

Geology  of  Dekalb  County,  Indiana:  Sixteenth  Ann.   Rept.   Geol.  Survey 

Indiana,  pp.  98-104. 

The  glacial  geology  of  the  Irondequoit  region.     Am.   Geologist,  Vol.  V, 

1890,  pp.  202-207. 

Geology  of  Steuben  County,  Indiana:  Seventeenth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Sur- 
vey Indiana,  1891,  pp.  114-134. 

Geology  of  Whitley  County,  Indiana:  Seventeenth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Sur- 
vey Indiana,  pp.  160-170. 

, Geology  of  Noble  County,  Indiana:    Eighteenth  Ann.  Rept.  (xeol.  Survey 

Indiana,  1893,  pp.  17-32. 

Geology  of  Lagrange  County,  Indiana:  Eighteenth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Survey 

Indiana,  1893,  pp.  72-82. 

The  drift  of  the  Wabash-Erie  region:  Eighteenth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Survey 

Indiana,  1893,  pp.  82-90. 

The  general  geography  of  Indiana:  Studies  in  Indiana  geography,  pp.  17-29. 


Terre  Haute,  1897.     This  paper  and  the  next  two  papers  by  Dryer  first  appeared 
in  vols.  2-4  of  the  Inland  Educator,  1896-97. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  33 

Dryer.  C.  R.     The  Erie-Wabash  region:  Studies  in  Indiana  o-eog-raphy,  pp.  4:3-52. 

The  morainic  lakes  of  Indiana:  Studies  in  Indiana  geography,  pp.  53-60. 

The  meanders  of  the  Muscatatuck  at  Vernon,  Indiana:  Proc.  Indiana  Acad. 

Sci.,  1898,  pp.  270-274. 

Dun,  Walter  A.     Sketch  of  the  floods  on  the  Ohio  River:  Jour.  Cincinnati  Soc. 

Nat.  Hist. ,  Vol.  VII,  1884,  pp.  10-4-121. 
Eaton,  Amos.     A  geological  and  agricultural  survey  of  the  district  adjoining  the 

Erie  Canal.    Albany,  1824, 126  pages. 
Edson,  Obed.     The  Glacial  period  in  the  Chautauqua  Lake  region.     1892, 13  pages. 

Private  publication  ( 'i). 
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44  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  EEIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

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48  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  EEIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

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OUTLINE  OF  TIME  RELATIOIVS,  OR  GLACIAL  SUCCESSION. 


This  outline  is  essentially  the  same  as  the  writer's  outline  presented 
in  Monograph  XXX VIII,  the  only  important  modification  being  in  the 
subdivisions  of  the  late  Wisconsin  glacial  stage.  These  are  more  complete 
in  the  Ohio  district  than  in  the  Illinois,  and  require  a  corresponding  elabo- 
ration of  the  outline. 

In  the  progress  of  the  study  of  the  glacial  deposits  the  complexity  of 
the  glacial  history  has  been  gradually  unfolded.  After  the  abandonment 
of  the  iceberg  hypothesis,  the  early  students  approached  the  study  with  the 
hypothesis  of  a  single  and  practically  continuous  period  of  drift  deposition, 
in  which  the  ice  sheet  at  one  time  covered  the  entire  glaciated  area.  This, 
period  was  supposed  to  have  terminated  with  a  single  high  stage  of  water, 
attending  the  melting  of  the  ice,  which  was  termed  the  Champlain  epoch. 
But  it  soon  became  apparent  that  this  simple  hypothesis  could  not  be  made 
to  cover  the  complex  glacial  history.  Evidences  of  a  complicated  succes- 
sion of  recessions  and  advances  of  the  ice  sheet  were  recognized,  and  a 
sharp  controversy  arose  concerning  the  importance  of  these  oscillations. 
It  was  held  by  some  students  that  they  are  of  minor  importance,  and  mark 
short  or  partial  retreats  and  advances  in  a  single  epoch  of  glaciation;  while 
others  contended  for  the  necessity  of  recognizing  two  or  more  ice  invasions, 
between  which  there  were  extensive  and  prolonged  deglaciation  intervals. 

MON  XLI 4 


50  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Tlie  studies  upon  which  the  present  report  is  based,  as  well  as  those  of  the 
earlier  report/  have  developed  evidence  which,  in  connection  with  other 
evidence  gathered  in  various  parts  of  the  glacial  field  in  this  country  and 
in  Europe,  is  thought  to  have  a  decisive  bearing  upon  the  question.  The 
evidences  of  prolonged  intervals  of  deglaciation  are  strong  and  have  been 
decidedly  increased  by  the  progress  of  critical  study. 

The  several  sheets  of  glacial  drift  in  this  and  neighboring  regions  have 
received  geographic  names,  as  have  also  some  of  the  interglacial  beds. 
Names  of  this  class  were  proposed  by  Chamberlin  a  few  years  since  as  a 
substitute  for  the  time  phrases  which  had  arisen  and  Avhich  were  of  contro- 
verted application.'-  As  these  naujes  represent  only  the  main  divisions  of 
the  Glacial  epoch,  others  are  necessarj^  to  denote  the  sabdi visions.  In  the 
report  on  the  Illinois  glacial  lobe,  and  in  the  present  report,  several  names 
are  thus  introduced  to  designate  the  moraines  and  their  associated  sheets  of 
drift.  These  names  are  usually  selected  from  towns  located  on  the  moraines 
or  from  sti-eams  whose  courses  are  governed  by  the  moraines.  In  most  cases 
they  have  come  into  use  in  the  office  and  in  correspondence  with  other  gla- 
cialists,  as  a  convenient  form  of  reference.  The  selection  of  names  thus 
made  seems  suitable  for  general  use. 

The  outline  given  below  aims  to  cover  the  events  between  the  deposi- 
tion of  the  oldest  recognized  drift  sheet  and  the  final  recession  of  the  ice 
sheet  into  the  region  north  of  the  Great  Lakes.  The  main  divisions  appear 
to  be  much  longer  than  the  secondary  ones.  .The  latter  are  not  thought  to 
be  marked  by  intervals  sufficiently  prolonged  to  merit  the  application  of 
the  term  epoch.  It  is  probable,  however,  as  shown  further  on,  that  some 
oscillations  of  the  ice  front  occurred,  so  that  the  moraines  on  which  these 
subdivisions  are  based  do  not  mark  simply  halts  in  the  recession  of  the  ice. 

OUTIiIXE  OF  DRIFT  SHEETS  AND  INTERVALS. 

1.  Oldest  recognized  drift  sheet,   the   sub-Aftonian   of   Chamberhn,  and 

perhaps  the  Albertan  of  Dawson. 

2.  First  interval  of  deglaciation,  Aftonian  of  Chamberlin. 

3.  Kansan  drift  sheet  of  the  Iowa  geologists. 

iThe  Illinois  Glacial  Lobe,  Mon.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Vol.  XXXVIII. 

'■'See  Geikie's  Great  Ice  Age,  third  edition,  1894,  pp.  754-774.  See  also  Jour.  Geol.,  Vol.  Ill,  pp. 
270-277,  and  Vol.  IV,  pp.  872-876. 


U   S    GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


MONOGRAPH   XLI    PL 


MICHIGAN         KFCTLCKl 


i^Z&T  "™'fe>  '^^-^ 


*:- 

^-:\      '^'^ 

-;— "■ 

.'/  "'"    /' 

'  i    '* 

p^'^Vr     'VJ      ' 


^■tjr     ^, 


'"''.'""'lllimiT 

Y 

— 

■  f                                   1 

..^r1m,'■m 

AREA  DISCrSSKT) 

.VNl)  OK  SOME  OUTLYING  DISTRICTS 
,                                         BY  FRANK  l,E\T.BETT 

■■■V?'^ 

1900 

n 

— 

-Siiilf 

. 

in     u     u,     L^    lo    to    w                              im>KtIt>liift«r!i 

'■     ■'       '''"<■' 

"iz::::::^"::::^ 

^^       .•,,;. 

"  1 

NOTE 

-'^ 

I 

a/j-6                              i              J'                   A                                   d/i  Ofo/airicai  Slurry 

a                                                                                                                  J='rtrUncfc1t^fffit 

larf/epart  b 

.-J  Utrmofifiinsivf 

71..    1   ■                                           1              ,.,  fhe  mnairu^ moraine  btti hoi 
and  fhrj/Uii-uii  dminKigt  oflndiafti^  Ofiw.  nanh>vrMm\Itnnayt\-<uua.ivid 

L J 

Unjiatiawlngini. 


OUTLINE  OF  DRIFT  SHEETS  AND  INTERVALS.  51 

4.  Second  or  Yarmouth  interval  of  recession  or  deglaciation. 

5.  Illinoian  drift  sheet. 

6.  Third  or  Sangamon  interval  of  recession  or  deglaciation. 

7.  lowan  drift  sheet  and  main  loess  deposit. 

8.  Fourth  or  Peorian  interval  of  recession  or  deg'laciation. 

9.  Early  Wisconsin  drift  sheets,  as  represented  in  Illinois,  the  displa}'  in 

the  Ohio  district  being  less  complete. 
a.  Shelbyville  morainic  system. 
h.  Champaign  morainic  system. 

c.  Bloomington  morainic  system. 

d.  Marseilles  morainic  system. 

10.  Fifth  interval  of  recession  (unnamed),  shown  by  shifting  of  ice  lobes. 
IL  Late  Wisconsin  drift  sheet,  as  represented  in  the  Ohio  district. 

a.  The  main  morainic  system  and  attendant  great  bowlder  belts. 
h.  Mississinawa  (Valparaiso!)  morainic  system;  includes  Union 
and  Mississinawa  moraines  of  the  Maumee-Miami  lobe  and 
the  Powell  and  Broadway  moraines  of  the  Scioto  lobe,  and 
is  a  probable  correlative  of  the  Valparaiso  morainic  system 
of  the  Lake  Michigan  lobe. 

c.  St.  Johns  or  Salamonie  moraine. 

d.  Wabash  moraine. 

e.  St.  Marys  or  Fort  Wayne  moraine. 

/  Lake  Maumee  beaches  and  correlative  moraines. 

g.  Lake  Whittlesej^  beach  and  correlative  moraines. 

li.  Lake  Warren  beaches  and  correlative  moraines. 

i.    Lake  Dana  beach  (Lake  Lundyf). 

j.  Lake  Iroquois  beach. 
By  reference  to  the  glacial  map,  PI.  II,  the  extent  of  exposure  of  each  till 
sheet  and  the  distribution  of  the  moraines  and  the  lake  beaches  may  be  seen. 
It  will  be  observed  that  the  oldest  drift  sheet  of  this  region  (the  Kansan 
or  pre-Kansan)  is  exposed  only  in  a  limited  area  in  northwestern  Penn- 
sylvania. The  next  younger  or  Illinoian  drift  sheet  has  not  been  recognized 
in  northwestern  Pennsylvania,  but  it  is  extensively  exposed  in  southwestern 
Ohio,  southeastern  Indiana,  and  in  the  glaciated  portion  of  Kentucky.  The 
lowan  drift  sheet  appears  not  to  extend  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin 
drift  in  the  region  covered  by  the  map,  but  a  silt  deposit  which  appears  to 


52  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  EKIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

be  of  lowan  age  covers  the  Illiuoiau  drift  and  extends  beyond  it  into  the 
unglaciated  district  to  an  undetermined  distance.  The  early  Wisconsin 
drift  is  exposed  outside  the  hmits  of  the  late  Wisconsin  in  southeastern 
Indiana  and  southwestern  Ohio,  and  may  perhaps  be  represented  in  the 
southern  portion  of  the  drift  east  of  the  reentrant  angle  in  the  glacial 
boundary  in  western  New  York.  But  in  central  and  eastern  Ohio  and  in 
northwestern  Pennsylvania  it  occurs  to  but  a  limited  extent,  if  at  all, 
outside  the  late  Wisconsin.  The  late  Wisconsin  drift  covers  a  large  part 
of  the  glaciated  portion  of  this  region.  The  distribution  of  its  several 
moraines  is  indicated  on  the  glacial  map.  The  extent  of  the  great  glacial 
lakes,  Maumee,  Whittlesey,  and  Warren,  is  shown  in  Pis.  XX,  XXI,  XXIII, 
and  XXVI  more  clearly  than  in  the  glacial  map.  As  the  several  drift 
sheets,  the  moraines,  and  the  beaches  are  discussed  in  detail  farther  on, 
they  may  be  left  here  with  this  passing  reference. 

OUTLINE  OF  ROCK  FORIMATIONS. 

Inasmuch  as  the  topographic  features  of  this  region  depend  largely 
upon  the  character  of  its  rock  formations,  a  brief  outline  of  the  distribution 
and  characteristics  of  each  of  the  formations  here  represented  seems  necessary. 
Some  difficulty  is  found  in  the  correlation  and  grouping  of  certain  formations 
because  of  the  variations  which  they  display  when  carried  over  so  large  a 
region,  and  also  because  of  the  uncertainty  as  to  exact  equivalency  where 
outcrops  occur  only  in  widely  separated  districts.  In  some  cases  a  forma- 
tion whose  equivalency  is  well  established  has  a  constitution  that  is  quite 
unlike  its  constitution  in  the  type  locality.  In  other  cases  a  similar 
constitution  is  found  in  widely  separated  areas,  but  the  equivalency  has 
not  been  fully  established.  The  classification  of  the  Ohio  rock  series 
presented  by  Orton  in  a  recent  report  of  this  Survey^  and  in  the  last  volume 
of  the  Ohio  survey^  is  based  upon  a  careful  comparison  of  the  Ohio  series 
with  those  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  where  most  of  the  type  localities 
occur.  It  is,  however,  designed  only  for  Ohio,  and  needs  to  be  supplemented 
in  the  wider  region  embraced  in  the  present  report. 

The  arrangement  of  the  formations  is  quite  simple,  the  only  axes  of 

'The  rock  waters  of  Ohio,  by  Edward  Orton:  Nineteenth  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol. Survey,  Pt.  IV, 
Hydrography,  1898,  pp.  638-650. 

■■'The  geological  scale  of  Ohio,  by  Edward  Orton:  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  VII,  1894,  pp.  3-44. 


OUTLINE  OF  ROCK  FORMATIONS. 


53 


disturbance  that  have  sufficient  prominence  to  affect  seriously  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  rock  formations  being  the  Cincimiati  arch  with  its  western  and 
eastern  branches.  Along  its  broad,  flat-topped  crest  the  oldest  formations 
of  Ohio  and  Indiana  are  exposed.  The  strata  dip  westward  from  the  arch 
and  its  western  arm  toward  the  coal  basin  of  Indiana  and  lUinois,  while 
between  the  arms  they  dip  northward  toward  the  coal  basin  of  Michigan. 
From  the  borders  of  Lakes  Ontario  and  Erie  the  sti-ata  dip  southward  and 
southeastward  to  the  coal  basin  of  the  Allegheny  Plateau,  while  from  the 
Cincinnati  arch  they  dip  eastward  toward  the  same  basin.  In  passing 
toward  the  coal  basins  either  from  the  Cincinnati  arch  and  its  branches  or 
from  the  north  border  of  the  region,  a  succession  of  rock  formations  is 
encountered  which  have  an  imbricate  arrangement,  and  the  outcrops 
present  an  ascending  series  in  the  geological  scale.  The  series  embraces 
that  part  of  the  geological  time  scale  which  falls  between  the  Trenton 
epoch  of  the  Lower  Silurian  or  Ordovician  and  the  Permian  epoch  of  the 
Carboniferous.  It  includes  the  groups  of  rocks  set  forth  in  the  following 
series,  which  are  given  in  their  order  of  development  from  older  to  newer. 


Silurian. 


Table  of  rock  formatimu. 

r  Trenton  limestone. 
Lower  (Ordovician)  ..J  Utica  shale. 

i  Hudson  River  group. 

Medina  group. 

Clinton  group. 
Upper \  Niagara  group. 

Salina  and  Waterlime. 

Lower  Helderberg  limestone. 

Oriskany  sandstone. 

Corniferous  limestone. 

Marcellus  shale  and  Hamilton  formation. 

.  Genesee,  Portage,  and  Chemung,  or  Ohio  shale. 

^,      .„     ^.  ^^,    ,  (  Waverly  or  Bedford  shale  (Catskill?). 

Classification  unsettled {  „  .^       ^    -u  ,    ,r,  ^  , -nox 

[  Berea  grit  and  shale  (Catskill?). 

Cuyahoga  shale  (equivalent  of  part  of  Pocono  sandstone). 

Logan  conglomerate  (equivalent  of  part  of  Pocono  sandstone). 

Pottsville,  or  Conglomerate  Coal  Measures. 

Carboniferous .|  Allegheny,  or  Lower  Productive  Coal  Measures. 

Conemaugh,  or  Lower  Barren  Coal  Measures. 

Monongahela,  or  Upper  Productive  Coal  Measures. 

.  Dunkard  beds  (Permian?). 


Devonian 


Trenton  limestone  and  Utii 


shale, — The  two  lower  members  of  the  above  series, 
although  clearly  represented  in  a  large  part  of  this  region  beneath  later  rock 


54  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS 

formations,  are  not  known  certainly  to  have  outcrops,  and  will  therefore  be 
passed  by  without  further  description. 

Hudson  River  group. — The  Hudsou  Rlver  group,  as  described  in  the  Indiana 
and  Ohio  reports,  consists  of  alternating  beds  of  limestone  and  shale.  Its 
outcrop  covers  about  4,000  square  miles  in  Ohio,  1,800  square  miles  in 
southeastern  Indiana,  and  also  a  large  area  in  the  adjacent  paj-t  of  Kentucky. 
Its  outcrops  in  the  three  States  embrace  the  central  part  of  the  Cincinnati  arch. 

The  crown  of  the  arch,  capped  as  it  is  by  the  soft  and  friable  rocks  of 
this  group,  has  suffered  greater  reduction  than  the  slopes.  Much  of  it  is 
slightly  lower  than  the  portion  of  the  slopes  cajjped  by  the  resistant  Lock- 
port  (Niagara)  limestone. 

Medina  group. — Thc  Medina  group  outcrops  extensively  along  the  south 
border  of  Lake  Ontario  in  western  New  York.  It  has  only  a  limited  out- 
crop in  Indiana  and  Ohio,  on  the  borders  of  the  Hudson  River  outcrop. 
In  Indiana  and  western  Ohio  the  Medina  is  almost  entirely  a  shale  forma- 
tion, but  in  eastern  Ohio  and  farther  east  sandstones  are  interbedded  with 
the  shale.  The  heaviest  beds  in  New  York  are  shales,  but  there  are  also 
resistant  sandstones  of  considerable  thickness.  This  formation  has  usually 
a  reddish  color,  both  as  shale  and  as  sandstone.  The  part  taken  by  the 
Medina  sandstone  in  forming  the  waterfalls  in  western  New  York  is  discussed 
farther  on. 

Clinton  group. — The  Cliuton  limestone  outcrops  in  western  New  York 
immediately  south  of  the  outcro])  of  the  Medina.  In  Ohio  and  Indiana  it 
is  restricted,  like  the  Medina,  to  a  narrow  strip  on  the  margin  of  the  outcrop 
of  the  Hudson  River  group.  The  most  characteristic  stratum  is  a  firm 
limestone,  but  the  drill  has  shown  that  in  parts  of  Ohio  it  is  a  sandstone, 
while  in  eastern  Ohio  it  becomes  shaly.  In  New  York  it  is  a  limestone 
with  ferruginous  bands.  In  New  York  and  to  some  extent  in  Indiana  and 
Ohio  it  has  produced  waterfalls  in  connection  with  the  underlying  shaly 
beds  of  the  Medina  group. 

Niagara  group. — Tlie  outcrop  of  thc  Niagara  group  in  western  New  York 
is  a  narrow  strip  leading  eastward  from  the  Niagara  River  to  the  vicinity  of 
Utica.  It  forms  a  conspicuous  part  of  the  Niagara  Falls  and  the  gorge 
below  the  falls,  as  well  as  other  falls  and  gorges  in  western  New  York.  The 
name  Niagara  was  given  because  of  the  outci'ops  on  the  Niagara  River. 
The  group  is  divided  into  two  formations.    The  main  member  is  the  Lockport 


OUTLINE  OF  ROCK  FORMATIONS.  55 

limestone.^     Beneath  this  is  the  Rochester  shale/  which  includes  the  Dayton 
building  stone. 

The  Niagara  group  covers  in  its  outcrops  or  as  a  surface  rock  not  less 
than  5,000  square  miles  in  western  Ohio.  The  main  area  of  outcrop  is 
immediately  north  and  east  of  the  area  of  the  Hudson  River  group.  But 
there  are  extensive  outcrops  farther  north  in  a  belt  leading  from  Hardin 
County  northward  to  the  western  end  of  Lake  Erie.  In  Indiana  the  group 
appears  as  the  surface  rock  in  an  area  of  fully  5,000  square  miles  along 
the  north  and  west  borders  of  the  area  of  the  Hudson  River  gi-oup.  There 
is  a  small  area  of  outcrop  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  State,  but  that  lies 
outside  the  region  under  discussion.  A  considerable  area  in  northern 
Kentucky,  contiguous  to  the  areas  of  Indiana  and  Ohio,  also  hes  outside 
this  region. 

Salina  and  Waterlime,  or  the  Onondaga  series. TheSC     tWO     SOmCwliat      Unlikc      forma- 

tions  have  been  referred  by  Hall,  Dana,  and  others  to  a  single  geological 
epoch,  the  Onondaga.  The  outcrop  of  the  Salina  formation  in  New  York 
covers  a  narrow  belt  leading  eastward  from  Grand  Islaiad  in  Niagara  River 
to  the  Hudson  River  Valley.  Its  thickness  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State 
is  only  100  to  200  feet,  but  in  Onondaga  County,  in  central  New  York,  it 
reaches  a  thickness  of  800  feet  and  continues  thick  from  that  locality  west- 
ward. Like  the  Hudson  River  group,  it  consists  largely  of  soft  rocks, 
shales,  and  shaly  limestone,  with  marls  and  beds  or  veins  of  gypsum.  As  a 
result  of  its  soft  texture  the  area  of  outcrop  of  this  formation  has  become 
the  site  of  a  shallow  basin.  The  Waterlime  formation  in  western  New 
Y^ork  rests  upon  the  Salina  without  a  perceptible  break  or  line  of  demarca- 
tion. It  consists  of  an  impure  silico-argillaceous  limestone,  which  is  more 
enduring  than  the  remainder  of  the  salt  group  and  can  be  distinctly  traced 
through  the  district. 

Orton  considers  it  doubtful  whether  the  Salina  beds  occur  in  the  Ohio 
rock  series.  The  Waterlime  outcrops  extensively  in  northwestern  Ohio  and 
also  in  the  north-central  part  of  the  State,  its  outcrops  being  about  as 
extensive  as  those  of  the  Niagara  group.  It  is  in  the  main  a  compact 
magnesian  limestone  of  drab  or  brown  color. 

'  The  Lockport  limestone  and  the  Rochester  shale  were  formerly  called  the  Niagara  limestone 
and  the  Niagara  shale,  but  by  the  usage  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  the  term  Niagara  is 
now  applied  only  to  the  group  or  higher  classific  unit. 


56  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  equivalent  of  this  g-roup  in  Indiana  occurs  as  the  surface  rock  in 
a  narrow  strip  on  the  north  and  northwest  border  of  the  Niagara  area  north 
of  Indianapohs;  also  in  a  small  tract  in  the  vicinity  of  Logansport,  and,  as 
interpreted  by  Phinney,  in  a  considerable  area  in  the  northwestern  part  of 
the  State.  The  exposures  in  Indiana  are  few  on  account  of  the  great  thick- 
ness of  the  drift.     This  is  also  the  case  in  much  of  the  Ohio  area. 

Lowe-  Heiderberg  limestone. — The  Lowcr  Hclderberg  lias  been  separated  from 
the  Waterlime  in  New  York  and  in  Indiana,  but  was  classed  with  it  by 
Orton  in  his  latest  report  on  Ohio.  It  is  an  extensive  formation  in  eastern 
New  York,  having-  a  thickness  of  300  or  400  feet,  but  it  becomes  incon- 
spicuous before  reaching-  the  western  part  of  the  State.  In  Indiana,  also, 
it  lies  mainly  outside  the  region  here  discussed.  It  is  therefore  of  little 
importance  to  the  present  discussion. 

oriskany  sandstone. — TMs  foHBation,  like  tlic  Lower  Heiderberg,  is  con- 
spicuous in  eastern  New  York,  but  thins  out  and  disappears  before  reaching 
the  western  part  of  the  State.  Although  its  geographical  distribution  is 
about  the  same  as  the  Lower  Heiderberg,  its  fauna  and  flora  are  very 
different,  being  pronouncedly  I>evonian. 

The  Sylvania  sandstone  of  northwestern  Ohio,  which  was  at  first 
referred  to  the  Oriskany,  was  finally  considered  by  Orton,  on  paleonto- 
logical  grounds,  to  be  a  part  of  the  underlying  formation,  and  therefore  of 
Upper  Silurian  instead  of  Devonian  age. 

corniferous  limestone. — Tlie  rocks  of  tlic  Comiferous  epoch  in  New  York 
include  the  Schoharie  and  Caudagalli  grits  as  well  as  the  Corniferous  lime- 
stone; but  only  the  limestone  appears  in  westemi  New  York.  It  outcrops 
in  a  narrow  strip  leading  eastward  from  Buffalo  to  the  Hudson  River.  This 
limestone,  being  a  more  resistant  rock  in  western  New  York  than  the  forma- 
tions inrniediatety  above  and  below,  now  presents  a  well-defined  escarp- 
ment, over  which  several  small  streams  have  waterfalls.  Hall  divided  it 
between  the  Onondaga  and  Corniferous,  the  former  including-  the  gray 
lower  member  and  the  latter  the  darker-colored  upper  member  of  the 
formation;^  but  the  earlier  classification  by  Eaton  has  now  become  estab- 
lished. The  thickness  of  this  formation  in  New  York  is  commonly  only 
too  to  150  feet,  but  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State  it  in  places  reaches 
ubout  250  feet. 

1  New  York  Geol.  Survey,  Fourth  Geol.  District,  1843,  pp.  151-176. 


OUTLINE  OF  ROCK  FORMATIONS.  57 

In  Ohio  a  Devonian  limestone  occurs,  which  is  thought  by  Orton 
probably  to  cover  more  than  the  single  epoch  known  as  the  Corniferous 
in  New  York.  It  forms  the  surface  rock  in  a  narrow  strip,  5  to  15  miles  in 
width,  extending  from  Sandusky  southward  past  Columbus  into  north- 
western Pickaway  County,  lying  iijimediately  east  of  the  outcrop  of  the 
Waterlime.  It  appears  in  a  strip  of  similar  width  in  northwestern  Ohio,  on 
the  northwest  border  of  the  Waterlime.  It  also  appears  on  some  of  the 
islands  in  the  western  end  of  Lake  Erie,  and  on  the  elevated  tract  in  Logan 
and  parts  of  neighboring  counties  in  west-central  Ohio.  Its  thickness 
seldom  exceeds  75  feet. 

In  Indiana  the  Corniferous  or  Upper  Helderberg  outcrops  at  intervals 
in  a  narrow  belt  extending  northward  from  the  Ohio  River  at  the  Louisville 
Rapids  to  Logansport.  It  is  shown  by  well  drillings  to  immediately 
underlie  the  drift  in  several  counties  north  of  the  Wabash  River  in  a  belt 
extending  from  the  Ohio-Indiana  line  westward  about  to  Rensselaer.  It 
is  found  to  present  considerable  variation  in  color,  composition,  and  texture 
in  different  locahties.  It  is  thought  by  Phinney  to  range  from  30  to  65 
feet  in  thickness,  but  as  the  data  are  largely  from  drillings  this  estimate  of 
range  may  be  only  an  approximation. 

Marcellus  shale  and   Hamilton  formation. The       MarCelluS       shale       of       NeW      York 

occupies  a  narrow  depression  along  the  southern  border  of  the  Cornif- 
erous limestone,  from  the  vicinity  of  Cayuga  Lake  westward  to  the  city  of 
Buffalo.  It  is  exposed  only  in  a  few  valleys,  the  drift  being  so  heavy  as  to 
conceal  it  elsewhere.  The  greatest  observed  thickness  in  western  New 
York  does  not  exceed  50  feet  A  portion  of  it  is  very  bituminous  and  of 
black  color.  This  formation  is  considered  by  Hall  to  be  a  part  of  the 
Hamilton  group,  there  being  no  well-marked  line  of  separation  from  that 
group.^ 

The  Hamilton  group  of  New  York  consists  of  a  series  of  shales  with 
occasional  thin  beds  of  limestone,  and  attains  a  thickness  in  central  New 
York  of  nearly  1,000  feet.  Each  member  of  the  series  thins  gradually  to 
the  west,  until  at  the  border  of  Lake  Erie  the  thickness  of  the  entire  group 
is  scarcely  500  feet.  The  shales  are  of  blue-gray  or  green  color,  and  thus 
contrast  strikingly  with  the  dark  Marcellus  shale.  The  outcrop  is  confined 
to  a  narrow  strip,  scarcely  10  miles  in  average  width,  which  extends  from  the 

'i  New  York  Geol.  Survey,  Fourth  Geol.  District,  1843,  p.  177. 


58  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

eastern  end  of  Lake  Erie  eastward  past  the  northern  ends  of  the  Finger 
Lakes  to  the  Hudson  River  Valley.  This  group  of  rocks  forms  the  foot- 
hills of  the  elevated  uplands  which  occupy  the  southern  poi'tion  of  western 
New  York. 

In  Ohio  there  is  only  a  thin  development  of  this  group  of  rocks  in  the 
central  and  northern  parts  of  the  State.  This  group  may  have  a  thin 
development  in  northern  Indiana.^  It  is  thought  to  be  represented  in  the 
hydraulic  limestone  at  the  Louisville  Rapids,  on  the  south  border  of  the 
State.2 

Genesee,  Portage,  and  Chemung,  or  Ohio  shale  series. Under    tllC    UameS    GeUCSCe,    Por- 

tage,  and  Chemung  there  are  included  in  New  York  a  complex  series  of 
shales  with  occasional  beds  of  flagstone  and  sandstone.  This  series  in  Ohio 
appears  to  be  represented  by  a  single  great  shale  formation,  now  known  as 
the  Ohio  shale,  but  designated  by  the  geologists  of  the  first  Ohio  survey  the 
"shale  stratum"  or  "black  slate."  The  apparently  equivalent  formation  in 
Indiana  is  commonly  called  the  "black  shale." 

The  Genesee  shale  of  western  New  York  bears  a  striking  resemblance 
to  the  Marcellus  shale  in  color  and  g-eneral  characteristics,  but  differs  from 
it  in  fossils  as  well  as  in  stratigraphical  position.  It  is  a  thin  formation, 
having  a  thickness  of  only  25  feet  on  the  borders  of  Lake  Erie  and  about 
150  feet  on  the  shores  of  Seneca  Lake.  It  appears  in  the  gorge  of  the 
Genesee  at  Mount  Morris. 

The  Portage  of  western  New  York  "presents  an  extensive  develop- 
ment of  shale,  shales  and  flagstones,  and  finally  some  thick-bedded  sand- 
stone toward  its  upper  part."  It  has  excellent  exposures  in  the  gorge  of 
the  Genesee  at  Portage  Falls.  Hall  has  called  attention  to  the  influence 
of  the  sandstone  in  preserving  the  high  ridges  between  the  deep  valleys  of 
western  New  York,  and  also  to  their  influence  in  producing  cascades.^ 

The  entire  thickness  of  the  Portage  group  on  the  Genesee  is  estimated 
by  Hall  to  be  fully  1,000  feet.  At  the  New  York-Pennsylvania  line 
it  is  thought  by  White  to  rise  475  feet  above  Lake  Erie,  but  near  the 
Pennsylvania-Ohio  line  it  passes  below  lake  level.*  Its  outcrops  in  Erie 
County,  Pa.,  are  described  by  White  as  containing  a  succession  of  alternate 

'See  Phimiey:  Eleventh  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Sui-vey,  Pt.  I,  1891,  p.  636. 
^W.  W.  Borden:  Fifth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1873,  pp.  150,161,172. 
^  New  York  Geol.  Survey,  Fourth  Geol.  District,  p.  225. 
*  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Rept.  Q*,  1881,  p.  119. 


OUTLINE  OF  ROCK  FORMATIONS.  59 

layers  of  gray  shale  and  thin  layers  of  hard  sandstone.  Above  the  Portage 
m  Erie  County,  Pa.,  is  a  shale  formation  about  225  feet  in  thickness  to 
which  White  has  given  the  name  Girard  shale,  from  Girard,  Pa.  It  imme- 
diately underlies  the  typical  Chemung  formation  and  is  regarded  as  a 
transition  from  the  Portage  to  the  Chemung. 

The  Chemung  group  of  western  New  York  is  described  by  Hall  as  con- 
sisting of  a  "series  of  thin-bedded  sandstones  or  flagstones  with  intervening 
shales,  and  frequently  beds  of  impure  limestone  resulting  from  the  aggre- 
gation of  organic  remains."  Occasionally  a  coarse  conglomerate  appears 
as  in  the  "rock  cities"  near  Salamanca  and  Panama,  N.  Y.  The  name 
of  the  group  is  taken  from  the  Chemung  River,  along  which  this  group 
of  rocks  is  finely  displayed.  The  southern  tier  of  counties  in  western 
New  York  is  largely  occupied  by  this  formation,  and  it  outcrops  for  a  short 
distance  southward  in  northern  Pennsylvania.  It  forms  the  highest  eleva- 
tions in  the  eastern  part  of  that  region,  attaining  a  height  of  about  2,500 
feet  above  tide  and  600  to  1,000  feet  above  the  larger  valleys  which 
traverse  it.  At  the  western  hmits  of  the  State  the  altitude  of  its  surface 
has  decreased  to  about  1,800  feet.  The  thickness  of  this  group  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Chemung  River  was  estimated  by  Hall  to  be  not  less  than 
1,500  feet,  but  it  apparentl}^  decreases  westward.  There  is  some  difference 
of  opinion  concerning  the  hmits  of  the  Chemung  in  northwestern  Penn- 
sylvania, it  being  uncertain  whether  it  should  include  the  Venango  oil 
sands. 

The  area  of  outcrop  of  the  undoubted  Chemung  in  northwestern 
Pennsylvania  is  restricted  to  a  narrow  belt  lying  a  few  miles  south  of  Lake 
Erie  in  Erie  and  northwestern  Crawford  counties  and  in  the  larger  valleys 
of  Warren  and  McKean  counties.  The  Venango  sands  also  have  outcrops 
on  ridges  in  the  midst  of  the  Chemung  area  and  in  a  narrow  strip  on  its 
south  border.  At  the  Pennsylvania-Ohio  line  the  Chemung  outcrop  extends 
less  than  20  miles  south  from  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie.  This  formation 
constitutes  the  main  part  of  the  escarpment  south  of  Lake  Erie  in  north- 
western Pennsylvania  and  northeastern  Ohio. 

The  shales  of  northeastern  Ohio  as  mapped  by  Read^  include  the 
Venango  sands  of  the  Pennsylvania  survey,  as  well  as  the  undoubted 
Chemung    and  the  transition    beds  between  the    Chemung    and    Portage 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  1873,  p.  483. 


60  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

formations.  The  entire  group  here  consists  ahnost  wholly  of  shale,  there 
being  few  layers  of  hard  rock  so  much  as  a  foot  in  thickness.  Because 
of  this  absence  of  hard  rock  the  slopes  are  worn  down  to  regularity  and  do 
not  present  the  benches  or  abrupt  changes  characteristic  of  the  eastward 
extension  of  the  upper  members  of  the  group. 

The  area  of  outcrop  extends  southward  well  toward  the  head  of  Grand 
River  Basin  in  northern  Trumbull  County,  but  returns  on  the  west  side  of 
that  basin  to  within  10  miles  of  Lake  Erie.  It  extends  up  Chagrin  Valley 
to  about  Chagrin  Falls,  20  miles  from  the  Lake,  and  up  the  Cuyahoga 
Valley  about  25  miles,  or  nearly  to  Peninsula.  Aside  from  these  exten- 
sions its  outcrop  from  the  Glrand  River  Basin  westward  to  the  Hviron 
River  is  but  5  to  15  miles  wide,  with  an  average  of  perhaps  10  miles.  It 
extends  northward  beneath  Lake  Erie  to  an  undetermined  distance.  The 
basin  in  which  Lake  Erie  lies  no  doubt  owes  its  existence  chiefly  to  the  soft 
and  friable  character  of  the  rocks  of  this  group.  The  thickness  of  the  group 
neai-  the  south  border  of  its  outcrop  south  of  Lake  Erie  is  found  to  be 
about  950  feet  at  Elyria  and  1,300  feet  at  Cleveland.^  It  apparently 
becomes  much  thicker  in  passing  eastward  from  Cleveland  into  Pennsyl- 
vania and  New  York. 

From  near  the  mouth  of  Huron  River,  in  Erie  County,  the  belt  of  out- 
crop of  this  group  turns  abruptly  southward,  passing  west  of  Norwalk, 
Galion,  and  Mount  Gilead,  and  east  of  Delaware  and  Columbus.  Below 
Columbus  it  occupies  the  Scioto  Valley  to  the  vicinity  of  Chillicothe  and 
also  for  a  few  miles  below  Waverly.  It  appears  also  in  valleys  or  narrow 
strips  of  lowland  to  the  west  of  the  Scioto,  to  and  beyond  the  Ohio  Valley. 
Its  thickness,  as  reported  by  Orton,  decreases  from  about  900  feet  on  the 
borders  of  Lake  Erie  to  450  feet  in  Crawford  County,  to  350  feet  in  Ross 
County,  and  to  about  250  feet  in  Highland  County. 

Throughout  the  entire  line  of  outcrop  from  the  Ohio  River  northward 
to  Lake  Erie,  as  well  as  eastward  into  Pennsylvania,  this  group  consists 
almost  entirely  of  soft  shales.  These  have  not  resisted  erosion  as  well  as 
the  overlying  beds,  and  hence  are  found  mainly  in  basins  or  at  the  base  of 
hills.  In  this  respect  they  are  in  contrast  with  the  New  York  portion  of  the 
outcrop,  which,  as  above  noted,  occupies  some  of  the  highest  ridges  and 
hills  of  the  western  part  of  that  State. 

>See  Orton:  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  VII,  p.  24. 


OUTLINE  OF  ROCK  FORMATIONS.  61 

These  shales  also  immediately  underlie  the  glacial  deposits  in  the  north- 
western part  of  Ohio  and  neighboring  portions  of  Michigan  and  Indiana. 
They  are,  however,  covered  to  a  depth  of  100  to  500  feet,  as  the  drift  in 
that  region  is  exceptional!)'-  thick.  The  rock  surface  is  consequently  very 
low,  a  considerable  part  of  it  being  below  the  level  of  Lake  Erie.  The 
thickness  of  the  shales  is  not  so  great  as  in  the  eastern  district,  being  but 
100  to  150  feet  in  much  of  northern  Indiana. 

Another  line  of  outci'op  of  these  shales  in  Indiana  is  found  in  a  narrow 
strip  leading  from  the  Ohio  River  at  New  Albany,  in  a  course  west  of  north, 
across  the  State,  crossing  the  White  River  below  Indianapolis  and  the 
Wabash  River  above  Lafayette.  Near  Monticello  it  swings  westward  and 
enters  Ilhnois  west  of  Kentland,  Ind.  Along  this  line  also  its  surface  has 
a  low  altitude,  but  it  is  covered  throughout  much  of  its  length  by  heavy 
deposits  of  drift.  The  southern  end  is  nearly  free  from  drift  and  presents 
the  appearance  of  a  broad  valley.  The  thickness  of  this  belt  of  shale,  like 
that  of  the  one  farther  north,  is  only  100  to  150  feet,  or  even  less. 

waveriy  or  Bedford  shale. — Thls  Is  the  lowest  fomiatiou  iu  the  complex  series 
to  which  the  geologists  of  the  first  Ohio  survey  gave  the  name  Waveriy,  a 
series  which,  in  Ohio,  embraces  the  entire  interval  between  the  Ohio  shales 
and  the  Conglomerate  Coal  Measures.  This  series  of  rocks  has  given  rise 
to  much  discussion,  but  seems  now  to  be  more  closely  allied  to  the  Eocar- 
boniferous  than  to  the  Devonian  formations.^  The  series  between  the  Ohio 
shale  and  Conglomerate  Coal  Measures,  as  developed  in  Ohio,  contains  the 
following  formations,  given  in  order  from  older  to  newer:  (1)  Waveriy  or 
Bedford  shale;  (2)  Berea  grit  and  shale;  (3)  Cuyahoga  shale;  (4)  Logan 
conglomerate;  (5)  Maxville  limestone.  In  Indiana  it  is  commonly  known 
as  the  "Subcarboniferous,"  while  in  western  Pennsylvania  it  was  classed  by 
I.  C.  White  as  the  Subconglomerate  series.  It  probably  comprises  much  of 
the  Catskill  and  Pocono  formations  of  eastern  Pennsylvania.  White  thinks 
it  probable  that  the  red  Bedford  shale  and  the  Berea  grit  are  of  Catskill  age. 

The  Waveriy  shale  includes  not  only  the  formation  in  southern  Ohio, 
thus  described  by  the  Ohio  'survey,  but  also  the  Bedford  shale  of  northern 
Ohio  as  defined  by  Newberry,  with  its  included  Euclid  and  Independence 
building  stone. 

'For  a  summary  of  the  questions  in  dispute  see  Herrick:  Geology  iif  Oliio,  Vol.  VII,  1894,  pp. 
49.5-51.5. 


62  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

A  shale  which  is,  perhaps,  the  equivalent  of  the  Waverly  is  present  in 
northern  Indiana  in  greater  thickness  than  in  Ohio,  the  thickness  as  reported 
by  Phinney  being  143  feet  at  South  Bend,  215  feet  at  Elkhart,  and  200 
feet  at  Goshen.^  The  formation  occupying  the  base  of  the  Waverly  series 
in  southern  Indiana  is  the  Rockford  (Goniatite)  limestone.  It  may  not, 
however,  be  the  precise  equivalent  of  the  Waverly  shale. 

Eastward  from  northern  Ohio  the  Waverly  shale  changes  from  a  blue- 
gray  to  a  red  color.  It  is  thought  by  Carll  to  be  developed  only  in  a 
narrow  belt  in  northeastern  Ohio  and  northwestern  Pemisylvania,  and  that 
inainly  under  cover  of  later  rock  formations." 

Berea  grit  and  shale  (Catskiii?). — Thc  Bcrca  gHt,  altliough  but  a  fcw  fcct  iu 
thickness,  is  one  of  the  most  persistent  and  easily  recognized  formations  in 
eastern  Ohio  and  northwestern  Pennsylvania.  Concerning  it  Orton  has 
remarked:  "  Its  persistence  as  a  stratum  is  phenomenal.  Seldom  reaching 
a  thickness  of  50  feet,  its  proved  area  in  Ohio,  above  ground  and  below,  is 
scarcely  less  than  15,000  square  miles,  and  beyond  the  boundaries  of  Ohio 
it  appears  to  extend  with  certainty  and  strength  unbroken  into  at  least  four 
adjacent  States."^  The  name  is  taken  from  Berea,  in  northern  Ohio,  where 
it  is  extensively  quarried.  It  constitutes  the  "Waverly  quarry  stone"  of 
southern  Ohio.  It  has  had  considerable  influence  in  producing  cascades  in 
northern  Ohio.  In  both  the  exposed  and  the  covered  portion  it  consists  of 
a  sandstone  of  medium  coarseness,  which  in  northern  Ohio  includes  a  thin 
pebble  bed. 

Above  the  Berea  grit  is  a  dark  shale  15  to  20  feet  in  thickness,  which 
has  been  reported  by  Orton  to  form  a  constant  cover  throughout  its  entire 
extent  in  Ohio.  It  is  usually  sharply  in  contrast  with  the  blue  beds  of  the 
overlying  Cuyahoga  shale,  but  from  Cuyahoga  County  eastward  the  line 
of  separation  is  in  places  not  easily  traced. 

Cuyahoga  shale  (part  of  Pocono  sandstone  of  Pennsylvania). Tllis      formatloU,      whlch      iu 

Ohio  has  a  thickness  of  150  to  400  feet,  receives  the  name  Cuyahoga  from 
extensive  outcrops  along  the  Cuyahoga  River.  It  constitutes  the  main 
member  of  the  Waverly  series,  though  the  Logan  conglomerate  of  central 
and  southern  Ohio  rivals  it  in  strength.     It  consists,  in  the  main,  of  light- 

'  Eleventh  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Ft.  1, 1891,  p.  638. 

^Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Kept.  P,  1880,  map,  p.  92;  discussion,  pp.  96-97. 

'  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  VII,  p.  28. 


OUTLINE  OF  EOCK  FORMATIONS.  63 

colored,  blue  or  gray  shales,  but  carries  occasional  thin  beds  of  sandstone. 
In  southern  Ohio,  notabl)'  in  Ross,  Pike,  and  Scioto  counties,  the  sandstone 
beds  become  more  prominent.  The  sandstone  is  extensively  quarried  at 
Buena  Vista,  on  the  Ohio  River,  a  few  miles  below  Portsmouth.  There  are 
also  developments  of  sandstone  in  northeastern  Ohio,  notably  in  Trumbull 
County,  where  numerous  quarries  have  been  opened.  Its  outcrop  usually 
covers  a  width  of  several  miles. 

From  the  Ohio  River  northward  to  Chillicothe  the  Cuyahoga  shale 
outcrops  on  both  sides  of  the  Scioto  River,  but  north  of  that  city  it  lies 
east  of  the  river  and  forms  the  east  border  of  the  Scioto  Basin.  It  outcrops 
in  a  narrow  strip  south  of  Lake  Erie  from  Lorain  County  eastward  to 
Geauga  County,  but  there  swings  southward  around  the  head  of  Grand 
River  Basin. 

In  northwestern  Pennsylvania  this  formation,  under  the  name  of 
Poeono  sandstone  and  Crawford  shales,  covers  the  uplands  in  a  belt  10  to 
15  miles  wide  in  Crawford  and  southeastern  Erie  counties  and  extends 
southeastward  along  the  lowlands  into  Mercer  and  Venango  counties.  It 
forms  much  of  the  surface  in  the  northern  half  of  Warren  County  and 
extends  southward  along  valleys  and  low  parts  of  the  upland  beyond  the 
limits  of  that  county.  It  outcrops  only  on  a  few  ridges  in  southwestern 
New  York. 

This  formation  apparently  constitutes  the  lower  part  of  the  Knobstone 
group  of  Indiana,  so  well  developed  on  the  west  border  of  the  Cincinnati 
arch.  It  there  forms  the  slopes  of  the  prominent  escarpment  west  of  the 
trough  occupied  by  the  Devonian  shale,  but  it  lies  mainly  outside  the  limits 
of  the  region  under  discussion. 

Logan  conglomerate  (part  of  Poeono  sandstone  of  Pennsylvania), Thc    LogaU    COUglomerate 

is  well  developed  from  Wayne  County,  Ohio,  southward  into  Kentucky, 
but  seems  to  be  feebly  developed  or  wanting  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Cuyahoga 
Valley.  It  is  characterized  at  two  horizons  by  a  conglomerate  which 
carries  small  pebbles.  The  conglomei^ate  phase  is  not  so  conspicuous  in 
southern  as  in  central  Ohio,  and  in  the  latter  district  occupies  only  a  small 
part  of  the  formation,  there  being  fine-grained  sandstones  and  even  shales 
embedded  with  the  conglomerate.  The  average  thickness  of  the  Logan 
conglomerate  group  is  about  200  feet,  but  the  maximum  is  much  above  the 
average,  reaching  probably  400  feet.     The  resistance  of  this  conglomerate 


64  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

to  erosion  lias  produced  a  marked  effect  upon  the  contours  of  tlie  valleys, 
causing,  in  some  instances,  notable  constrictions,  as  shown  below. 

This  formation  constitutes  part  of  the  Knobstone  of  Indiana.  The 
name  Knobstone,  there  as  well  as  in  Kentucky,  arises  from  the  topographic 
features  resulting  from  its  persistence  as  a  protective  capping  on  the  sum- 
mits of  the  ridges  and  hills.  The  knobs  of  southern  Indiana  rise  abruptly 
300  feet  or  more  above  the  shale  lowland  to  the  east. 

Above  the  Logan  conglomerate  there  is  a  local  development  of  lime- 
stone in  south-central  Ohio,  which  was  classified  by  Prof.  E.  B.  Andrews, 
from  a  study  of  fossils,  as  an  equivalent  of  the  Chester  limestone  of  Illinois 
and  Missouri,  or  the  latest  of  the  Eocarboniferous  series.  It  is  knovvn  as 
the  Maxville  limestone,  from  a  locality  in  Perry  County,  and  is  probably 
best  displayed  on  Jonathan  Creek  in  Muskingum  County.  It  has  a  thick- 
ness of  onlv  a  few  feet  and  the  outcrops  are  mainly  on  valley  slopes. 

PottsviUe,  or  Conglomerate  Coal  Measures. TllC     SCricS     of    formatioUS     lu    whicll     the 

coal  seams  are  embraced  are  found  in  a  large  basin  extending  from  northern 
Pennsylvania  and  northeastern  Ohio  southward  to  eastern  Tennessee.  The 
Ohio  River  traverses  the  northern  half  from  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  to  Mai-ietta, 
Ohio,  below  which  it  bears  toward  the  western  margin  of  the  basin  and 
leaves  it  a  short  distance  above  Portsmouth,  Ohio.  The  area  covered  by 
these  formations  in  Ohio  is  estimated  by  Orton  to  be  about  10,000  square 
miles,  or  about  one-fourth  the  area  of  the  State.  Pennsylvania  and  West 
Virginia  each  have  an  area  about  as  extensive  as  that  of  Ohio.  A  few 
square  miles  in  southwestern  New  York,  chiefly  in  the  portion  of  Catta- 
raugus County  south  of  the  Allegheny  River,  fall  within  the  limits  of  this 
basin.  By  reason  of  being  in  a  basin  which  was  in  process  of  filling,  the 
lowest  members  appear  on  the  borders,  while  the  highest  are  found  in  its 
interior  portion. 

At  the  base  of  these  formations  there  is  found  a  series  of  conglomerates 
and  sandstones  with  thin  beds  of  shale  and  limestone,  and  with  local 
developments  of  coal,  to  whicli  the  general  name  Conglomerate  group  has 
been  applied.  In  the  Pennsylvania  reports  it  has  the  names  Serai  con- 
glomerate and  PottsviUe  conglomerate,  and  constitutes  No.  XII  of  the  rock 
series  of  that  State. 

Allegheny,  or  Lower  Productive  Coal  Measures. NeXt  abo  VC  tllC  SerlcS  of  COUgloUierateS 

and  sandstones  just  discussed  come  the  Lower  Productive  Coal  Measures, 
which  have  a  thickness  about  as  great  as  the  entire  Conglomerate  group. 


OUTLINE  OF  ROCK  FORMATIONS.  65 

They  cany  not  fewer  tlmn  nine  workable  coal  seams  in  Pennsylvania  and 
six  well-defined  seams  in  Ohio  These  are  thrown  into  three  gronps,  known 
as  the  Clarion,  the  Kittanning,  and  the  Freeport,  each  of  Avhich  in  Pennsyl- 
vania carries  three  coal  seams.  The  outcrops  are  around  the  borders  of 
the  coal  basin,  but  the  formation  probably  underlies  the  interior  portion. 

.      Conemaugh,  or  Lower  Barren  Coal  Measures. AboVC     the      LoWer      ProduCtive     Coal 

Measures  there  are  300  to  600  feet  of  sandstones  and  shales  in  which  the 
few  coal  seams  that  appear  are  thin  and  wanting  in  persistency.  For 
this  reason,  and  because  of  a  similar  series  at  a  higher  horizon,  they  are 
known  as  the  Lower  Barren  Measures.  One  coal  seam,  the  Mahoning,  is 
worked  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio.  These  barren  measures  outcrop 
extensively  in  southeastern  Ohio  at  a  distance  of  30  to  50  miles  back  from 
the  Ohio  River,  but  come  to  the  border  of  the  Ohio  Valley  in  eastern  Ohio 
and  western  Pennsylvania. 

Monongahela,  or  Upper  Productive  Coal  Measures. The     LoWer     BarreU     MeaSUrCS     ai'C 

overlain  by  the  Upper  Productive  Coal  Measures,  which  carry  the  widely 
known  Pittsburg  coal  (the  most  valuable  seam  of  this  great  field),  and  a 
less  important  seam,  known  as  the  Meigs  Creek  coal.  The  thickness  of 
these  measures  has  been  estimated  by  Orton  to  be  2f)0  to  300  feet,  though 
the  upper  limits  are  not  well  defined.  The  extent  is  much  greater  than  the 
limits  of  the  productive  portion  of  the  Pittsburg  coal. 

Dunkard  beds  (Permian?). — Above  tlie  Upper  Productivc  Mcasures  there  is  a 
formation  which  attains,  where  best  developed,  a  thickness  of  several 
hundred  feet,  and  which  has  long  been  known  as  the  Upper  Barren  Coal 
Measures.  But  since  the  fossil  plants  of  this  formation  are  of  Permian 
rather  than  Coal  Measures  type,  the  formation  can  scarcely  be  retained  as 
a  part  of  the  Coal  Measures.  The  name  Dunkard,  taken  from  a  creek  in 
southwestern  Pennsylvania,  where  the  beds  are  well  developed,  has  been 
substituted  for  the  former  name.  This  formation,  as  interpreted  by  Orton, 
covers  only  a  small  area  in  Ohio,  being  confined  chiefly  to  Belmont  and 
Monroe  counties,  but  it  occupies  a  large  area  in  West  Virginia  between 
the  Ohio  and  Monongahela  rivers,  and  encroaches  slightly  on  southwestern 
Pennsylvania. 

This  is  apparently  the  newest  rock  formation  in  the  region  under  dis- 
cussion. Only  the  residuary  clays  and  a  few  beds  of  gravel  at  higli  levels 
are  present  to  bear  witness  to  the  several  long  periods  that  intervened 
between  Carboniferous  and  Glacial  times. 


CHAPTER   11. 
PHYSICAL  FEATURES. 

ALTITUDE. 

If  the  basin  of  Lake  Ontario  be  inelnded,  the  altitude  of  the  glaciated 
portion  of  this  region  has  a  range  of  abont  3,000  feet,  the  lowest' part  of  the 
Lake  Ontario  Basin  being  nearly  500  feet  below  sea  level,  while  the  highest 
ridges  on  the  Allegheny  Plateau  are  fully  2,. 500  feet  above  the  sea.  This 
range  is  found  within  a  distance  of  about  100  miles.  The  shore  of  Lake 
Ontario  stands  about  250  feet  above  tide,  the  level  of  the  lake  ranging  from 
244.5  to  249  feet,  thus  reducing  the  variations  of  the  exposed  land  surface 
to  about  2,250  feet.  The  areas  embraced  between  500-foot  contours  are 
approximately  shown  on  PL  I. 

This  region  attains  its  highest  altitude  in  the  vicinity  of  the  headwaters 
of  the  Allegheny  and  Genesee  rivers,  in  Potter  and  McKean  counties.  Pa., 
and  Allegany  and  Cattaraugus  counties,  N.  Y.  These  counties  include 
nearly  all  the  area  that  rises  above  2,000  feet,  though  there  are  a  few  square 
miles  in  the  adjacent  portions  of  Warren  Count)',  Pa.,  and  Chautauqua  and 
Wyoming  counties,  N.  Y.,  which  rise  above  that  elevation.  It  will  also  be 
observed  that  the  portion  of  this  region  rising  above  1,500  feet  is  confined 
almost  wholly  to  the  States  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  there  being 
scarcely  1  square  mile  of  Ohio  that  is  known  to  rise  above  this  lieight,  while 
the  highest  points  of  Indiana  are  only  about  1,250  feet.  The  1,000-foot 
contour  embraces  all  of  western  New  York  and  northwestern  Pennsylvania 
except  the  lowlands  that  border  Lakes  Ontario  and  Erie  and  a  few  of  the 
deep  valleys.  This  contour  also  embraces  much  of  the  eastern  half  of  the 
State  of  Ohio;  also  large  areas  in  the  western  half  The  main  areas  standing 
below  1,000  feet  are  the  Grand  River,  Scioto,  and  Maumee  basins  and  a 
large  part  of  the  watershed  of  the  Great  Miami  River.  In  Indiana  a  small 
area  in  the  northeastern  part  and  a  larger  area  in  the  eastern  part  rise 
above  1,000  feet.  With  these  exceptions  only  a  few  isolated  ridges  and 
hills,  chiefly  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State,  rise  above  that  contour.     The 

66 


ALTITUDE  AND  TOPOGRAPHY.  67 

greater  part  of  Indiana  and  large  areas  in  Ohio  fall  between  500  and  1,000 
feet.  The  only  portions  of  the  region  faUing  below  500  feet  are  a  narrow 
strip  in  New  York,  on  the  south  border  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  a  portion  of 
the  valley  of  Ohio  River  and  the  lower  courses  of  its  tributaries  in  southern 
Ohio  and  Indiana.  Near  New  Albany,  Ind,  the  500-foot  contour  recedes 
a  few  miles  from  the  Ohio  River  into  the  lowland  formed  in  the  Devonian 
shale,  but  returns  to  the  river  just  below  that  city. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

In  the  description  of  the  rock  formations  it  was  shown  that  all  the 
earlier  formations  from  the  Trenton  group  up  to  the  Hamilton  contain  a 
large  amount  of  hraestone  and  easily  disintegrated  shale,  while  the  later 
formations  contain  very  little  limestone,  and  often  are  made  up  largely  of 
resistant  sandstone-  This  difference  in  constitution  and  texture  has  resulted 
in  a  marked  difference  in  topography,  The  formations  which  contain  a  large 
amount  of  limestone  or  soft  shale  have  become  broken  down  to  a  markedly 
lower  elevation  and  a  more  even  surface  than  the  resistant  sandstone. 

The  sandstone  or  hilly  country,  being  mainly  on  the  borders  of  the 
Appalachian  Mountain  system,  occupies  the  southeastern  part  of  the  region 
under  discussion  The  border  between  it  and  the  lower  plain  underlain  by 
shale  and  limestone  may  be  roughly  indicated  as  follows.  From  the  Genesee 
Valley  at  Mount  Morris  it  takes  a  westward  course,  passing  a  few  miles 
south  of  Batavia  and  Buffalo,  N,  Y.,  to  Lake  Erie  It  follows  the  lake 
border  southwestward  to  the  vicinity  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  lying  usually 
but  5  to  10  miles  south  of  the  lake,  though  at  the  Orand  River  Basin  in 
northwestern  Ohio  it  extends  southward  about  40  miles.  A  short  distance 
west  from  Cleveland  the  hills  bear  away  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  vicinit)^  of 
the  continental  divide  in  Medina,  Ashland,  and  Richland  counties.  From 
near  Mansfield  in  Richland  County  the  border  turns  southward  and  main- 
tains this  course  for  nearly  100  miles,  constituting  the  eastern  rim  of  the 
Scioto  Basin.  It  then  swings  westward  across  northern  Ross  County, 
passing  a  short  distance  north  of  the  city  of  Chillicothe,  and  enters  the 
northern  part  of  Highland  County.  Here  it  again  turns  southward  and 
passes  through  Highland  and  Adams  counties  into  Kentucky,  crossing  the 
Ohio  River  near  the  mouth  of  Brush  Creek,  a  few  miles  above  Manchester, 
Ohio. 

On  the  borders  of  the  Ohio  the  plain  is  so  dissected  as  to  appear  less 


68  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

strikingly  in  contrast  with  the  hills  than  in  districts  farther  north,  yet  the 
regular  crest  lines  of  the  dividing  ridges  are  a  rather  striking  feature  even 
there.  The  plain  extends  westward  across  the  Cincinnati  arch  into  Ken- 
tucky, Ohio,  and  Indiana,  to  the  Knobstone  foi-mation  of  southern  Indiana 
and  northern  Kentucky.  It  covers  northern  Kentucky,  northwestern  Ohio, 
and  the  southern  part  of  Michigan,  and  thence  stretches  westward  far 
beyond  the  Mississippi  River,  constituting  the  great  interior  plain  of  the 
United  States. 

In  both  the  plain  and  the  hilly  countiy  there  are  variations  in  topog- 
raphy which  need  to  be  considered  in  some  detail.  The  hard  and  resistant 
rocks  of  the  plain  country  stand  in  relief  as  escarpments  or,  in  some  cases, 
as  low  dividing  ridges,  while  those  of  the  hilly  country  remain  as  elevated 
divides  between  drainage  lines  or  occasionally  as  island-like  outliers.  The 
glacial  deposits  have  greatly  concealed  the  topography  of  the  rock  forma- 
tions and  disturbed  the  old  systems  of  drainage.  In  the  plain  portion  of 
the  region  the  old  valleys  have  been  so  greatly  filled  that  they  can  be  traced 
only  in  limited  districts.  In  the  hilly  portion  the  drift  seldom  fills  up  the 
lowlands  to  the  height  of  the  uplands  or  ridges,  yet  it  obscures  the  old 
drainage  lines  to  a  great  degree. 

The  present  discussion  is  naturally  devoted  chiefly  to  the  eastern  part 
of  the  region,  where  the  old  topography  is  least  concealed.  Inasmuch  as 
the  topographic  features  depend  largely  upon  the  rock  formations,  they  are 
to  some  extent  discussed  in  belts  that  follow  the  outcrops  of  the  formations. 
The  plain  south  of  Lake  Ontario  in  western  New  York  is  first  discussed, 
and  then  the  region  lying  southward  and  westward,  comprising  the  later 
formations,  is  described. 

LOW    PLAIN     SOUTH    OF    LAKE    ONTARIO. 

The  low  country  south  of  Lake  Ontario  in  western  New  York  is 
separable  into  three  distinct  plains,  with  two  escarpments  above  the  level 
of  the  lake  shore.  These  features  are  in  part  represented  on  PL  III.  The 
first  or  lowest  plain  extends  from  the  lake  southward  to  the  Niagara 
escarpment,  a  distance  of  6  to  12  miles;  the  middle  plain  extends  from  the 
Niagara  to  the  Corniferous  escarpment,  a  distance  of  10  to  15  miles;  while 
the  highest  plain  extends  from  the  Corniferous  escarpment  southward  to 
the  base  of  the  hilly  country,  with  a  width  averaging  less  than  10  miles. 
These  plains  are  underlain  by  shale  formations,  except  for  a  short  distance 


I'l.KISTOCK.XK  .MAI-  Ol'    rilK   KISTHICT  HKTWEI^N  MAliAltA  1U\I;1(  AMI   KOCl  I  KSTi:  I! .  M  :\\    lOUK 


o 


TOPOGRAPHY.  69 

south  from  the  brow  of  the  escarpments,  where  in  each  case  hmestoue 
forms  the  surface  rock. 

The  surface  rock  of  the  lowest  plain  is  the  soft  shale  of  the  Medina 
group,  and  this  formation  extends  northward  beneath  the  lake.  There  is  a 
rise  of  100  to  175  feet  in  passing  southward  across  it  from  the  lake  shore 
to  the  base  of  the  escarpment.  The  plain  is  generally  so  smooth  that  its 
slopes  are  barely  detectible  by  the  eye,  but  instrumental  determinations 
show  that  it  has  troughs  and  ridges  of  sufficient  variation  in  altitude  to  con- 
trol the  drainage.  This  plain  and  the  escarpment  bordering  it  were  made  a 
subject  of  special  study  by  Grilbert  in  1898,  and  some  results  of  the  study, 
presented  to  the  Geological  Society  of  America,  have  recently  appeared.^ 
Gilbert  found  that  the  courses  of  di-ainage  are  controlled  by  shallow 
troughs  which  have  a  trend  from  northeast  to  southwest,  in  harmony  with 
the  general  direction  of  ice  movement,  as  shown  by  striae.  The  depth  of 
the  troughs  is  not  definitely  known,  since  the)^  are  usually  drift  filled  to 
such  a  degree  that  surface  wells  do  not  penetrate  the  filling  It  is  found, 
however,  that  some  of  the  troughs  exceeded  40  feet  in  depth.  Gilbert 
considers  it  highly  probable  that  this  furrowing  of  the  surface  is  the 
result  of  glacial  erosion.  He  thinks  that  the  erosion  much  exceeds  the 
amount  represented  by  these  channels,  for  it  appears  to  have  obliterated 
the  preglacial  topography,  which  presumably  included  a  system  of  shallow 
valleys  descending  northward  with  the  general  slope  of  the  country.  He 
estimates  that  the  general  reduction  of  the  surface  must  have  been  at  least 
40  to  50  feet,  and  it  may  have  been  considerably  greater.  It  is,  however, 
his  opinion  that  the  Niagara  escarpment  antedated  the  period  of  glacial 
sculpture,  though  the  ice  erosion  rendered  it  more  prominent  b}"  excavation 
along  its  base  and  by  the  general  degradation  of  the  lowland  it  overlooks. 

This  plain  was  nearly  covered  by  the  glacial  Lake  Iroquois,  the 
Iroquois  beach  being  situated  either  along  the  base  of  the  escarpment  or 
within  a  mile  or  so  north  of  it.  The  lake  has  removed  to  a  perceptible 
degree  the  fine  material  from  the  higher  portions  of  the  plain  and  silted  up 
the  hollows  with  its  sediment,  thus  producing  an  important  subduing 
influence  on  the  topography.  That  it  has  degraded  the  surface  of  the  ridges 
is  shown  by  the  large  amount  of  coarse  pebbly  material  which  remains  as 
a  residue  on  the  higher  or  more  exposed  parts  of  the  lake  plain. 


1  Glacial  sculpture  in  western  New  York,  by  G.  K.  Gilbert:  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  X,  1899, 
pp.  121-130. 


70  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

NIAGARA   ESCARPMENT. 

This  escarpment,  which  marks  the  northern  limit  of  the  Lockport  lime- 
stone in  western  New  York,  has  a  height  ranging  from  about  200  feet  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Niagara  River  to  50  feet  or  less  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Genesee  River.  As  shown  on  the  topographic  map  (PI.  Ill),  it  is  prominent 
for  50  miles  east  from  the  Niagara  River,  its  height  seldom  falling  below 
100  feet,  but  in  the  remaining  20  miles  to  the  Grenesee  it  is  comparatively 
inconspicuous.  The  altitude  above  tide  declines  from  about  640  feet  in  the 
western  portion  to  scarcely  more  than  500  feet  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Genesee 
River. 

At  the  brow  of  the  escai'pment  the  limestone  is  present  only  in  small 
amount,  and,  as  noted  by  Gilbert,  is  absent  from  the  immediate  edge  of  the 
clifiF  through  considerable  spaces.  It  thickens  rapidly  upon  passing-  south- 
ward, thoug'h  not  sufficiently  to  overcome  the  dip  of  the  strata.  The 
southern  boundary  of  the  outcrop  is  50  to  75  feet  lower  than  the  northern. 
Below  the  Lockport  limestone  there  is  about  80  feet  of  Rochester  shale,  25 
feet  of  Clinton  limestone,  and  then  a  great  body  of  Medina  shale  containing 
a  few  sandstone  ledges  near  the  top.  The  sandstones  are  discontinuous 
and  lie  at  various  depths  below  the  Clinton  limestone,  the  range  as  given 
by  Gilbert  being  from  40  to  100  feet.  In  places  the  Medina  and  Clinton 
beds  are  worn  back  to  the  base  of  the  Niagara  escarpment,  while  in  other 
places  they  extend  out  short  distances  to  the  north,  forming  a  lower  escarp- 
ment rudely  parallel  with  the  main  escarpment. 

Gilbert's  studies  lead  him  to  think  that  these  resistant  ledges  of  the 
Clinton  and  Medina  have  been  worn  back  so  far  by  glacial  erosion  as  to 
lose  the  contours  typical  of  subaerial  erosion.  They  do  not  present  the 
sharply  outlined  salients  and  reentrants  which  characterize  the  brow  of  the 
escarpment.  He  found  the  brow  of  the  escarpment  to  be  more  regular  in 
outline  where  it  stood  nearly  in  line  with  the  ice  movement  than  it  is  where 
it  faced  against  the  ice  movement.  In  the  latter  case  its  contours  are  deeply 
serrated  or  inflected,  the  axes  of  serration  being  parallel  with  the  glacial 
strige.  On  the  serrated  face  furrows  were  formed,  which  range  in  depth 
from  10  to  30  feet  and  which  have  usually  a  breadth  of  several  hundred 
feet.  The  longest  of  them  probably  extends  more  than  half  a  mile  back 
from  the  escarpment.  These  rock  furrows  are  now  largely  filled  with  di'ift, 
yet  are  plainly  discernible  on  the  topographic  sheets  (see  PI.  III).     The 


TOPOGRAPHY.  71 

regularit}'  of  the  contours  in  the  portions  trending-  northeast  to  southwest 
is  here  shown  to  be  strikingly  in  contrast  with  the  portions  that  trend 
northwest  to  southeast.  The  effect  of  glacial  erosion  on  the  brow  of  the 
escarpment  appears  therefore  to  have  been  insufficient  to  remove  the  salients 
and  reentrants  of  the  preglacial  topograpliy.  It  is  estimated  by  Gilbert 
that  the  limestone  at  its  escarpment  lost  on  the  average  only  10  to  20  feet 
of  thickness,  while  from  the  broad  belt  of  outcrop  the  general  loss  may 
have  been  as  small  as  5  feet.  The  minor  ridges  of  the  limestone  surface 
do  not  conform  in  trend  to  the  direction  of  the  ice  motion,  as  do  th(3  ridges 
of  the  Medina  shale,  and  the  amount  of  erosion  in  the  limestone  is  thought 
to  be  scarcely  one-tenth  as  great  as  in  the  shale.  The  discriminating 
studies  begun  by  Gilbert  promise  to  throw  mucli  light  upon  the  question  of 
the  share  of  work  borne  by  ice  in  the  production  of  the  topographic  features 
of  the  glaciated  districts,  including  that  of  the  origin  of  the  basins  of  the 
great  Laurentian  lakes. 

To  this  escarpment  is  due  the  great  cataract  of  Niagara  and  the  lower 
or  Rochester  Falls  of  the  Genesee  River,  as  well  as  several  falls  in  small 
streams  that  pass  over  it.  At  the  Genesee  River  and  on  Oak  Orchard 
Creek  cascades  occur  at  the  points  where  these  streams  cross  the  Medina 
sandstone  and  Clinton  limestone  as  well  as  the  Lockport  limestone.  The 
Niagara  cataract  has  only  the  one  fall,  which  extends  from  the  top  of  the 
Lockport  limestone  down  below  the  Clinton,  with  a  submerged  gorge 
extending  down  into  the  Medina  shale.  The  writer  lias  nothing  to  add  to 
Hall's  interpretation  of  the  development  of  the  three  falls  on  the  Genesee 
at  Rochester.^  The  falls  on  the  smaller  streams  may  be  passed  with  this 
simple  mention  of  their  occurrence,  since  the  writer  has  made  no  special 
study  of  them. 

PLAIN   SOUTH   OF  NIAGARA  ESCARPMENT. 

Between  the  Niagara  and  Corniferous  escarpments  there  is  a  plain  10 
to  15  miles  in  width  which,  as  indicated  by  the  topographic  map  (PI.  Ill), 
descends  for  a  few  miles  south  from  the  Niagara  escarpment  and  then  rises 
gradually  toward  the  base  of  the  Corniferous  escarpment.  It  thus  forms  a 
shallow  trough  affording  a  natural  avenue  for  drainage  along  its  axis.  The 
western  portion  is  utilized  by  the  lower  course  of  Tonawanda  Creek,  a 
tributary  of  the  Niagara  River;  the  middle  portion  by  the  upper  course  of 

'  New  York  Geol.  Survey,  Fourth  Geol.  District,  1843,  pp.  381-382. 


72  GLACIAL  FORiL^TIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Oak  Orchaixl  Creek,  a  tributary  of  Lake  Ontario;  and  the  eastern  portion  by 
Black  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Greuesee  River.  The  portion  north  of  the 
axis  is  chiefly  underlain  by  the  Lockport  limestone,  but  the  portion  south 
is  developed  in  the  soft  rocks  of  the  Onondaga  salt  group.  The  amount  of 
drift  is  so  great  that  the  preglacial  valleys  are  completely  concealed. 
Whether  the  Onondaga  formation  was  sculptured  by  the  ice  sheet  in  a 
manner  similar  to  the  sculpturing  in  the  Medina  shale  can  not  easily  be 
determined  on  acconnt  of  the  great  amount  of  drift.  On  hypothetical 
grounds  the  material  renioved  by  the  ice  sheet  may  be  inferred  to  be  of 
large  amount,  for  the  formation  would  be  likely  to  offer  bnt  little  more 
resistance  to  erosion  than  was  offered  by  the  Medina  shale. 

The  western  portion  of  the  plain  carries  a  few  drumlins,  while  the  east- 
ern portion  is  characterized  by  numerous  drift  ridges,  some  of  which  are  of 
drumlinoid  and  others  of  morainic  type. 

Although  this  plain  was  entirely  covered  by  the  waters  of  the  glacial 
Lake  Warren  for  a  period  sufficiently  long  to  form  a  well-defined  shore  line, 
the  waves  have  only  removed  or  toned  down  the  lesser  irregularities  of  the 
drift  surface  and  cut  slight  benches  and  built  small  bars  and  spits  on  the 
borders  of  the  drift  knolls.' 

Upon  the  lowering  of  the  lake  level  from  the  Warren  to  the  Iroquois 
beach  this  plain  appears  to  have  been  occupied  by  a  shallow  lake,  which 
discharged  across  the  Niagara  escarpment  at  several  points.  Eventualh' 
the  lake  was  drained  and  the  discharge  from  the  Lake  Erie  Basin  found  its 
way  across  this  plain  b}-  two  main  channels,  one  of  which  crossed  the 
Niagara  escarpment  along  the  line  of  the  Niagara  River,  while  the  other 
took  the  course  followed  by  the  Erie  Canal  to  Lockport,  as  pointed  out  by 
Gilbert."  The  volume  of  water  along  the  chamiel  followed  by  the  Erie 
Canal  is  thought  by  Gilbert  to  have  been  great  and  to  have  been  main- 
tained for  a  considerable  time,  for  it  produced  a  well-defined  channel  and 
carried  a  large  amount  of  material  over  the  escarpment  to  the  lower  plain. 
The  Niagara  route  finally  absorbed  the  entire  drainage,  and  the  falls  are 
now  receding  through  the  plain  between  the  Niagara  and  Corniferous 
escarpments. 

'See  Fairchild:  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  VIII,  1897,  pp.  272-284. 

^  Old  tracks  of  Erian  drainage  in  western  New  York,  by  G.  K.  Gilbert:  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America, 
Vol.  VIII,  1897,  pp.  285-286;  also  Vol.  X,  1899,  p.  129. 


TOPOGRAPHY.  73 

CORNIFEROUS  ESCARPMENT. 

This  escarpment  follows  the  north  border  of  the  outcrop  of  the  Cornif- 
erous  limestoue  from  the  rapids  at  the  head  of  the  Niagara  River  eastward 
past  Williamsville,  Akron,  Indian  Falls,  Batavia,  Fort  Hill,  Muinford,  and 
Garbuttsville,  coming  to  the  Genesee  River  a  short  distance  above  Scotts- 
ville.  The  elevation  above  the  plain  on  the  north  seldom  exceeds  100  feet, 
but  the  escai-pment  is  nearly  continuous.  The  onl)'  noteworthy  break  is  at 
Batavia,  where  occurs  a  gap  about  2  miles  in  widtli  that  was  apparently  the 
old  passage  for  a  stream  which  drained  the  valley  now  occupied  by  the  head- 
water portion  of  Tonawanda  Creek.  The  altitude  of  the  escarpment  is  fully 
900  feet  above  tide  in  the  vicinit}'  of  Batavia,  but  it  declines  to  about  600 
feet  at  Buffalo,  and  to  a  level  nearly  as  low  at  the  Genesee  River. 

There  are  two  notable  falls  on  the  line  of  this  escarpment,  one  at 
Tonawanda  Creek  near  the  village  of  Indian  Falls,  the  other  on  Oatka  or 
Aliens  Creek  near  Fort  Hill.  Each  of  these  falls  has  receded  about  a  mile 
from  the  brow  of  the  escarpment,  leaving  a  narrow  rock  gorge  about  100 
feet  in  depth  in  the  line  of  the  recession.  The  smaller  streams  which  cross 
the  escarpment  also  present  cascades.  In  some  cases  streams  which  cross 
the  Corniferous  limestone  disappear  in  fissures  and  caves  which  open 
out  into  the  lower  plain  north  of  the  escarpment.  In  dry  seasons  the  waters 
of  Aliens  Creek  disappear  in  this  manner  near  Le  Roy,  as  pointed  out  by 
Hall ' 

PLAIN   SOUTH   OF  CORNIFEROUS   ESCARPMENT. 

The  narrow  plain  or  lowland  tract  which  lies  between  the  Corniferous 
escarpment  and  the  hilly  portion  of  western  New  York  extends  westward 
along  the  south  border  of  Lake  Erie  far  into  Ohio,  with  the  same  width  as 
in  western  New  York,  5  to  10  miles.  It  opens  at  the  west  into  the  great 
plain  of  the  interior  portion  of  the  United  States;  it  also  extends  southward 
into  Grand  River  Basin  to  a  distance  of  nearly  40  miles  from  Lake  Erie. 
The  portion  east  of  Buffalo  is  all  that  will  be  considered  under  the  pres- 
ent heading.  It  is  underlain  by  the  shales  of  the  Marcellus  and  Hamilton 
formations,  while  the  plain  along  the  south  border  of  Lake  Erie  is  under- 
lain by  later  formations. 

On  this  plain  there  is  not  a  marked  descent  southward  from  the  brow 

•  New  York  Geol.  Survey,  Fourth  Geol.  District,  1843,  p.  169. 


74  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

of  the  Coriiiferous  escarpment,  such  as  characterizes  the  plam  south  of  the 
Niagara  escarpment.  On  the  contrary,  a  somewhat  rapid  rise  is  found  in 
passing  from  the  Corniferous  escarpment  back  to  the  base  of  the  hills. 
Much  of  the  border  stands  900  to  1,000  feet  above  tide,  or  100  to  300 
feet  or  more  above  the  brow  of  the  Corniferous  escarpment.  Notwithstand- 
ing this  rapid  rise  the  surface  of  the  lowland  is  markedly  less  hilly  than 
that  of  the  region  to  the  south.  The  central  portion  for  a  few  miles  on 
either  side  of  Batavia  stands  above  the  level  of  the  glacial  Lake  Warren, 
but  the  eastern  and  western  portions  were  largely  covered  by  the  waters  of 
that  lake.  The  portion  not  covered  by  Lake  Warren  is  largely  occupied  by 
a  complex  morainic  system,  which  gives  it  a  sharply  inidulatory  expression. 
It  is  probable  that  the  ice  sheet  removed  much  material  from  this  low- 
land and  obliterated  the  preglacial  topography  to  a  marked  degree.  The 
amount  of  drift,  however,  is  so  great  that  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  the 
topography  of  the  underlying  rock  surface.  The  present  rivers  appear  to 
he  largely  independent  of  preglacial  lines  in  their  passage  across  the  low- 
land. 

GRAND   RIVER  BASIN. 

From  near  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  westward  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  there  is  a 
narrow  plain  or  strip  of  lowland  on  the  south  border  of  Lake  Ei-ie,  extend- 
ing back  usually  5  to  10  miles  from  the  lake  shore.  But  in  northeastern 
Ohio  an  arm  or  extension  of  this  plain,  known  as  the  Grand  River  Basin, 
reaches  back  to  the  vicinity  of  Niles,  a  distance  of  about  40  miles  from  the 
lake.  It  is  only  8  to  12  miles  in  width,  and  stands  150  to  300  feet  above 
Lake  Erie.  If,  however,  the  drift  were  removed,  much  of  it  would  be  level 
with  the  lake.  As  indicated  below,  this  basin  appears  to  have  been  the  old 
line  of  discharge  for  a  large  part  of  the  upper  Ohio  watei'shed.  It  is  now 
occupied  throughout  much  of  its  length  by  the  headwater  portion  of  Grand 
River,  a  small  tributary  of  Lake  Erie.  Its  southern  end  is  crossed  by  the 
Mahoning  River,  which  belongs  to  the  present  drainage  system  of  the  Ohio. 
This  basin  is  excavated  in  the  upper  portion  of  the  Ohio  shales  (the  equiva- 
lent of  much  of  the  Chemung  formation)  and  in  the  Waverly,  Berea,  and 
Cuyahoga  shales  and  sandstones.  The  remainder  of  the  plain  bordering 
Lake  Erie  between  Buffalo  and  Cleveland  is  chiefly  in  the  Portage  and 
Chemung  formations,  which  are  the  equivalent  of  the  lower  portion  of  the 
Ohio  shales.     The  softness  of  these  formations  along  the  border  of  Lake 


TOPOGRAPHY.  ,       75 

Erie,  compared  with  their  texture  in  the  districts  farther  east,  accounts 
in  large  part  for  the  low  altitude  to  which  they  have  been  reduced.  It 
is  in  this  basin  that  the  Grand  River  glacial  lobe,  discussed  below,  was 
developed. 

SCIOTO   RIVER  BASIN. 

From  the  western  part  of  Lake  Erie  a  low  belt  extends  southward 
through  the  drainage  basin  of  Sandusky  River  and  thence  across  the  con- 
tinental divide  into  the  region  drained  by  the  Scioto  River,  as  may  be  seen 
by  reference  to  PI.  I.  Its  southern  limits  are  near  the  city  of  Chillicothe, 
where,  as  indicated  above,  the  hill)^  country  extends  across  to  the  west  side 
of  the  Scioto.  Southward  from  the  continental  divide  this  lowland  has  the 
form  of  a  basin  with  well-defined  rims  on  both  the  east  and  the  west,  but 
from  this  divide  northward,  while  the  eastern  rim  continues  prominent,  the 
western  rim  gradually  disappears.  The  basin  proper,  therefore,  lies  mainly 
within  the  Scioto  watershed  and  is  commonly  known  as  the  Scioto  Basin. 
It  is  about  75  miles  in  length  and  40  miles  or  more  in  width. 

There  is  a  rise  of  about  300  feet  in  passing  from  the  shore  of  Lake 
Erie  southward  to  the  continental  divide  near  Marion.  This  rise  is  not 
uniform,  there  being  directly  south  of  Sandusky  an  ascent  of  about  200 
feet  within  10  to  12  miles,  while  not  far  away  on  either  side  nearly 
twice  that  distance  must  be  covered  to  attain  as  great  an  altitude.  From 
this  continental  divide  the  altitude  decreases  gradually  along  the  axis  of  the 
Scioto  Basin  nearly  to  its  southern  end,  but  as  it  amounts  to  only  about 
200  feet  in  50  to  60  miles  the  descent  is  not  perceptible  to  the  eye.  From 
the  Scioto  River  there  is-  a  rise  of  about  300  feet  to  both  the  east  and  the 
west  within  a  distance  of  20  to  25  miles,  yet  this  rise  is  scarcely  perceptible. 

The  eastern  rim  of  the  basin  is  found  at  the  west  border  of  the  hilly 
countrj^,  where  the  resistant  rock  formations  set  in.  It  is  made  somewhat 
regular  by  the  drift  filling,  which  conceals  gaps  between  hills.  The  western 
rim  is  made  up  in  part  of  an  old  rock  divide  and  in  part  of  morainic  accu- 
mulations. Rock  is  struck  at  shallow  depths  on  portions  of  either  rim, 
while  in  other  portions  it  is  covered  to  a  depth  of  250  feet,  or  even  more. 
The  eastern  rim  is  crossed  by  buried  preglacial  valleys  leading  through  to 
the  Scioto  Basin.  It  is  not  entirely  certain  that  such  valleys  lead  across 
the  western  rim.  Natural  exposures  and  borings  indicate  that  the  rim  can 
have  at  most  only  narrow  breaks,  and  it  is  possible  that  a  practicallv  con- 


76  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

tinuoas  preglacial  divide  follows  it  underneath  the  pi'esent  divide.  There 
is  certainly  a  much  g-reater  g-eneral  altitude  of  rock  surface  along-  that  rim 
than  along  the  axis  of  the  basin,  and  a  somewhat  higher  altitude  than  in 
districts  to  the  west. 

The  Scioto  Basin  appears  to  have  been  formed  largely  in  the  Devonian 
shale,  though  the  shales  now  cover  only  a  small  part  of  it,  so  extensive  has 
been  their  removal.  The  western  i-im  of  the  basin  owes  its  relief  chiefly 
to  the  resistance  offered  by  the  limestone  which  underlies  it;  but  the 
morainic  ridges  which  follow  it  aid  perceptibly  in  rendering  it  conspicuous. 
This  basin  was  occupied  by  the  most  prominent  glacial  lobe  of  the  three 
which  were  developed  in  Ohio,  the  Scioto.  Its  influence  in  causing  lobation 
is  considered  in  the  discussion  of  that  lobe. 

MAUMEE  RIVER  BASIN. 

From  the  western  end  of  Lake  Erie  a  low  plain  about  50  miles  in 
width  extends  southwestward  across  northwestern  Ohio  and  northern 
Indiana,  the  altitude  of  whose  rock  surface  is  about  as  low  as  the  surface 
of  the  lake.  The  plain  also  extends  along  the  south  border  of  Lake  Erie 
into  connection  with  the  lowland  tract  along  the  Sandusky  River  above 
described.  Toward  the  south  there  is  a  gradual  rise  in  the  rock  surface  as 
far  as  the  continental  divide  in  northwestern  Ohio,  and  a  similar  rise  is 
found  in  passing  northward  into  Michigan.  In  northern  Indiana  the  basin 
apparently  extends  about  to  the  Wabash  River,  the  altitude  of  the  rock 
surface  being  markedly  higher  in  the  district  south  of  the  river  than  in  that 
on  the  north.  Its  northern  limits  are  at  a  line  passing'  westward  through 
southern  Michigan. 

This  basin,  like  the  Scioto,  was  formed  largely  in  the  Devonian  shale, 
while  the  higher  land  on  its  borders  is  underlain  by  more  resistant  strata, 
that  on  the  south  being  limestone,  while  that  on  the  north  is  largely  sand- 
stone. At  its  eastern  end  it  received  the  Erie  or  Maumee  lobe,  and  the 
western  portion  was  occupied  by  the  Saginaw  lobe,  which  extended  into  it 
from  the  northeast.  The  interlobate  moraine  built  up  between  these  lobes 
rises  in  places  over  600  feet  above  the  level  of  the  rock  floor  of  the  basin. 
The  drift  filling  probably  averages  200  feet  throughout  the  basin. 


TOPOGRAPHY.  77 

UPLAND   PLAIN   OF  WESTERN   OHIO  AND   EASTERN   INDIANA. 

The  preglacial  topography  of  the  remainder  of  the  region  west  of  the 
hilly  country  of  Ohio  is  so  greatly  disguised  by  drift  that  it  must  be  largely 
conjectured  from  well  data.  The  di^ft  usually  overtops  the  old  divides, 
making  it  difficult  to  trace  their  position.  From  the  available  data  it  appears 
that  much  of  western  Ohio  and  eastern  Indiana  had  a  somewhat  uniform 
upland  level  between  800  and  1,000  feet  above  tide,  or  nearly  300  feet 
above  the  lower  portions  of  the  Maumee  and  Scioto  basins.  The  rim  on 
the  western  border  of  the  Scioto  Basin  has  a  rock  surface  standing  in  places 
1,200  to  1,300  feet  above  tide,  but  averaging  scarcely  more  than  1,100  feet. 
There  was  also  an  altitude  of  about  1,100  feet  in  the  high  part  of  Indiana 
near  the  headwaters  of  White  and  Whitewater  rivers,  in  RandoljDh  and 
Wayne  counties.  It  was  at  these  high  parts  of  the  upland  that  reentrants 
were  formed  between  the  ice  lobes,  as  shown  b}^  the  morainic  loops. 

KNOBSTONE   ESCARPMENT  AND    SHALE  BASIN   OF  SOUTHERN   INDIANA. 

At  the  western  border  of  the  region  under  discussion  in  southern 
Indiana  there  is  a  prominent  escarpment  of  the  Waverly  or  Knobstone, 
facing  a  low  basin  formed  in  the  Devonian  shales.  Its  highest  points, 
however,  are  but  little  more  than  1,000  feet  above  tide,  and  its  general 
elevation  is  about  900  feet.  Its  prominence  is  due,  therefore,  not  to  great 
altitude,  but  to  the  contrast  with  the  low-lying  basin  on  its  border.  This 
basin  stands  scarcely  more  than  500  feet  above  tide  and  is  so  narrow  as  to 
resemble  a  broad  river  valley.  It  was  apparently  formed,  however,  by 
subaerial  degradation  rather  than  by  active  stream  corrasion.  That  it  was 
not  formed  by  glacial  action  is  shown  by  its  having  in  the  unglaciated  dis- 
tricts about  the  same  depth  and  breadth  as  in  the  glaciated 

HILLY  COUNTRY. 

The  topography  of  the  hilly  portion  of  the  region  under  discussion 
appears  to  be  as  largely  due  to  the  action  of  streams  and  ordinary  subaerial 
degradation  as  that  of  the  plain  portion.  The  folds,  faults,  or  other  disturb- 
ances of  the  strata  have  been  in  neither  case  sufficient  to  produce  an 
appreciable  effect.  The  writer  has  been  unable  to  discern  remnants  of  a 
peneplain  in  anj^  part  of  this  hilly  country.  The  highest  hills  probably 
stand  somewhat  below  the  old  Cretaceous  peneplain  so  well  displayed  on 


78  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  border  of  the  southern  portion  of  the  Appalachian  Mountain  system. 
The  slowness  of  the  breaking  down  of  the  hilly  country,  compared  with  that 
of  the  bordering  plain  country,  as  above  noted,  seems  due  to  the  more 
resistant  nature  of  its  rocks.  Had  its  strata  been  as  soluble  and  friable  as 
those  of  the  plain  c(iuntry  its  surface  would  probably  have  been  reduced 
to  a  level  correspondingly  low.  Had  there  been  greater  uniformity  in  tex- 
ture these  formations,  like  the  limestone  formations,  might  present  a  near 
approach  to  a  plain.  But  their  variability  has  caused  an  uneven  degradation 
which  has  resulted  in  the  development  of  a  hilly  country.  The  uplands, 
the  slopes,  and  the  valley  bottoms  have  each  developed  types  of  topography 
consistent  with  the  varying  resistance  of  the  rock  strata  which  underlie  or 
border  them. 

The  amount  of  drift  is  so  great  on  the  border  of  this  hilly  country  as 
to  obscui-e  to  a  considerable  extent  the  topography  of  the  rock  surface. 
But  toward  the  glacial  boundary  the  concealment  becomes  less,  and  oppor- 
tunity is  afforded  for  comparing  the  rock  contours  of  the  glaciated  with 
those  of  the  unglaciated  tracts.  This  comparison  has  shown  the  modifica- 
tion by  glacial  erosion  to  be  surprisingly  small  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
glacial  boundary.  It  will  be  very  difficult  to  determine  the  extent  of  gla- 
ciation  by  a  study  of  topographic  maps.  Take,  for  example,  the  Olean 
quadrangle,  New  York  (PI.  IV),  which  embraces  both  glaciated  and  ungla- 
ciated tracts.  The  changes  produced  by  glacial  erosion  are  so  few  and 
so  slight  that  neither  a  map  nor  a  study  on  the  ground  makes  the  extent 
of  glaciation  clear.  It  is  determined  only  by  a  careful  search  for  glacial 
dei)0sits. 

The  hills  occasionally  present  abrupt  slopes,  or  even  mural  faces,  where 
the  hard  ledges  outcrop,  but  usually  they  rise  with  gentle  grade  and  give 
generally  the  impression  of  a  moderately  rolling  country.  A  considerable 
part  of  the  region  may  be  easily  brought  under  cultivation,  and  it  is  already 
largely  an  agricultural  district. 

The  breadth  of  the  dividing  ridges  is  subject  to  much  variation  on 
account  of  differences  in  resistance  of  the  rock  strata.  If  hard  strata  lie 
near  the  surface  a  broader  divide  may  be  expected  than  where  the  rocks 
are  soft.  It  is  not  necessary,  however,  that  the  uppermost  rock  should  be 
hard.  Often  a  hard  ledge  extending  from  the  brow  of  the  bluff  back  beneath 
the  divide  serves  as  a  table  to  support  softer  strata  which  cover  it.     Similarly, 


TOPOGRAPHY.  79 

the  hills  and  knobs  may  have  soft  beds  at  the  top  which  are  supported  by 
hard  ones  that  outcrop  along  the  side.  Near  the  north  end  of  the  hilly 
country  in  western  New  York  the  hard  sandstones  of  the  Portage  group 
have  withstood  denuding  action  to  a  remark;able  degree,  as  shown  in  the 
following  description  by  Hall:^ 

These  often  extend  northward  on  the  elevated  grounds  between  the  deep  north- 
and-south  valleys,  presenting  a  gentle  northern  slope  to  the  shales  of  the  Hamilton 
group,  while  on  the  sides  of  the  same  hills  the  slope  is  abrupt,  and  the  surface  being 
but  little  covered  with  northern  drift,  the  valleys  are  bounded  on  either  side  hj 
steep  hills. 

This  character  is  well  illustrated  along  the  southern  part  of  the  Genesee  Valley 
toward  Dansville,  and  in  the  valleys  of  Allen  Creek,  the  Tonawanda,  and  the  different 
branches  of  the  Seneca  and  Cayuga  creeks.  The  valleys  just  spoken  of,  in  their 
course  through  the  Hamilton  group,  present  gently  sloping  sides,  and  the  country 
rarelj^  rises  above  the  level  of  the  valley  bottom  or  bed  of  the  stream.  On  approach- 
ing the  northern  margin  of  the  Portage  group  the  observer  finds  gradual!}'  increas- 
ing elevation  of  the  hills  on  either  side  and  an  abruptness  of  their  slope,  and  in  a 
short  time  he  finds  l^imself  in  a  deep  valle}',  bounded  on  either  side  b}-  hills  rising 
400  or  500  feet,  and  in  some  instances  even  800  feet  above  the  level  of  the  stream. 

The  upland  surface  presents  numerous  low  passes  which  cross  the 
divides  and  have  cols  or  saddles  in  some  cases  standing  several  hundred 
feet  below  the  highest  points  on  the  bordering  uplands.  The  low  altitude 
of  the  passes  strongly  supports  the  interpretation  that  the  hilly  region  would 
have  been  reduced  to  a  level  in  harmony  with  that  of  the  bordering  plain 
country  if  the  strata  had  been  correspondingly  weak.  Several  of  these 
passes  are  represented  on  the  map  of  the  Olean  quadrangle  (PL  IV).  They 
may  be  seen  in  all  parts  of  the  hilly  country  both  outside  and  inside  the 
glacial  boundary.  They  are  therefore  not  dependent  upon  glacial  erosion, 
though  some  within  the  glacial  boundary  (including  those  of  the  Olean 
quadrangle)  may  to  a  slight  degree  be  modified  by  glacial  action. 

There  are  within  the  glaciated  region  several  low  tracts  leading  across 
the  continental  divide  in  western  New  York,  noi'thwestern  Pennsylvania, 
and  northeastern  Ohio.  A  few  occur  also  in  the  district  north  of  Cattaraugus 
Creek,  in  western  New  York,  and  they  are  not  rare  between  French  Creek 
and  the  Allegheny  in  western  Pennsylvania,  as  well  as  in  the  districts 
farther  south  and  west.  They  may  in  some  cases  be  old  lines  of  drainage, 
but  in  most  cases  they  probably  pass  over  old  water  partings.  The  great 
majority  are  so  heavily  filled  with  drift,  the  filling  not  infrequently  being 

'New  York  Geol.  Survey,  Fourth  Geol.  District,  1843,  p.  225. 


80  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

200  feet  or  more,  that  it  is  a  difficult  matter  to  locate  the  precise  position  ol 
tlie  old  divides.  The  term  "  through-cut  valleys  "  has  been  applied  to  them, 
but  this  seems  an  inappropriate  name  for  such  as  have  rock  floors  sloping  in 
opposite  directions  from  a  concealed  divide.  They  differ  from  abandoned 
channels,  which  are  of  somewhat  freqiient  occurrence  in  the  portions  of  the 
region  where  the  drift  is  heavy,  for  in  these  channels  the  rock  floor  has  a 
slope  in  but  one  direction,  there  being  no  old  divides  buried  along  their 
courses.     Several  of  the  abandoned  channels  will  be  discussed  below. 

The  valleys  of  this  hilly  country  present  marked  differences  in  topog- 
raphy. In  some  valleys  the  slopes  from  top  to  bottom  have  a  mature 
aspect,  while  in  others  the  upper  part  of  the  slope  is  mature  but  the  lower 
part  is  gorge-like  and  youthful  in  appearance.  The  phenomena  suggest  at 
once  that  some  valleys  have  remained  below  the  level  of  stream  cutting 
AA'hile  others  have  been  undergoing  a  marked  trenching.  In  those  which 
have  been  deepened  the  old  valley  bottoms  are  traceable  as  terraces  along 
the  brow  of  the  rock  gorges  or  canyon  valleys,  for  the  old  valleys  are 
generall)'  broader  than  the  new  ones.  In  some  cases,  however,  the  new 
valleys  occvipy  the  full  width  of  the  bottoms  of  the  old  ones,  and  there  is 
onlv  the  change  in  the  angle  of  slope  of  the  valley  bluff  to  mark  the  depth 
reached  by  the  old  valley.  There  is  in  some  valleys  a  series  of  complex 
terraces  or  rock  shelves,  of  which  one  set  or  system  stands  at  the  brow  or 
border  of  the  canyon  valley  and  the  others  at  liigher  altitudes.  There  are 
also  in  some  cases  rock  shelves  inside  the  trenches  of  the  canyon  valleys. 
The  set  of  terraces  standing  at  the  brow  of  the  canyon  valley  is,  however, 
a  far  more  persistent  feature  than  any  of  the  others,  and  it  is  this  set  which 
receives  chief  attention  in  the  ensuing  discussion  of  drainage  systems.  It 
seems  to  mark  a  true  gradation  plain,  formed  when  the  stream  was  in  a  con- 
dition between  degrading  and  aggrading  its  bed.^ 

Let  us  turn  to  this  region  for  a  few  general  illustrations  of  the  above 

statements.     It  may  be  noted  that  in  western  New  York  and  the  northwest 

conier  of  Pennsylvania  the  gradation  plains  have  been  buried  beneath  the 

heavy  accumulations  of  drift,  so  that  the  streams  are  now  flowing  at  levels 

far  above  them.     The  same  is  true  of  much  of  the  glaciated  portion  of  the 

hilly  region  in  Ohio.     On  the  middle  portion  of  the  Allegheny  drainage 
/ 

1  For  use  of  terms  see  W.  M.  Davis:  Jour.  Geol.,  Vol.  II,  1894,  p.  77;  also  Chaniberlin  and  Leverett 
.\in.  .lour.  Sci.,  3d  series.  Vol.  XLVII,  1894,  p.  255. 


TOPOGRAPHY.  81 

system  gradation  plains  and  present  streaiu  beds  are  more  nearly  coinci- 
dent, but  on  the  lower  Allegheny,  the  Monongahela,  the  tributaries  of 
these  streams,  the  Ohio,  and  its  southern,  and  smaller  northern,  as  well  as 
the  lower  courses  of  its  large  northern,  tributaries  the  gradation  plains  stand 
above  the  present  streams.  The  Ohio  and  Allegheny,  as  shown  below, 
have  been  foi'med  by  the  combination  of  several  drainage  systems  which 
were  more  or  less  independent.  In  accord  with  and  in  support  of  this 
interpretation  the  slope  of  the  gradation  plains  is  found  to  be  out  of  har- 
mony with  the  present  Allegheny-Ohio  system,  but  in  harmony  with 
certain  ancient  systems  whose  extent  and  connections  are  outlined  below. 

MON  XLI 6 


CHAPTEE     III. 

DRAINAGE    SYSTEMS. 

SECTION    I.     OHIO    RIVER    SYSTEM. 

This  great  river  system,  with  an  area  of  over  200,000  square  miles, 
drains  all  of  the  region  under  discussion  except  a  narrow  strip  on  the  north, 
which  is  ti'ibutar}^  to  the  Grreat  Lakes.  Its  drainage  area  also  extends 
eastward  to,  and  in  places  slightly  beyond,  the  crest  of  the  Allegheny 
Mountains  and  southward  to  the  border  of  the  Gulf  States.  Only  the 
part  which  has  been  glaciated  or  somewhat  directly  affected  by  glaciation 
will  fall  within  the  limits  of  the  present  discussion,  and  of  this  part  space 
will  permit  the  treatment  of  only  the  more  salient  features.  The  valley  of 
the  Ohio  is  first  discussed,  and  then  the  northern  tributaries  are  taken  in 
succession,  beginning  with  the  Allegheny  and  passing  westward  to  the 
Wabash. 

OHIO     RIVER. 

RATE   OF   F.\LL. 

The  Ohio  River,  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  Allegheny  and  Monon- 
gahela  at  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  and  connecting  with  the  Mississippi  at  Cairo,  111., 
has  a  length  of  967  miles.^  It  falls  from  701  feet  above  tide  at  Pittsburg 
to  275  feet  at  Cairo,  or  426  feet,  which  is  but  little  more  than  5  inches  per 
mile.  The  fall,  however,  is  somewhat  irregular.  In  the  first  15  miles  it  is 
about  lb  inches  per  mile,  and  in  the  first  26  miles,  to  Beaver,  16  inches. 
From  Beaver  to  Wheeling,  64  miles,  it  is  reduced  to  about  10  inches  per 
mile,  and  from  Wheeling  to  the  head  of  the  Louisville  Rapids,  507  miles, 
to  5  inches  per  mile.     At  the  rapids  a  descent  of  23.09  feet  is  made  in 

^  A  table  exhibiting  the  profile  of  the  Ohio  River  appears  in  the  report  of  the  U.  S.  Army  Engi- 
neers on  the  surve}'  of  the  Ohio  River  for  1870-71  (House  Doc.  No.  72,  Forty-first  Congress,  third 
session,  January,  1871,  pp.  139-153).  Corrections  for  elevations  at  important  points  on  the  Ohio  are 
represented  on  a  map  of  the  State  of  Ohio  and  adjacent  territory,  which  accompanies  a  report  by  Capt. 
H.  M.  Chittenden  on  the  survey  of  the  canal  routes  in  Ohio  (House  Doc.  No.  278,  Fifty-fourth 
Congress,  first  session,  March,  1896).  A  profile  from  Pittsburg  to  Wheeling,  correcting  that  part  of 
the  earlier  surveys,  accompanies  Appendix  DD  of  Ann.  Rept.  U.  S.  Army  Engineers  for  1889,  p.  1872. 
A  diagram  and  table  showing  the  profile  of  the  Ohio  River  are  in  Water-Supply  and  Irrigation  Papers  of 
the  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  44,  Rivers  in  the  United  States,  by  Henry  Gannett,  pp.  41-43,  P).  V. 
82 


RATE  OF  FALL  OF  OHIO  RIVER.  83 

2.25  miles.  Below  the  rapids,  in  the  367  miles  to  its  mouth,  the  fall  of  the 
stream  is  but  3  inches  ^aer  mile. 

In  addition  to  the  Louisville  Rapids  there  are  several  other  rapids 
v^here  the  stream  makes  a  descent  of  a  few  feet  over  rock.  But  these  rock 
rapids  appear,  in  most  if  not  all  cases,  to  be  simply  shelves  on  the  border  of 
channels  which  extend  below  the  river  bed.  Through  a  partial  filling  of 
the  valley  with  glacial  gravel  and  sand  the  stream  has  been  directed  across 
the  shelves  or  rock  points  on  its  borders.  In  the  case  of  the  Louisville 
Rapids  an  old  channel  has  been  traced  past  their  south  border  through 
the  city  of  Louisville.^  At  Letart  Falls,  a  few  miles  above  Pomeroy, 
Ohio,  where  there  are  rock  rapids  with  about  3  feet  descent,  it  is  found  by 
well  data  that  the  rock  drops  off  toward  the  Ohio  side  of  the  valley  to  a 
level  25  feet  or  more  below  the  low-water  surface  of  the  stream.  Similar 
conditions  are  found  at  Cincinnati,  Gallipolis,  and  Steubenville,  Ohio; 
Parkersburg  and  Ravenswood,  W.  Va.;   and  Rising  Sun,  Ind. 

The  river  bed  presents  an  interesting  series  of  shoals  and  riffles,  sepa- 
rated ,  by  pools  in  which  the  water  is  deeper  and  the  fall  very  low.  The 
summary  of  the  profile  made  by  the  army  engineers  shows  187  pools  with 
a  depth  of  more  than  7  feet  at  low  water,  which  occupy  632.5  miles,  an 
average  of  3.47  miles  to  each  pool.  In  these  pools  the  rate  of  fall  is  in 
some  cases  less  than  1  inch  per  mile,  though  the  usual  descent  is  about  2 
inches.  At  the  riffles  the  descent  seldom  exceeds  2  feet  per  mile,  but  at 
Ueadmans  Riffle,  14  miles  below  Pittsburg,  a  descent  of  4.41  feet  is  made 
in  0.65  mile;  and  at  Letart  Falls  a  descent  of  3.2  feet  is  made  within  a 
mile;  while  at  the  rapids  at  Louisville  there  is,  as  above  noted,  a  descent  of 
23.09  feet  in  2.25  miles. 

The  depth  of  the  rock  iloor  of  the  Ohio  beneath  the  level  of  the 
present  stream  is  generally  between  30  and  60  feet,  though  there  are  points 
in  the  lower  course  where  it  is  known  to  reach  75  feet.  Although  several 
rock  formations,  which  diff'er  greatly  in  their  power  to  resist  stream  corra- 
sion,  are  encountered  in  its  course  from  Pittsburg  to  Cairo,  the  effect  on 
the  giadient  of  the  stream  is  scarcely  appreciable.  It  appears  that  the 
present  Ohio  Valley  had  become  sufficiently  mature  at  the  time  of  the 

'Data  on  this  channel  were  furnished  the  writer  by  Prof.  William  J.  Davis,  of  the  Louisville 
school  board,  and  by  Messrs.  John  Ryan  and  John  C.  Oestrich,  of  the  Louisville  Pump  Works.  Data 
collected  by  C.  E.  Siebenthal  suggest  another  channel  north  of  Jeffersonville,  Indiana.  See  Kept. 
Geol.  Survey  Indiana  for  1900,  pp.  359-364. 


84  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

latest  glacial  filling  to  have  its  valley  bottom  or  rock  floor  reduced  to  a 
somewhat  regular  and  rather  low  gradient. 

EFFECT   OF   KOCK   RESISTANCE   ON   SIZE   O.F   VALLEY. 

The  variable  resistance  offered  by  the  rock  formations  has  produced 
an  appreciable  effect  on  the  size  of  the  valley.  It  ranges  in  width  from  less 
than  a  mile  up  to  5  or  6  miles,  and  in  depth  from  scarcely  100  feet  up  to 
about  800  feet.  It  is  narrow  in  the  deep  portions  as  well  as  in  its  passage 
across  hard  or  resistant  rocks,  and  broad  in  the  shallow  portions,  which  are 
generally  excavated  in  shales  or  other  soft  or  easily  disintegrated  rocks. 
Where  the  rocks  are  very  easily  disintegrated  the  uplands  are  greatly 
broken  down  for  some  distance  back  from  the  immediate  bluffs  of  the 
stream,  thus  giving  the  valley  the  appearance  of  being  smaller  than  it  really 
is;  but  a  full  restoration  of  the  original  surface  in  these  soft  formations 
would  require  decidedly  more  filling  than  in  the  hard  formations.  The 
effect  of  rock  resistance  is  discussed  in  more  detail  below  in  connection  with 
the  several  valleys  or  valley  factors  which  were  antecedent  to  the  present 
Ohio. 

ROCK    ISLANDS   IN   THE   VALLEY. 

In  addition  to  the  rock  ledges  which  the  present  stream  encounters 
there  are  several  noteworthy  rock  islands  in  the  valley  which  promise  to 
throw  considerable  light  upon  the  drainage  history.  One  at  the  head  of 
the  Ohio,  in  Allegheny,  Pa.,  called  Monument  Hill,  reaches  a  height  of 
nearly  200  feet  above  the  river,  and  is  separated  from  the  north  bluff  by  a 
channel  less  than  one-half  mile  in  widtli,  in  which  there  is  a  gravel  filling 
extending  below  the  level  of  the  present  stream.  Monument  Hill  appears 
to  be  a  remnant  of  an  old  gradation  plain,  and  the  river  there  has  simply 
cut  a  double  channel  in  its  old  bottom. 

Passing  over  "  McKees  Rocks,"  which  stand  on  the  south  side  of  the 
stream  about  6  miles  below  Pittsburg,  and  seem  once  to  have  been  con- 
nected with  the  north  bluff,  the  next  prominent  rock  island  is  opposite 
Steubenville,  Ohio.  This  island  reaches  a  height  of  450  feet  above  the 
river,  but  is  crossed  by  an  old  gradation  plain  of  Harmons  Creek,  an  eastern 
tributary  of  the  Ohio,  which  stands  about  350  feet  above  the  river.  The 
present  stream  occupies  only  the  channel  on  the  west  side  of  the  island. 
The  length  of  the  island  is  about  2  miles,  and  the  width  is  scarcely  half  a 


us.  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


MO>)OGRAPH  XLI   PL  V 


TOPOdlUPHIC  MAI>  SHOWING  I)RAINA(;E  FKATl'RES  NEAR  CINCINNATI.  OHIO 


Contour  inter^'al  20  feet 
Datum  is  ftiMin.  aea.  U\-e/ 


ROCK  ISLANDS  IN  OHIO  VALLEY.  85 

mile.  Like  Monument  Hill,  it  is  separated  from  the  uplands  east  of  the 
river  by  a  narrow  channel,  less  than  half  a  mile  in  average  width,  with  a 
gravel  filling  that  extends  down  about  to  river  level.  The  cause  for  the 
excavation  of  a  double  channel  at  this  place  is  not  yet  apparent. 

Opposite  the  mouth  of  Middle  Island  Creek,  which  enters  the  Ohio  at 
St.  Marys,  W.  Va.,  a  rock  island  is  found  on  the  Ohio  side  which  stands 
about  300  feet  above  the  river.  If  is  separated  from  high  land  on  the 
north  by  a  channel  about  one-third  of  a  mile  in  width,  whose  surface  is 
only  50  to  60  feet  above  the  river,  and  is  still  utilized  at  extreme  high 
water.  It  is  probable  that  this  island  has  been  cut  oif  from  the  uplands  on 
the  north  by  the  encroachments  of  the  Ohio  River.  The  stream  is  now 
encroaching  upon  the  east  side  of  the  island,  and  it  appears  formerly  to 
have  made  an  ox-bow  cm-ve,  which  encroached  on  its  west  side. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Kanawha  River,  at  Parkersburg,  W.  Va., 
there  is  a  rock  island  which  stands  about  180  feet  above  the  river.  It  is 
separated  from  the  east  bluff  by  a  gravel-filled  valley  about  one-half  mile 
wide,  whose  surface  is  75  to  80  feet  above  the  river.  The  width  of  this 
channel  is  onl}:'  one-third  as  great  as  that  occupied  by  the  Ohio  west  of  the 
island,  but  about  the  same  as  the  valley  of  the  Little  Kanawha  south  of  the 
island,  and  it  may  have  been  excavated  by  the  latter  stream.  Well  data 
suggest,  though  they  are  not  full  enough  to  demonstrate,  that  the  abandoned 
channel  has  a  lower  rock  floor  than  the  present  channel  of  Little  Kanawha. 
This  being  the  case,  the  island  has  probably  been  cut  off  from  the  upland 
south  of  the  Little  Kanawha  River.  Encroachments,  either  by  the  Little 
Kanawha  or  by  the  Ohio,  may  have  opened  a  passage  for  the  present 
course  of  the  stream. 

An  island  or  irregular  group  of  hills  in  the  north  part  of  Cincinnati, 
known  as  Walnut  Hills,  stands  300  to  400  feet  above  the  river  and  sepa- 
rates a  broad  abandoned  channel  on  the  north  from  the  narrower  present 
valley  of  the  Ohio  on  the  south  (see  PI.  V).  At  the  west  it  is  bounded  by 
Mill  Creek  Valley.  The  Walnut  Hills  island  apparently  once  had  connec- 
tion with  the  uplands  south  of  the  Ohio,  between  the  Licking  and  Ohio 
rivers,  but  through  a  diversion  of  the  Ohio  has  been  separated  from  those 
uplands.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  old  Ohio  appears 
to  have  taken  a  northward  course  from  Walnut  Hills  to  the  Great  Miami 
near  Hamilton,  Ohio,  and  to  have  received  the  Licking  through  the  lower 


86  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

course  of  Mill  Creek  (reversed),  along  the  west  border  of  Walnut  Hills. 
The  triangular  tract  lying  between  Mill  Creek,  Great  Miami  River,  and 
Ohio  River,  and  comprising  several  townships  of  Hamilton  County,  Ohio, 
is  also  surrounded  by  stream  channels  as  completely  as  Walnut  Hills,  and 
apparently  for  the  same  reason,  the  present  course  of  the  Ohio  from  the 
mouth  of  Mill  Creek  to  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami  being  comparatively 
new.     This  matter  is  discussed  more  fully  later  (pp.  116-118). 

A  few  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami  River  a  rock  island 
appears  on  the  Kentucky  side,  and  rises  about  200  feet  above  the  river. 
It  is  separated  from  the  east  blutf  by  a  channel  nearly  one-fourth  mile  in 
width  which  stands  scarcely  100  feet  above  the  stream.  Well  data  indicate 
that  its  rock  floor  is  above  river  level.  The  island  seems  to  have  been  cut 
off  from  the  east  bluff  by  the  Ohio,  probably  because  glacial  deposits  filled 
the  main  channel  sufficiently  to  give  the  stream  opportunity  to  flow  on  each 
side  of  the  land  which  forms  this  island.  These  deposits  filled  the 
main  channel  in  that  vicinity  to  a  height  of  150  to  200  feet  above  the 
stream. 

Immediately  above  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  River,  and  back  of  the 
city  of  CarroUton,  Ky.,  there  is  an  island  or  prominent  group  of  hills  stand- 
ing 200  to  300  feet  above  the  Ohio,  and  now  separated  from  the  uplands 
to  the  east  by  a  gap  one-half  mile  wide  that  has  been  filled  with  glacial 
deposits  to  a  height  of  100  to  150  feet.  This  separation  was  probably 
effected  by  the  encroachments  of  the  Ohio  and  Kentucky  rivers.  The 
gap  is  much  narrower  than  the  valley  of  either  the  Ohio  or  the  Kentucky, 
and  this  seems  to  indicate  that  it  is  not  an  old  line  of  drainage. 

Just  below  Madison,  Ind.,  thei'e  is  a  rock  island  nearly  300  feet  in 
height,  separated  from  the  north  bluff  by  a  channel  only  half  as  wide  as 
the  present  stream.  This  channel,  though  now  above  the  reach  of  the 
river,  may  have  been  utilized  down  to  comparatively  recent  times.  The 
opening  of  the  channel  was  perhaps  begun  by  a  small  tributary  of  the  river 
which  now  enters  just  above  the  island,  but  a  fully  satisfactory  interpreta- 
tion has  not  been  made. 

Some  of  the  most  conspicuous  of  the  island-like  uplands  are  found 
where  the  Ohio  leaves  the  resistant  conglomerate  Coal  Measures  and  enters 
the  friable  Coal  Measures.  These  are  well  shown  on  the  Owensboro  topo- 
graphic sheet  (PI.  VI,  in  pocket),  and  have  been  discussed  in  some  detail 


KOCK  ISLANDS  IN  OHIO  VALLEY.  87 

by  Veatch/  From  Rockport  the  main  channel,  with  a  width  of  2J  to  4 
miles,  takes  a  southward  course  to  Owensboro,  while  a  narrower  channel, 
known  as  Lake  Drain  or  Lake  Plain,  leads  westward  and  connects  with  the 
lower  course  of  Little  Pigeon  Valley  through  a  channel  which  is  reduced  at 
its  narrowest  place  to  a  width  of  about  two-thirds  of  a  mile.  The  island 
inclosed  by  these  two  channels  and  the  lower  course  of  Little  Pigeon  Creek 
rises  barely  to  the  500-foot  contour,  while  the  Lake  Drain  channel  falls 
slightly  below  400  feet.  The  river  at  Rockport  is  about  345  feet  at  low 
water,  or  only  50  feet  below  this  channel,  while  at  the  highest  floods  it  passes 
through  the  channel.  Another  much  smaller  island,  known  as  the  Bon 
Harbor  Hills,  appears  on  the  Kentucky  side  of  the  river  west  of  Owensboro, 
and  stands  in  the  midst  of  the  broad  valley.  It  rises  slightly  above  the 
500-foot  contour.  The  channel  back  of  it  falls  a  little  below  the  400-foot 
contour,  having  very  nearly  the  same  altitude  as  the  Lake  Drain  channel. 
There  is  some  vuicertainty  as  to  the  interpretation  of  this  peculiar  drainage. 
The  Bon  Harbor  Hills  are  separated  from  uplands  on  either  side  by  such 
broad  channels,  their  width  in  each  case  being  neai-ly  3  miles,  that  this  hilly 
tract  seems  likely  to  have  been  an  isolated  one  for  a  long  period.  But  the 
hills  back  of  Rockport  appear  to  have  become  separated  in  comparatively 
recent  times  from  the  uplands  to  the  north.  Possibly  the  separation  took 
place  after  the  partial  filling  of  the  Ohio  Valley  with  loess.  It  will  be 
observed  that  the  local  divides  are  broken  down  in  that  vicinity  to  an  altitude 
so  low  that  but  a  slight  amount  of  valley  filling  would  be  necessary  to  make 
it  possible  for  a  stream  to  be  diverted  across  them.  There  are  several 
island-like  tracts  along  the  borders  of  the  Ohio  Valley  west  of  the  limits  of 
the  Owensboro  quadrangle,  one  of  which,  near  Shawneetown,  Illinois,  is  as 
conspicuous  as  either  of  the  tracts  shown  in  this  quadrangle,  but  the  majority 
are  low  and  of  small  area.  The  history  of  their  development  is  not  as  yet 
understood. 

This  somewhat  hasty  sketch  of  the  present  valley  leaves  untouched  a 
number  of  important  features  which  throw  light  upon  the  development  of 
this  great  river,  and  these  will  now  be  considered.  The  several  antecedent 
drainage  systems  are  taken  up  m  order,  beginning  with  the  Upper  Ohio 
and  passing  westward  to  the  lower  course  of  the  river. 

'Arthur  C.  Veatch:  Jour.  Geo!.,  Vol.  VI,  1898,  pp.  257-272. 


GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


UPPER   OHIO    OK   OLD   MONONGAHELA    SYSTEM. 

THE    OLD    DIVIDE.  ' 

For  some  years  it  has  been  considered  highly  probable  that  the  Ohio 
has  been  thrown  across  an  old  divide  somewhere  on  the  projecting  portion 
or  "Panhandle"  of  West  Virginia,  but  the  precise  position  of  the  divide  has 
remained  in  question.  It  has  also  been  held  as  probable  that  the  portion 
of  the  Ohio  above  this  supposed  divide,  together  with  the  Monongahela 
and  the  lower  part  of  the  Allegheny,  had  their  former  discharge  northward, 
along  a  line  leading  through  the  Beaver  and  Grand  river  valleys  of  western 
Pennsylvania  and  northeastern  Ohio,  to  the  basin  of  Lake  Erie,  forming 
what  has  been  aptly  termed  the  old  Monongahela  system  of  di-ainage,  the 
Monongahela  being  the  main  affluent.'  The  apparent  extent  of  this  old 
drainage  system  is  indicated  in  fig.  1. 

The  portion  of  the  Ohio  Valley  in  the  80  miles  along  the  Panhandle 
and  for  50  miles  farther  down  receives  no  large  tributaries,  the  sources  of 
the  streams,  from  both  Ohio  and  West  Virginia,  being  usually  within  25  to 
30  miles  of  the  river.  This  feature  of  itself  should  arouse  suspicion  that 
this  tract  has  been  the  headwaters  of  old  drainage  systems.  An  examination 
of  the  altitudes  of  its  bluffs  and  of  the  bordering  uplands  confirms  the 
suspicion,  for  they  are  found  to  be  higher  than  the  bluffs  and  the  uplands 
bordering  the  Monongahela  to  the  east  and  the  Muskingum  to  the  west,  and 

'  The  following  reports  and  papers  discuss  or  touch  upon  this  subject: 

Discovery  of  the  preglacial  outlet  of  the  basin  of  Lake  Erie  into  Lake  Ontario,  by  J.  W.  Spencer; 
Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Kept.  Q*,  1881,  pp.  357-406,  especially  pp.  387  and  405-406. 
Same  paper  appears  in  Proc.  Am.  Philos.  Soc,  Vol.  XIX,  1882,  pp.  300-337. 

Preglacial  drainage  and  recentgeologichistorj'of  western  Pennsylvania,  by  P.  MaxFoshay:  Am." 
Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series.  Vol.  XL,  1890,  pp.  397-403. 

Pleistocene  fluvial  plains  of  western  Pennsylvania,  by  Frank  Leverett:  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series, 
Vol.  XLII,  1891,  pp.  200-212. 

Further  studies  of  the  drainage  features  of  the  Upper  Ohio  Basin,  by  T.  C.  Chamberlin  and  Frank 
Leverett:  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series.  Vol.  XL VII,  1894,  pp.  247-283. 

Origin  of  the  high  terrace  deposits  of  the  Monongahela  River,  by  I.  C.  White:  Am.  Geologist, 
Vol.  XVIII,  1896,  pp.  368-379. 

Descriptions  of  terraces  in  that  region  may  be  found  in  the  following  reports  and  papers  by 
J.  J.  Stevenson:  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Eepts.  K,  1876,  pp.  11-19,  and  K',  1878,  pp.  251- 
263;  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series.  Vol.  XV,  1878,  pp.  245-250;  Proc.  Am.  Philos.  Soc,  Vol.  XVIII,  1880, 
pp.  283-316.  Also  in  the  following  reports  and  papers  by  I.  C.  White:  Second  Geol.  Survey  Penn- 
sylvania, Kept.  Q,  1878,  pp.  9-17;  and  Kept.  Q*,  1879,  pp.  10-20;  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series.  Vol. 
XXXIV,  1887,  pp.  374-381;  also  discussions  of  drainage  features  incorporated  in  the  detailed  geology 
of  the  several  counties  of  western  Pennsylvania  covered  by  Eepts.  Q,  Q^,  Q',  and  Q''  of  the  Second 
Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania. 


UPPER  OHIO  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM. 


89 


yet  are  located  in  similar  rock  formations.  The  uplands  also  show  an 
increase  in  height  in  passing  down  the  Ohio  from  western  Pennsylvania  to 
the  southern  end  of  the  Panhandle  near  New  Martinsville,  W.  Va.,  the 
altitude  of  local  divides  between  the  tributaries  in  western  Pennsylvania 
being  about  1,300  feet,  with  occasional  points  1,400  feet  within  a  few  miles 
back  from  the  river,  while  in  the  vicinity  of  New  Martinsville  the  divides 
attain  an  altitude  of  fully  1,400  feet  on 
the  immediate  borders  of  the  river  and 
about  1,600  feet  within  a  few  miles 
east.  Below  New  Martinsville  the  alti- 
tude declines  rapidly,  falling  to  1,000 
feet  or  less  in  the  50  miles  to  Marietta. 

The  trend  of  the  tributaries  also 
suggests  a  reversal  of  drainage  along 
the  Panhandle.  From  the  most  ele- 
vated parts,  near  New  Martinsville, 
northward  to  the  end  of  the  Panhandle, 
they  show  a  decided  tendency  to  point 
up  the  valley  at  their  junction  with 
the  Ohio,  as  may  be  seen  by  reference 
to  fig.  2. 

If,  therefore,  attention  were  given 
simply  to  altitudes  of  bordering  uplands 
and  to  the  trend  of  the  tributaries  of 
the  Ohio,  the  old  divide  would  be 
located  near  New  Martinsville.  It  was 
from  these  criteria  that  this  location  of 
the  divide  was  sug-gested  by  Chamber- 

hn  and  the  writer  m  1894.  While  fig.  l.—Probable  preglaclal  drainage  of  the  upper  Ohlo 
,1  •        ,'11  J.      1  1  1  region.    (Chamberlinand  Leverett.) 

this  still  appears  to  have  been  an  early 

divide,  subsequent  study  of  the  gradation  plains  and  valley  deposits  has 
led  to  the  impression  that  the  divide  had  migrated  before  the  establish- 
ment of  the  present  drainage.  The  gradation  plains  along  the  Panhandle 
show  an  exceptional  intricacy.  Instead  of  a  single  prominent  system  of 
gradation  plains,  such  as  is  commonly  displayed  in  the  Upper  Ohio  region. 


Scale  of  miles 


'  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series,  Vol.  XLVII,  1S94,  p.  253. 


90 


GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  EKIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


there  are  rock  shelves  and  remnants  of  old  valley    floors  on    the  border 
of  the  Ohio  at  all  levels  from  about  1,050  feet  above  tide  down  to  about 


Fig.  2. — Map  of  part  of  the  Upper  Ohio  drainage  system  near  the  supposed  old  divide. 

800  feet.     The  full  correlation  will  involve  more  accurate  measurements 
and  a  closer  study  of  rock  textures  and  other  features  than  has  yet  been 


UPPER  OHIO  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  -  91 

attempted.  The  writer  can  at  best  present  only  an  imperfect  and  tentative 
interpretation.  The  features  may  perhaps  be  best  discussed  by  beginning 
at  New  Martinsville,  where  the  divide  was  first  located,  and  passing  from 
there  up  the  Ohio  to  the  mouth  of  the  Beaver. 

Although  the  trend  of  the  tributaries  and  the  high  altitude  of  bordering 
uplands  near  New  Martinsville  suggest  that  the,  divide  at  one  time  stood 
near  the  site  of  that  village,  it  evidently  had  become  shifted  to  the  north 
when  the  best-defined  system  of  gradation  plains  of  that  region  was  formed. 
Fishing  Creek,  which  enters  from  the  southeast  at  New  Martinsville,  and 
Fish  Creek,  which  enters  from  the  east  14  miles  farther  up  the  Ohio,  have 
a  well-defined  gradation  plain  which  is  in  harmony  with  that  on  the  portion 
of  the  Ohio  below  New  Martinsville,  and  which  is  too  low  to  permit  of 
northward  discharge.  On  Fish  Creek  at  Littleton,  W.  Va.,  about  30  miles 
from  the  Ohio,  the  gradation  plain  stands  only  930  feet  above  tide,  while 
at  the  mouth  it  is  not  far  from  825  feet.  On  Fishing  Creek  observations 
were  made  only  near  its  mouth;  the  gradation  plain  there  is  about  800  feet 
above  tide,  and  this  plain  is  found  to  continue  down  the  Ohio  with  gradual 
descent. 

The  first  place  above  New  Martinsville  where  features  occur  that 
suggest  a  change  or  disturbance  of  drainage  is  at  the  series  of  sharp 
curves  in  the  Ohio  Valley  below  '  Moundsville,  W.  Va.,  8  to  12  miles 
above  the  mouth  of  Fish  Creek,  where  the  stream  describes  a  letter  S  in 
its  curves.  But  these  curves  do  not  seem  to  be  accompanied  by  any 
features  that  make  evident  the  crossing  of  an  old  divide.  The  height  of 
the  bluffs  does  not  appear  to  differ  from  that  of  neighboring  parts  of  the 
valley  above  and  below;  the  width  of  the  valley  is  also  as  great  as  the 
average  width  in  that  region.  Furthermore,  just  above  Moundsville,  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Ohio,  a  rock  shelf  capped  with  gravel  appears  at  an 
altitude  about  260  feet  above  the  river,  or  850  to  860  feet  above  tide,  which 
seems  to  fit  in  well  with  the  gradation  plains  farther  down  the  valley. 
There  is,  however,  one  feature  which  seems  to  suggest  a  divide  below 
Moundsville.  There  is  a  remarkably  high  gradation  plain  on  Grave 
Creek,  a  tributary  which  enters  at  Moundsville  from  the  southeast.  Its 
altitude  at  Easton,  only  8  miles  from  the  Ohio,  is  1,017  feet  above  tide,  as 
estimated  from  the  railway  station,  and  it  is  capped  by  a  deposit  of  gravel 
several  feet  in  depth.     Four  miles  below  and  almost  in  sight  of  the  Ohio 


92  GLACIAL  FOEMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

its  altitude  by  aneroid  is  975  feet,  or  125  feet  above  the  system  that  has 
been  traced  up  to  this  point  along  the  Ohio.  Probably  it  belongs  to  an 
older  stage  of  drainage  development,  and  perhaps  to  a  north-flowing 
system.  If  the  latter  be  true  these  curves  in  the  Ohio  are  probably  at  the 
place  where  an  old  divide  has  been  crossed  or  a  piracy  in  favor  of  the 
western  system  had  taken  place.  This  question  may  perhaps  be  considered 
to  better  advantage  after  features  farther  up  the  Ohio  have  been  discussed. 
On  the  tributaries  which  enter  above  Moundsville,  and  also  along  the 
bluifs  of  the  Ohio,  rock  shelves  which  appear  to  be  remnants  of  old  grada- 
tion plains  are  conspicuous  at  much  higher  levels  than  have  been  noted 
farther  down  the  stream.  The  highest  have  an  altitude  of  about  1,050  feet, 
and  others  about  1,000  and  960  to  975  feet.  The  altitudes  here  giA'eu 
pertain  to  the  part  of  the  valley  near  Wheeling,  just  above  Moundsville. 
Farther  north  they  become  lower,  being  between  965  and  870  feet  at  the 
mouth  of  Beaver  River.  The  remnants  above  1,000  feet  are  not  so  con- 
spicuous as  those  at  about  that  level  or  slightlj?'  lower.  As  the  series 
declines  from  south  to  north  it  seems  probable  that  the  gradation  plains  are 
the  product  of  a  northward-flowing  drainage  line  which  had  deepened  its 
valley  to  about  965  feet  at  Bellaire  and  Wheeling  before  reversal  took 
place.  The  gradation  plain  near  these  cities,  which  stands  at  about  1,000 
feet,  probably  connects  at  the  mouth  of  the  Beaver  with  one  standing 
about  965  feet  above  tide,  and  at  intermediate  points  includes  the  990-foot 
terrace  on  Buffalo  Creek  back  of  Wellsburg,  and  the  975-foot  terrace  on 
the  borders  of  the  Ohio  near  New  Cumberland,  W.  Va.  The  gradation 
plain  which  stands  at  about  965  feet  opposite  Bellaire  and  Wheeling 
probably  connects  with  the  870-foot  terrace  at  the  mouth  of  the  Beaver, 
and  includes  the  960-foot  terrace  at  the  mouth  of  Short  Creek  and  the 
925-foot  terrace  at  the  mouth  of  Yellow  Creek.  Probabl)"  the  north-flowing 
system  had  cut  down  far  enough  before  reversal  took  place  to  form  a  terrace 
south  of  Wellsburg  which  stands  at  about  930  feet  and  a  terrace  of  similar 
height  near  the  mouth  of  Cross  Creek,  south  of  Steubenville.-' 

^It  should  be  remembered  that  nearly  all  of  these  measurements  of  terraces  have  been  made 
with  a  barometer,  and  are  consequently  only  approximations  to  the  real  altitudes.  The  elevations  at 
neighboring  points  may  differ  a  fe>^'  feet  less  or  a  few  feet  more  than  these  figures  indicate.  In  the 
case  of  the  terrace  in  the  northern  part  of  Wheeling  the  writer  had  opportunity  to  compare  an  aneroid 
reading  with  an  accurate  survey  made  for  the  Wheeling  Terminal  Railway,  which  has  tunneled 
beneath  this  terrace;  and  found  that  the  difference  was  i'uly  9  or  10  feet;  the  altitude  given  by  the 
railway  survey  being  992  feet,  and  by  the  barometer  1,001  or  1,002  feet. 


UPPER  OHIO  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  93 

From  au  examination  of  these  gradation  plains  it  appears  probable  that 
the  divide  between  the  old  systems  was  somewhere  south  of  Bellaire  at  the 
time  the  present  Ohio  was  formed.  Whether  it  was  between  Bellaire  and 
Moundsville  or  at  the  curves  of  the  Ohio  below  Moundsville  may  not  be 
easy  to  determine.  There  are  features  which  suggest  that  it  may  have 
been  within  2  miles  south  of  Bellaire,  at  the  place  where  the  high  ridge 
south  of  McMahons  Creek  comes  to  the  river  bluff  from  the  west.  A 
similar  high  ridge  sets  in  on  the  east  bluff,  separating  Boggs  Run,  a  north- 
flowing  stream,  from  Cemetery  Run,  a  south-flowing  stream,  and  leads 
thence  eastward  to  form  the  local  divide  between.  Wheeling  and  Grave 
creeks.  Within  2  or  3  miles  of  the  river  this  ridge  attains  an  altitude 
of  1,350  to  1,400  feet,  and  is  nearly  1,200  feet  at  the  river  bluffs.  In 
addition  to  its  prominence,  there  is  also  a  difference  in  drainage  features 
on  opposite  sides  of  the  ridge,  which  may  favor  the  view  that  it  constituted 
an  old  di^'ide,  though  not  necessarily  a  very  long-continued  one.  South 
of  the  ridge  the  uplands  generally  show  a  greater  dissection  than  to  the 
north,  such  as  would  result  from  connection  with  the  system  of  drainage 
to  the  south,  which,  as  shown  by  the  gradation  plains  of  Fish  and  Fishing 
creeks,  is  more  than  100  feet  below  that  of  the  gradation  plains  immedi- 
ately north  of  this  ridge.  There  is,  however,  south  of  this  ridge  the 
gradation  plain  on  Grave  Creek,  which  stands  so  high  as  to  suggest  that  it 
once  belonged  to  the  north-flowing  system.  There  is  also  the  fact  that  the 
Ohio  Valley  is  exceptionally  large  just  below  this  ridge,  as  if  the  strata 
there  were  very  weak  in  their  resistance  to  erosion.  In  the  present  state 
of  knowledge,  therefore,  it  can  scarcely  be  decided  whether  the  divide  at 
the  time  the  Ohio  was  established  was  at  the  ridge  above  Moundsville  or 
at  the  curves  in  the  Ohio  below  that  city.  Possibly  it  stood  for  a  time  at 
the  curves  below  Moundsville,  and  was  shifted  by  stream  piracy  to  the 
ridge  above  that  city.  Indeed,  as  previously  indicated,  the  divide  may 
have  migrated  northward,  through  stream  piracy,  from  the  elevated  country 
near  New  Martinsville  to  the  points  in  question.  An  inspection  of  the  map 
will  show  that  Moundsville  seems  to  be  in  the  midst  of  an  old  drainage 
system,  rather  than  at  an  old  divide.  To  place  a  divide  there  certainly 
gives  to  the  section  between  Moundsville  and  New  Martinsville  the  appear- 
rance  of  a  truncated  drainage  system,  but  to  place  the  divide  near  New 
Martinsville,  either  above  or  below  Fishing  Creek,  gives  a  natural  appear- 


94  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

ance  to  both  the  northeast  and  the  southwest  system,  and  assigns  to  piracy 
no  more  than  might  be  expected  of  it,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  southwest 
system  was  at  least  100  feet  the  lower. 

In  the  portion  of  the  Ohio  Valley  between  Mounds^dlle  and  the  month 
of  the  Beaver  there  are  very  few  rock  shelves  or  remnants  of  old  fluvial 
plains  at  levels  below  those  which  appear  to  belong  to  the  old  north-flowing 
system,  but  on  the  tributaries  rock  shelves  are  present  at  all  levels  as 
incidents  of  the  cutting  down  of  their  valleys.  The  general  absence  of 
rock  platforms  or  terraces  along  the  main  valley  may  be  assigned  to  the 
increased  volume  of  the  united  stream.  The  most  conspicuous  of  the  rock 
terraces  formed  after  reversal  is  found  north  of  New  Cumberland,  W.  Va. 
It  stands  about  100  feet  lower  than  any  of  the  gradation  plains  of  the 
north-flowing  system  in  that  vicinity,  being  only  200  feet  above  the  river 
and  835  feet  above  tide.  It  is  preserved  for  a  distance  of  nearly  a  mile 
with  a  width  of  30  to  40  rods,  and  carries  a  few  feet  of  gravel  on  its  sur- 
face. In  gullies  which  cut  into  this  gravel  Unio  shells  in  large  numbers 
occur,  which  have  the  weathered  appearance  to  be  expected  if  they  are 
native  to  this  old  river  bottom.^  The  gravel  was  evidently  deposited  by  a 
stream  flowing  southward  in  the  present  direction  of  the  Ohio,  for  it  con- 
tains material  of  glacial  derivation  brought  down  from  the  glaciated  districts 
to  the  north. 

THE    NORTHWARD    OUTLET. 

The  question  of  a  northward  outlet  for  the  Upper  Ohio,  Monongahela, 
and  much  of  the  Allegheny  drainage  tln-ough  the  Beaver  was  raised  by 
Spencer  nearly  twenty  years  ago,  being  presented  as  a  working  hypothesis 
in  connection  with  a  general  discussion  of  the  origin  of  the  lower  Great 
Lakes.'"'  Evidence  in  support  of  this  hypothesis  was  brought  forward  by 
Foshay  in  1890.^  He  called  attention. to  the  great  breadth  of  the  main 
gradation  plain  on  the  Beaver,  to  the  apparent  northward  slope  of  the  rock 
floor,  and  to  the  occurrence  of  potholes  on  this  rock  floor  which  appear  to 
have  been  formed  by  a  north-flowing  stream.     His  discussion  was  limited 

1  For  notes  on  the  occurrence  of  Unio  shells  on  a  terrace  of  the  Monongahela  at  a  similar  height 
above  the  stream,  see  Stevenson's  paper  in  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series,  Vol.  XV,  1878,  pp.  24.5-2.50. 

^Proc.  Am.  Philos.  Soc,  Vol.  XIX,  1882,  pp.  330-337,  with  maps;  also  published  as  an  appendix 
to  Rept.  Q*  of  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  1881,  pp.  357-406.  See  pages  387  and  405-406  for  this 
reference. 

K\\a.  Jour.  Sci.,  .3d  series,  Vol.  XL,  1890,  pp.  397-403. 


UPPER  OHIO  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  95 

mainly  to  the  southern  end  of  the  Beaver  Valley,  since  the  gradation  plain 
there  is  but  little  obscured  by  glacial  deposits,  though  the  interpretation  of 
northward  drainage  was  extended  to  the  Lake  Erie  Basin  by  way  of  the 
Mahoning  and  Grand  River  valleys,  and  was  applied  to  the  rock  floor  beneath 
the  present  stream  as  well  as  to  the  high-level  terraces.  Soon  after  the 
publication  of  this  paper  the  present  writer  discussed  the  nature  of  the 
evidence  and  dissented  from  that  part  of  the  interpretation  which  assigned  a 
northward  drainage  for  the  channels  that  are  buried  beneath  the  present 
streams,^  while  admitting-  the  force  of  the  evidence  of  the  high  tei'races  in 
favor  of  northward  drainage. 

In  a  paper  prepared  in  1894,  Chamberlin  and  Leverett"  discussed  this 
outlet,  together  with  other  features  in  the  Upper  Ohio  region.  The  evidence 
was  thought  to  favor  a  northward  discharge  through  the  Beaver  prior  to 
the  excavation  of  the  deep  trench  in  which  the  lower  portion  of  the  river 
now  flows,  but  the  interpretation  of  noi'thward  drainage  through  buried 
channels  was  shown  to  be  incorrect. 

Two  years  later  I.  C.  White  discussed  this  outlet  in  connection  with  a 
paper  on  the  terrace  deposits  of  the  Monongahela  River;  he  considered  it  a 
"pretty  surely  established"  line  of  discharge;  but,  like  Chamberlin  and 
Leverett,  he  restricted  the  northward  discharge  to  a  time  previous  to  the 
opening  of  the  deep  trenches  of  that  region.^ 

Turning  to  the  Beaver  outlet,  we  find  that  a  gradation  plain  a  mile 
or  more  in  average  width  extends  the  whole  length  of  the  Beaver  River 
and  descends  northward  from  about  870  feet  at  the  mouth  to  about  810  feet 
at  the  head  of  the  river,  or  a  fall  of  60  feet  in  a  distance  of  25  miles  in  the 
reverse  direction  from  the  present  flow  of  the  stream.  From  the  head  of 
the  Beaver,  at  the  junction  of  the  Mahoning  and  Shenango  rivers,  the  grada- 
tion plain  does  not  maintain  so  g-reat  a  breadth,  on  either  the  Mahoning  or 
the  Shenango,  as  that  presented  by  the  Beaver.  On  the  Mahoning,  which  is 
the  line  of  continuation  suggested  by  Spencer  and  adopted  by  Foshay,  the 
breadth  is  reduced  near  the  Pennsylvania-Ohio  line  to  less  than  one-thhd 
of  a  mile,  and  the  bordering  iiplands  there  become  very  prominent,  with 
an  altitude  of  about  400  feet  above  the  river.     On  the  Shenango  there  is  a 


1  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series,  Vol.  XLII,  1891,  pp.  200-212. 

2  Idem,  Vol.  XLVII,  1894,  pp.  247-283. 

'  Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  XVIII,  pp.  368-379,  December,  1896. 


96  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OE  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

similar  constriction  at  the  very  mouth  of  the  river,  just  below  Newcastle. 
Hills  300  to  400  feet  in  height  are  separated  by  a  channel  scarcely  one- 
third  of  a  mile  wide  at  the  level  of  the  river,  which  is  not  far  from  the  level 
of  the  gradation  plain.  Between  these  two  valleys  there  is  an  abandoned 
channel  leading  north  from  the  Mahoning  at  Edenburg,  Pa.,  to  the 
Shenango  at  Harbor  Bridge,  4  miles  above  Newcastle,  and  this  is  a  little 
wider  than  either  of  the  other  channels,  though  only  about  half  as  wide 
as  the  gradation  plain  on  the  Beaver.  The  continiuxtion  of  the  channel 
northward  up  the  Shenango  is  in  a  valley  one-half  to  three-fourths  as  wide 
as  that  of  the  Beaver  gradation  plain.  From  the  Shenango  at  Sharon,  Pa., 
there  is  an  abandoned  channel  running  westward  to  the  Mahoning  at 
Youngstown,  Ohio,  from  which  point  a  broad  valley  opens  northwestward 
into  the  Grand  River  Basin,  and  this  in  turn  opens  into  the  Lake  Erie  Basin. 

Since  the  constricted  portions  of  the  Mahoning  and  Shenango  valleys 
may  appear  to  oppose  the  hypothesis  of  a  discharge  of  the  old  Monongahela 
system  through  them,  they  will  be  considered  before  the  routes  just  out- 
lined are  discussed. 

From  descriptions  given  by  White  ^  it  appears  that  the  rocks  forming 
the  Carboniferous  conglomerate  measures  are  exceptionally  soft  for  a  few 
miles  along  the  Beaver  Valley,  below  the  junction  of  the  Mahoning  and 
the  Shenango,  where  the  gradation  plain  is  broadest,  but  contain  firm  and 
resistant  beds  of  considerable  thickness  in  the  constricted  part  of  the 
Shenango  in  the  vicinity  of  Newcastle,  and  also  on  the  Mahoning  at  its 
constricted  part  near  the  State  line.  These  beds  are  also  very  firm  and 
resistant  on  the  Beaver  in  the  ^dcinity  of  Homewood,  but  they  dip  rapidly 
southward  and  soon  pass  below  the  level  of  the  Old  gradation  plain.  They 
cause  a  notable  constriction  in  the  inner  valle}^  or  trench  south  of  Home- 
wood,  but  lie  mainly  below  the  level  of  the  broad  gradation  plain.  The 
occuiTence  of  ledges  which  are  more  firm  and  resistant  in  the  narrow  than 
in  the  broad  portions  of  the  old  gradation  plain  temds  to  greatly  reduce,  if 
not  remove  entirely,  the  difficulty  of  carrying  through  a  line  of  northward 
drainage.  Concerning  the  variability  of  the  upper  part  of  this  rock  series 
White  makes  the  following  remarks : " 

The  rock  in  question  i.s  most  variable.     Only  3  miles  south  from  the  Lawrence 
County  line  we  find  it  155  feet  thick  in  the  great  ledge  at  Homewood,  but  in  coming 

'Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Eept.  Q^  1879.  "Ibid.,  pp.  53-54. 


UPPER  OHIO  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  97 

north  it  gradually  thins  away,  and  where  it  enters  the  countj^  has  not  more  than 
half  that  thickness,  while  at  Wampum,  4  miles  above,  it  is  still  further  reduced  to  50 
feet,  and  on  going  north  along  the  Beaver  a  few  miles  from  that  point  it  disappears 
entirely  as  a  massive  rock,  being  reduced  to  a  few  feet  of  flaggy  sandstone  and  shale. 
After  thinning  away  almost  entirely  on  the  Big  Beaver  near  Newport,  it  comes 
in  again  to  the  north  below  Newcastle,  and  is  seen  at  the  falls  of  Big  Run,  where  it 
is  30  to  40  feet  thick  and  quite  massive.  It  also  retains  its  massive  character  to  the 
northward,  along  the  Neshannock. 

As  to  the  route  pursued  by  the  old  drainage  hne  from  the  head  of  the 
Beaver  toward  the  Lake  Erie  Basin,  the  available  data  appear  to  indicate 
the  one  from  Edenburg  north w^ard  past  Harbor  Bridge  to  Sharon,  Pa.,  and 
thence  westvrard  past  Yoimgstown  to  the  Grand  River  Basin.  But  as  an 
alternative  vievs^  it  is  suggested  that  there  may  have  been  more  than  one 
channel  across  the  resistant  portions  of  the  Carboniferous  conglomerate, 
between  the  head  of  the  Beaver  and  Youngstown.  While  the  main  cur- 
rent followed  the  route  suggested  from  Edenburg  to  Youngstown,  a  sub- 
ordinate one  may  have  opened  a  narrower  but  more  direct  channel  along 
the  Mahoning  Valley.  The  united  breadth  of  these  channels  is  scarcely 
equal  to  the  average  breadth  of  the  Beaver  Valley.  The  possibility  of 
double  channels  being  maintained  during  the  opening  of  a  deep  valley 
finds  such  stnking  illustrations  in  the  present  Ohio  Valley  that  this  view  at 
least  merits  attention  in  the  interpretation  of  the  drainage  peculiarities. 
The  difficulties  of  interpretation  are  intensified  by  the  presence  of  the 
glacial  deposits,  which  have  greatly  obscured  the  valley  contours  and 
buried  the  gradation  plains. 

Although  the  gradation  plain  passes  below  the  level  of  present 
drainage  lines  near  the  head  of  the  Beaver,  its  altitude  and  slope  may  be 
interpreted  with  a  fair  degree  of  cei'tainty  by  means  of  borings.  In  the 
abandoned  valley  between  Edenburg  and  Harbor  Bridge  farm  wells  enter 
rock  at  about  800  feet  above  tide,  or  a  few  feet  lower  than  the  gradation 
plain  in  the  noi'th  end  of  the  Beaver  Valley.  In  the  abandoned  valley 
between  Sharon  and  Youngstown  a  boring  at  Hubbard  enters  rock  at  a 
level  slightly  below  800  feet.  Wells  in  the  Grand  River  Basin  near 
Mesopotamia,  only  a  few  miles  north  from  the  ^^resent  divide  between  the 
Mahoning  and  Grand  rivers,  reach  the  rock  at  about  650  feet  above  tide, 
and  this  probably  marks  the  level  of  the  old  gradation  plain.     From  the 

MON  XLI 7 


98  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

level  of  the  rock  floor  at  these  wells  it  appears  probable  that  the  old  river 
entered  the  Lake  Erie  Basin  at  a  level  at  least  as  low  as  the  present  surface 
of  the  lake,  673  feet. 

EXTENT   OF   THE   OLD   MONONGAHBLA    SYSTEM. 

The  old  Monongahela  system  appears  to  have  embraced  the  entire 
drainage  of  the  Monongahela,  the  Allegheny  as  far  up  as  Clarion  River, 
the  portion  of  the  Ohio  above  Bellaire,  the  greater  part  o'f  the  present  di-ain- 
age  basin  of  the  Beaver,  and  the  lowland  known  as  the  Grand  River  Basin. 
The  greater  part  of  this  drainage  system  lies  outside  the  glacial  boundary, 
but  the  trunk  stream  and  its  small  tributaries  northward  from  the  .southern 
end  of  the  Beaver  Valley  are  within  the  limits  of  glaciation,  and  the  Alle- 
gheny and  Ohio  valleys  have  been  filled  to  some  extent  by  glacial  gravel 
transported  by  streams  beyond  the  ice  margin. 

The  portion  of  the  Ohio  above  the  mouth  of  the  Beaver,  the  Mononga- 
hela Valley,  and  the  portion  of  the  Allegheny  below  the  mouth  of  Clarion 
River  have  a  system  of  gradation  plains  that  slope  in  harmony  with  the 
present  lines  of  drainage  toward  the  Beaver  Valley.  They  fall  less  rapidly 
than  the  present  streams,  as  is  to  be  expected  of  such  a  system  of  gradation 
plains.  Thus  on  the  Monongahela,  as  shown  by  White,^  the  fall  of  the 
present  stream  is  190  feet  in  the  206  miles  below  Weston,  West  Virginia, 
while  the  gradation  plain  descends  only  110  feet  in  the  same  distance. 
On  the  Allegheny  the  present  stream  falls  163  feet  in  82  miles  below  the 
mouth  of  Clarion  River,  while  the  gradation  plain  descends  but  120  feet  in 
this  interval.  In  the  26  miles  from  the  head  of  the  Ohio  at  the  junction  of 
the  Allegheny  and  Monongahela  down  to  the  Beaver  the  gradation  plain 
has  a  descent  of  about  30  feet. 

At  this  point  it  seems  necessary  only  to  consider  the  reasons  for  not 
including  in  the  old  Monongahela  system  the  part  of  the  Allegheny  drain- 
age basin  above  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion  River.  These  will  be  but 
briefly  discussed,  since  the  Allegheny  drainage  is  treated  in  some  detail 
farther  on. 

THE   OLD   DIVIDE   ON   THE   ALLEGHENY. 

The  gradation  plain  which  is  found  on  the  Lower  Allegheny  continues 
up  the  Clarion,  as  well  as  up  tributaries  which  enter  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Clarion.     The  portion  of  the  Allegheny  immediately  above  the  mouth  of 

lAm.  Geologist,  Vol.  XVIII,  1896,  pp.  368-379. 


UPPER  OHIO  DEAINAGE  SYSTEM.  99 

the  Clarion  presents  a  very  narrow  valley,  scarcely  one-third  the  width  of 
the  gradation  plain  of  the  Clarion  and  Lower  Allegheny.  This  valley  has 
precipitous  bluffs  reaching  a  height  of  about  400  feet  above  the  stream,  or 
nearly  250  feet  above  the  gradation  plain  at  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion.  It 
seems  necessary  to  suppose  either  that  a  disproportionately  small  gradation 
plain  with  high  cliff  borders  lay  in  the  narrow  gorge,  or  that  there  has  been 
a  reversal  of  drainage  by  which  a  small  stream  that  had  its  source  just 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion  and  flowed  northward  was  reversed  and  its 
valley  was  recut  to  fit  a  new  and  larger  stream. 

On  the  first  supposition  we  naturally  look  to  differences  in  the  hard- 
ness of  strata  for  a  possible  explanation  of  the  differences  in  the  size  of  the 
valley.  If  there  has  been  but  little  change  in  the  ancient  Allegheny,  we 
nuist  explain  the  fact  that  a  stream  not  less  than  three  times  the  size  of  the 
Clarion  excavated  a  valley  only  one-third  to  one-half  as  large.  If  the 
subsequent  addition  of  the  Upper  Allegheny  be  granted,  we  must  account 
for  the  fact  that  a  drainage  area  about  the  size  of  the  Clarion  cut  a  valley 
but  one-third  to  one-half  as  large. 

The  strata  along  the  narrow  portions  of  the  Allegheny,  from  Franklin 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion,  as  well  as  for  some  distance  above  Franklin,  are 
on  the  whole  rather  more  resistant  than  those  in  which  the  gradation  plain 
of  the  lower  course  of  the  Clarion  was  carved.  On  the  Allegheny  there  is  a 
considerable  amount  of  the  Lower  Carboniferous  conglomerate,  in  places 
reaching  a  thickness  of  75  feet,  while  on  the  Clarion  there  are  the  more 
easily  eroded  Coal  Measures  sandstone  and  shale.  The  greater  hardness 
and  resistance  to  erosion  would  naturally  lessen  the  size  of  the  valley,  though 
it  scarcely  seems  adequate  to  produce  so  marked  a  difference.  Upon  turning 
to  tributaries  of  this  part  of  the  Allegheny,  a  more  decisive  line  of  evidence 
in  favor  of  a  reversal  of  drainage  is  found. 

The  tributaries  of  the  Allegheny  above  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion  have 
channels  that  were  not  deepened  to  levels  in  harmony  with  a  gradation 
plain  so  low  as  that  of  the  Clarion.  While  they  have  normal  gradients  on 
their  upper  and  middle  courses,  the  streams  descend  by  rapids  and  cascades 
to  the  present  Allegheny.  This  is  done  from  a  height  of  about  400  feet, 
while  the  tributaries  of  the  Clarion  and  of  the  Allegheny  below  the  Clarion 
descend  in  this  way  only  150  to  200  feet.  This  seems  to  indicate  that 
tributaries  above  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion  formerly  discharged  into  a  stream 
which  had  not  reached  so  low  a  plain  as  that  of  the  Clarion. 


100         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Turning  now  to  the  bordering-  uplands,  we  find  another  hne  of  evidence 
favoring  reversal.  Immediately  above  its  junction  with  the  Clarion  the 
Allegheny  cuts  through  an  elevated  tract  which  to  the  eastward  constitutes  the 
divide  between  waters  flowing  north  and  northwest  into  the  Allegheny  and 
those  flowing  south  into  the  Clarion,  while  to  the  westward  it  constitutes  the 
divide  between  the  northward  or  eastward  flowing  tributaries  of  the  Allegheny 
and  the  streams  flowing  south  and  west  to  the  Beaver  and  the  Shenango  (see 
fig.  5,  p.  135).  The  high  divide  is  broken  by  a  gap  scarcely  a  mile  wide  and 
500  to  600  feet  in  depth  where  crossed  by  the  Allegheny.  The  altitude 
and  relief  of  this  divide  appear  to  be  due  to  its  relation  to  drainage  systems 
rather  than  to  axes  of  upheaval,  for  its  trend  is  in  large  part  independent  of 
such  axes.  That  is  to  say,  it  constitutes  a  natural  boundary  between  the 
Middle  Allegheny  and  the  Clarion-Lower  Allegheny  di-ainage  basins. 

The  slope  of  rock  shelves  and  remnants  of  gradation  plains  north  from 
the  supposed  divide  bring  further  confirmation  of  the  hypothesis  of  reversal. 
The  rock  shelves  which  stand  375  to  400  feet  above  the  present  stream,  or 
1,275  to  1,300  feet  above  tide,  near  the  supposed  divide,  show  a  decline  of 
about  200  feet  in  the  20  miles  northward  to  the  mouth  of  French  Creek. 
This  rate  of  fall  would  be  natural  only  in  a  small  stream  descending  from 
an  elevated  table-land. 

The  combined  force  of  all  the  lines  of  evidence  is  such  that  there 
seems  no  doubt  that  there  was  formerly  a  divide  on  the  line  of  the  Allegheny 
iTst  above  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion  separating  the  drainage  of  the  old 
Monongahela  system  from  that  of  the  old  Middle  Allegheny  system. 

MIDDLE    OHIO    OK    OLD    KANAWHA    SYSTEM. 

Near  the  eastern  border  of  the  flat-topped  crest  of  the  Cincinnati  arch 
the  streams  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Ohio  River  have  a  trend  which  strongly 
suggests  the  former  presence  of  a  divide.  Those  to  the  east  of  the  arch  trend 
up  the  present  Ohio  toward  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto,  while  those  on  the  flat 
crest,  from  its  very  eastern  border,  lead  westward  down  the  Ohio.  The  posi- 
tion of  the  old  divide  at  the  border  of  the  present  Ohio  seems  to  be  very  near 
the  village  of  Manchester,  Ohio.  The  valley  of  the  Ohio  presents  higher 
bluffs  in  the  vicinity  of  the  supposed  divide  than  at  points  above  and  below, 
and  the  general  topographic  expression  seems  adapted  to  the  occurrence  of 
a  divide  at  the  place  suggested.  To  this  is  added  the  evidence  from  an 
abandoned  northward  outlet,  discussed  below. 


MIDDLE  OHIO  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM. 


101 


Since  the  principal  stream  of  the  system  east  of  the  supposed  divide  is 
the  Big  Kanawha  River,  it  seems  pertinent  to  give  the  name  Kanawha  to 
the  old  system  of  drainage.  It  might  also  be  appropriately  termed  the 
Middle  Ohio  system. 


THE   NORTHWARD   OUTLET. 


A'/iiC            UPLAND 

Xoiade 

\       \^' 

/' 

\/^^ 

r 

•1^1 

i-X    "Wallace  ty 
HaiTisonviJIe«    >5SCiUj 

Mabee 

An  abandoned  channel  leaves  the  Ohio  at  Wheelersburg,  about  8  miles 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto,  and,  as  shown  in  fig.  3,  passes  northward 
in  a  somewhat  winding  course, 
coming  to  the  Scioto  Valley 
at  Waverly.  That  it  was  the 
course  of  a  northward-flowing 
stream  is  attested  by  the  pres- 
ence of  quartzite  cobble  and 
gravel,  such  as  occur  along  the 
Ohio  above  this  point.  This 
material  was  derived  from  the 
headwaters  of  the  Kanawha 
di'ainag-e  basin. 

The  rock  floor  of  this  old 
drainage  line  is  far  above  the 
level  of  the  present  stream, 
being  about  625  feet  above 
tide  where  it  leaves  the  Ohio, 
while  the  altitude  of  the  pres- 
ent stream  at  that  point  is 
about  475  feet;  at  Waverly  its 
altitude  is  fully  600  feet,  while 
the  Scioto  at  that  point  is  about 
75  feet  lower.  Its  altitude 
corresponds  with  that  of  the 

SVStPlTl    of    (yTfldation    nlains    in  fig,  3. — The  old  Kanawha  drainage  system  in  southern  Ohio. 

that  region,  and  its  course  nmst  be  determined  by  an  examination  of  the 
gradation  plains  on  the  Scioto. 

From  Waverly  the  old  Kanawha  must  have  taken  one  of  two  courses, 
either  northward  into  the  Scioto  Basin  along  the  line  of  the  present  Scioto 
(reversed),  or  southward  down  the  present  Scioto  Valley  to  the  Ohio  at 


PORTSMOlflH 


102         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Portsmouth.  As  the  latter  is  the  present  course  of  drainage,  we  naturally 
turn  to  it  first. 

An  examination  of  the  Scioto  Valley  below  Waverly  has  brought  to 
light  an  old  oxbow  channel  immediately  back  of  the  town  of  Lucasville, 
which  has  about  the  same  altitude  as  the  channel  of  the  old  Kanawha  east 
of  that  point,  but  which  appears  to  have  been  formed  by  a  much  smaller 
stream  than  that  which  formed  the  channel  of  the  Kanawha.  Its  breadth, 
as  shown  in  fig.  3,  is  only  about  a  half  mile,  while  that  of  the  old  Kanawha 
Valley  is  more  than  a  mile  at  its  narrowest  places  and  1  ^  miles  or  more  at 
its  broadest  places.  This  small  channel  has  every  appearance  of  being  the 
main  if  not  the  only  line  of  discharge  for  the  stream  that  opened  it.  It  is 
such  a  channel  as  would  be  expected  from  a  stream  which  drained  only  the 
small  area  that  lies  between  Lucasville  and  the  supposed  divide  near 
Manchester,  Ohio.  It  certainly  testifies  strongly  against  tlie  discharge  of 
the  old  Kanawha  southward  from  Waverly. 

A  similar  oxbow  of  a  small  stream  was  found  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Ohio  near  Quincy,  Ky.,  about  10  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto.  It, 
however,  stands  so  much  higher  than  the  oxbow  at  Lucasville  (being-  nearly 
150  feet  above  its  level)  that  it  seems  likely  to  have  been  abandoned  at 
an  earlier  date  than  the  Lucasville  oxbow;  biit  it  may,  nevertheless,  have 
been  produced  by  the  same  small  stream,  it  being  not  unnatural  for  oxbows 
to  be  abandoned  during  a  process  of  downcutting  in  a  valle}^  The  correla- 
tion in  agency  rather  than  the  correlation  in  date  is  the  important  matter, 
and  on  this  the  two  oxbow  channels  are  in  harmony,  for  they  each  appear 
to  show  the  agency  of  a  much  smaller  stream  than  the  old  Kanawha. 

Turning  now  to.  the  portion  of  the  Scioto  north  from  Wavei'ly,  it  is 
found  to  carry  a  broad  gradation  plain  similar  to  that  of  the  abandoned 
part  of  the  old  Kanawha,  which  can  easily  be  traced  to  the  vicinity  of 
Chillicothe,  where  it  passes  below  the  level  of  the  Scioto  and  soon  becomes 
deeply  buried  beneath  deposits  of  glacial  drift. 

The  writer  called  attention  to  this  northward  line  of  discharge  for  the 
middle  portion  of  the  Ohio  in  his  report  to  the  Director  in  June,  1896,  and 
suggested  that  it  was  probably  tributary  to  the  drainage  basin  of  the  Saint 
Lawrence.^     In  a  paper  prepared  a  few  months  later^  this  interpretation  was 

1  Seventeenth  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Pt.  I,  1896,  p.  61. 

^Changes  of  drainage  in  southern  Ohio:  Bull.  Denison  Univ.,  Vol.  IX,  Pt.  II,  1897,  pp.  18-21. 


MIDDLE  OHIO  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  103 

qualified  and  four  possible  courses  were  suggested  for  the  discharge  from 
the  southern  end  of  the  Scioto  Basin:  First,  southward,  down  the  Scioto 
from  Waverly  to  the  Ohio  and  thence  down  the  Ohio;  second,  northward, 
along  the  axis  of  the  Scioto  Basin  to  Lake  Erie;  third,  northwestward  across 
western  Ohio,  along  one  of  the  several  deep  valleys  brought  to  light  in  that 
region  by  the  oil  and  gas  wells,  eventually  to  either  the  low  tract  on  the 
lower  course  of  the  Wabash  or  the  basin  of  Lake  Michigan;  fourth,  north- 
eastward past  the  Licking  reservoir  and  an  old  valley  east  of  Newark  to 
the  Muskingum  at  Dresden,  and  thence  northward  along  or  near  the  pres- 
ent valleys  of  the  Muskingum,  Tuscarawas,  and  Cuyahoga  to  the  basin  of 
Lake  Erie  at  Cleveland. 

It  was  since  that  paper  was  prepared  that  the  writer  discovered  the 
oxbow  channel  back  of  Lucasville,'  above  noted,  which  seems  to  testify 
strongly  against  the  southward  discharge  down  the  Scioto  and  renders  that 
line  an  improbable  one.  The  writer  also  has  since  found  decisive  evidence 
against  the  suggested  northeastward  line,  in  the  presence  of  an  old  divide 
now  crossed  by  the  Tuscarawas  between  Zoar  and  Canal  Dover,  Ohio, 
discussed  farther  on. 

Concerning  the  relative  probabilities  of  the  remaining  two  lines  but 
little  has  been  determined.  If  the  present  surface  is  examined  both  the 
northward  and  northwestward  courses  seem  beset  v/ith  difficulties.  The 
northward  route  along  the  axis  of  the  Scioto  Basin  encounters  a  general 
rise  in  the  bordering  plain  of  about  200  feet  in  the  100  miles  between  the 
south  end  of  the  basin,  near  Chillicothe,  and  the  continental  divide  near 
Marion,  north  of  which  there  is  an  even  greater  descent  to  the  Lake  Erie 
Basin.  If  the  course  of  drainage  was  northward  across  the  divide,  and  if 
the  divide  has  not  suffered  recent  uplift,  there  must  have  been  channeling 
in  it  to  a  depth  of  about  300  feet.  That  an  axis  of  uplift  exists  in  this  part 
of  the  continental  divide  is  shown  by  the  arching  of  the  rock  formations 
over  it;  but  its  extent  and  its  date  are  not  yet  determined.' 

The  northwestward  route  leads  across  the  limestone  belt  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Scioto  Basin,  whose  general  level  is  about  200  feet  above  the 
continental  divide  at  the  north  end  of  the  basin  and  500  feet  above 
the   gradation  plain  near  Chillicothe.     To   pass  through  that  region  the 

'See  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  VI,  1888,  pp.  57-58,  312,  316.  See  also  the  sections  of  rock  forma- 
tions from  Cleveland  to  Marietta,  and  from  Berlin  Heights  to  Ironton,  opposite  p.  321  of  same 
volume. 


104  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

channeling  would  be  so  much  greater  than  is  required  for  a  northward  course 
along  the  axis  of  the  basin  that  one  can  scarcely  resist  ruling  out  the  north- 
westward course.  Yet  from  what  is  found  on  the  Lower  Ohio,  where  the 
stream  passes  directly  across  the  low  Devonian  shale  area  into  the  knobstone 
and  sandstone  formations  that  now  stand  much  higher,  sucli  a  ruling  may 
be  unwarranted.  The  presence  of  the  low  basin  occupied  by  Lake  Erie 
offers  an  additional  argument  in  favor  of  the  northward  route.  This  basin 
would  be  reached  by  that  route  in  less  than  half  the  distance  required  to 
reach  a  similar  low  tract  in  the  Wabash  region  or  the  Lake  Michigan  Basin 
by  the  northwestward  route.  Each  of  these  routes  falls  within  regions  so 
heavily  covered  with  glacial  deposits  that  the  course  of  the  channels  can  be 
traced  only  by  means  of  borings,  and  these  are  so  few  and  so  poorly  distrib- 
uted as  to  be  inadequate  to  our  needs. 

DEFLECTIONS   OF   DRAINAGE. 

In  changing  from  its  old  course  to  its  present  one  the  Kanawha  system 
has  suffered  several  notable  deflections.  The  principal  one  is  that  which 
turned  the  waters  southward  from  the  Scioto  Basin  to  the  present  Ohio  at 
Portsmouth,  and  thence  westward  into  the  Lower  Ohio ;  a  second  deflection 
carried  the  waters  of  the  Kanawha  westward  from  Wheelersburg  (where 
the  old  Kanawha  turned  north  from  the  Ohio)  to  Portsmouth,  thus  abandon- 
ing the  part  of  the  old  channel  between  Wheelersburg  and  Waverly;  a 
third  turned  the  Kanawha  north  from  the  east  end  of  Teays  (or  Teazes) 
Valley  (near  St.  Albans,  W.  Va.)  to  the  Ohio  at  Point  Pleasant,  thus 
abandoning  Teays  Valley  from  St.  Albans  to  Huntington.  It  is  not  certain 
that  these  changes  were  made  at  one  time,  though  they  appear  to  have 
been  made  in  close  succession.  The  second  and  third  appear  to  have  been 
nearly  contemporaneous  from  the  fact  that  the  abandoned  channels  are  each 
at  the  level  of  the  main  gradation  plain,  about  150  feet  above  the  present 
level  of  the  Ohio  River.  It  seems  probable  that  the  deflection  to  the  Lower 
Ohio  may  have  preceded  the  deflection  from  Wheelersburg  to  Portsmouth, 
there  being  apparently  no  sufficient  reason  for  the  latter  to  have  taken  place 
until  the  western  line  of  discharge  from  Portsmouth  had  been  opened. 

The  change  which  resulted  in  the  deflection  of  the  old  Kanawha  into 
the  Lower  Ohio  seems  to  have  required  considerable  erosion  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  old  divide,  even  though  it  occurred  when  the  streams  of  the  old 
Kanawha  system  were  flowing  in  valleys  whose  depth  was  much  less  than 


MIDDLE  OHIO  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  105 

that  of  the  present  Ohio.  The  removal  of  the  col  near  Manchester,  at 
the  head  of  the  southwestern  tributary,  probably  represents  but  a  small 
part  of  the  work  accomplished,  for  the  channel  of  this  tributary  seems  to 
have  been  enlarged  throug-hout  its  length  of  fully  50  miles.  There  was 
apparently,  also,  some  enlargement  of  the  headwater  portion  of  the  old 
west-flowing  stream  beyond  the  divide,  for  the  Ohio  River  blufiPs  are  excep- 
tionally abrupt  for  a  few  miles  west  from  Manchester. 

The  change  to  the  present  course  from  Wheelersburg  to  Portsmouth 
seems  to  have  required  but  little  work.  The  principal  cutting  appears  to 
have  been  in  the  3  or  4  miles  between  Wheelersburg  and  the  mouth  of 
Tygarts  Creek,  a  north-flowing  stream  which  reaches  the  Ohio  just  above 
Portsmouth  and  which  apparently  connected  there  with  the  stream  above 
noted  that  came  in  from  the  southwest.  The  ridge  crossed  east  of  Ports- 
mouth is  prominent  on  each  side  of  the  Ohio,  its  altitude  being  about  300 
feet  above  the  old  Kanawha  channel.  But  the  space  nbove  the  bluffs  is 
about  1^  miles,  and  this  may  have  contained  a  sag  or  broken-down  part  of 
the  ridge,  so  that  the  cutting  need  not  have  been  so  much  as  the  height 
of  the  present  bluff  would  indicate.  The  maximum  allowance  for  cutting 
can  not  exceed  300  feet  in  depth,  IJ  miles  in  width,  and  3  miles  in  length, 
and  the  probabilities  are  that  the  cutting  was  much  less  than  that  amount. 

The  abandoned  line  of  discharge  for  the  Kanawha  River  between  St. 
Albans  and  Huntington,  W.  Va.,  known  as  Teays  Valley,^  was  brought  to 
notice  some  years  ago  by  White"  and  discussed  more  fully  later  by  Wright,^ 
under  the  name  of  Teazes  Valley.  The  rock  floor  of  this  abandoned  valley 
stands  630  to  650  feet  above  tide,  or  145  to  165  feet  above  the  Ohio  at 
Huntington,  W.  Va.,  where  it  connects  with  that  stream.  Measurements 
with  Locke  level  show  that  the  rock  floor  at  the  east  end  near  St.  Albans 
has  an  altitude  of  630  to  640  feet,  while  at  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Sandy 
River,  just  below  Huntington,  the  rock  floor  of  its  broad  terrace  has  an 
altitude  of  630  feet.  Between  these  places  points  were  found  where  the 
rock  floor  reaches  650  feet,  but  it  is  not  certain  that  the  lowest  part  of  the 
channel  floor  was  exposed.  The  old  gradation  plain  is  now  covered  with  a 
thick  deposit  of  silt,  whose  surface  stands  700  to  720  feet  above  tide,  or  60 
to  80  feet  above  the  rock  floor.     This  silting  was  sufficient  to  build  up  the 

1  Geologic  Atlas  U.  S.,  folio  69,  Huntington,  W.  Va. 
''Appendix  to  Wright's  Glacial  Boundary  in  Ohio,  1884,  p.  84. 
»Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  58,  1890,  pp.  86-88. 


106  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

valley  to  a  level  as  high  as  low  cols  in  the  district  north  of  it,  thus  making 
it  possible  for  a  stream  to  take  a  new  course  without  having  to  open  a 
channel.  Not  only  the  Kanawha  but  Hurricane  Creek  and  Guyandot  River 
(tributaries  entering  Teays  Valley  from  the  south)  continue  into  channels 
north  of  that  valley.  The  channel  into  which  the  Kanawha  and  Hurricane 
Creek  were  turned  had  gradation  plains  slightly  higher  than  the  rock  floor 
of  Teays  Valley,  measurements  with  Locke  level  showing  the  height  of  the 
gradation  plain  on  the  lower  end  of  the  present  Kanawha,  near  the  mouth 
of  Hurricane  Creek,  to  be  680  feet  above  tide,  but  as  these  channels  had 
not  become  so  filled  with  silt  as  Teays  Valley,  the  drainage  could  pass  into 
them.  It  is  this  fact  of  a  lower  line  of  escape  that  seems  chiefly  responsible 
for  the  diversion  from  a  direct  to  an  indirect  course. 

Between  the  west  end  of  Teays  Valley  and  the  south  end  of  the  aban- 
doned channel  at  Wheelersburg  the  old  line  of  the  Kanawha  usually  nearly 
coincides  with  that  of  the  present  Ohio,  and  its  rock  floor  stands  150  feet 
above  the  present  stream.  There  is,  however,  one  deflection  worthy  of 
mention.  For  a  few  miles  below  the  point  where  the  Ohio  passes  the  West 
Virginia  and  Kentucky  line,  the  old  Kanawha  channel  is  separated  from  the 
present  Ohio  Valley  by  a  narrow  range  of  low  hills.  This  valley,  with  its 
deposits  of  gravel,  was  noted  by  Lyon  in  an  early  report  of  the  Kentucky 
geological  survey,^  and  was  described  more  fully  by  Andrews  in  a  report  of 
the  Ohio  survey.^  By  both,  the  gravel  deposits  were  erroneously  referred 
to  the  glacial  drift.  In  this  old  channel  the  silt  filling  is  bu+  little  less  than 
in  Teays  Valley,  the  surface  of  the  silt  being  680  to  700  feet  above  tide,  or 
50  to  70  feet  above  the  rock  floor.  The  gravel  which  underlies  the  silt  is  a 
thin  deposit  resting  upon  the  rock  floor.  The  accompanying  map  (PL VII), 
which  embraces  a  portion  of  the  Ironton  quadrangle,  shows  a  part  of  this 
old  valley  and  the  present  Ohio,  with  a  range  of  hills  between  them.  The 
hills  occupy  the  interval  between  the  mouths  of  White  Oak  Creek  and  Pond 
Run.  Although  they  rise  in  places  to  a  height  of  more  than  ]  00  feet  above 
the  silt  filling  in  the  old  valley,  they  are  interrupted  by  notches  so  low  that 
small  streams  drain  from  the  old  valley  through  them  to  the  present  Ohio. 
It  is  probable  that  the  Ohio  took  advantage  of  similar  low  gaps  in  changing 
from  the  old  course  to  the  present  one. 


'Sidney  Lyon:  Second  Geol.  Rept.  of  Kentucky,  1856  and  1857,  p.  360. 
^^E.  B.  Andrews:  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  II,  1874,  p.  441. 


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MIDDLE  OHIO  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  107 

How  much  of  the  present  Ohio  above  the  jaoint  where  Teays  Valley 
connects  with  it  follows  its  old  course  may  now  be  considered.  Between 
the  present  mouth  of  the  Kanawha,  at  Point  Pleasant,  W.  Va.,  and  the 
west  end  of  Teays  Valley,  the  Ohio  is  in  a  valley  which  for  a  few  miles 
becomes  so  constricted  as  to  suggest  the  crossing  of  an  old  divide.  The 
width  at  Point  Pleasant  is  about  2  miles,  but  it  becomes  reduced  to  1 J  miles 
in  the  first  8  miles  below  that  town,  and  to  scarcely  1  mile  at  Crown  City, 
10  miles  farther  down.  For  10  miles  below  Crown  City  the  breadth  is  a 
mile  or  less.  The  valley  then  gradually  expands  to  a  width  of  nearly  2 
miles  at  Huntington,  15  miles  farther  down  the  river.  In  this  narrow  por- 
tion the  bluffs  rise  abruptly  to  a  height  of  200  feet,  or  to  about  700  feet 
above  tide,  and  the  uplands  reach  an  altitude  200  feet  higher  within  a  mile 
or  two  of  the  river.  A  thick-bedded,  very  resistant  sandstone  outcrops  at 
about  700  feet  throughout  much  of  the  narrow  portion,  and  in  several  places 
presents  mural  escarpments  and  often  breaks  in  blocks  10  to  15  feet  thick. 
This  sandstone,  no  doubt,  has  had  great  influence  in  making  the  bluffs 
abrupt  up  to  this  altitude  and  in  preventing  a  widening  of  the  valley. 
Whether  it  fully  accounts  for  the  narrowness,  or  whether  the  narrow  portion 
once  contained  a  divide,  the  writer  was  unable  to  decide. 

In  passing  up  the  Ohio  from  the  mouth  of  the  Kanawha  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Little  Kanawha  River,  at  Parkersburg,  W.  Va.,  the  valley  of  the  Ohio 
is  found  to  be  very  winding  and  also  exceptionally  broad,  its  width  rang- 
ing from  1^  to  nearly  3  miles.  Throughout  this  interval  its  passage  is 
through  a  region  similar  to  that  in  the  vicinity  of  Teays  Valley,  in  which  the 
divides  have  been  greatly  broken  down,  so  that  there  are  numerous  cols  at 
only  700  to  750  feet  above  tide.  This  portion  of  the  Ohio  Valley  preserves 
but  few  rock  shelves  or  remnants  of  a  gradation  plain  that  can  be  correlated 
with  the  gradation  plain  on  the  old  Kanawha  noted  above.  The  tribu- 
taries, however,  present  remnants  of  a  gradation  plain  which  serve  to  show 
the  height  of  the  old  valley  floor  above  the  present  Ohio.  They  stand 
nearly  as  high  as  the  lowest  cols,  being  nowhere  less  than  660  feet  above 
tide,  and  usually  about  680  feet,  while  at  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Kanawha 
they  are  not  far  from  700  feet.  The  lowest  observed  altitude — 660  feet — 
is  found  about  midway  between  the  mouths  of  the  two  Kanawhas,  opposite 
the  mouth  of  Big  Mill  Creek,  above  Letart  Falls,  West  Virginia.  The 
terraces  there,  by  barometric  measurements,  stand  only  120  feet  above  the 


108  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Ohio  River.  Biit  levels  more  precise  than  barometric  rneasiiremeiits  are 
needed  to  make  certain  of  the  altitudes  and  slopes  of  the  terraces  in  this 
part  of  the  valley.  The  widely  meandering  course  of  this  portion  of  the 
Ohio  apparently  resulted  from  the  former  slack  drainage  and  degraded 
condition  of  the  region  Conditions  were  such  that  shiftings  of  the  course 
might  easily  have  been  produced.  A  large  area  in  southern  Ohio  north  of 
this  part  of  the  Ohio  Valley  carries  low  divides,  which  afforded  good 
opportunities  for  changes  of  drainage.  The  neighboring  portion  of  West 
Virginia  is  also  similarly  broken  down.  The  changes  which  this  part  of 
the  drainage  basin  has  experienced  are  being  made  a  subject  of  special 
investigation  by  W.  G.  Tight,  under  the  auspices  of  the  present  survey. 
These  investigations  will,  it  is  hoped,  settle  the  question  whether  the  old 
course  of  drainage  continvied  from  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Kanawha  down 
to  the  west  end  of  Teays  Valley — that  is,  to  the  old  Kanawha — or,  instead, 
took  a  northwestward  course,  more  directly  toward  the  Scioto  Basin,  into 
which  the  old  Kanawha  had  its  discharge.  It  seems  well  to  defer  the  intro- 
duction of  names  for  the  old  drainage  lines  in  this  part  of  the  Ohio  until 
this  question  is  settled. 

From  the  vicinity  of  Moundsville,  W.  Va.,  down  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Little  Kanawha,  at  Parkersburg,  the  present  Ohio  appears  to  be  following 
the  line  of  an  old  stream,  whose  main  gradation  plain,  now  preserved  as 
terraces  along  the  valley  borders,  descends  from  about  800  feet  at  New 
Martinsville  to  but  700  feet  at  Parkersburg.  The  remnants  are  not  con- 
spicuous in  the  Ohio  Valley,  but  are  well  preserved  on  many  of  the  tribu- 
taries. 

The  general  width  of  the  Ohio  Valley  from  Mounds^^lle  down  to  St. 
Marys,  W.  Va.,  is  1  to  IJ  miles,  thoug'h  near  Ravens  Rock  it  is  less  than  a 
mile,  and  in  the  vicinit)^  of  the  villages  of  Moundsville  and  New  Martins- 
ville it  exceeds  2  miles.  From  St.  Marys  down  to  Parkersburg  the  width  is 
H  to  2  miles.  In  explanation  of  the  remarkable  expansions  at  Moundsville 
and  New  Martinsville,  J.  P.  Chaplin,  a  civil  engineer  residing  at  New  Mar- 
tinsville, has  suggested  an  unusual  dip  of  the  rock  strata.  In  the  4  miles 
above  New  Martinsville,  where  the  valley  is  exceptionally  wide,  the  strata 
dip  eastward  at  the  rate  of  80  feet  per  mile,  which  is  much  greater  than  in 
the  portions  of  the  valley  immediately  above  and  below  this  expansion. 
Chaplin  states  that  the  strata  at  Moundsville  liave  a  marked  dip  southeast- 


LOWER  OHIO  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  109 

ward,  though  not  so  great  as  at  New  Martinsville,  and  he  is  inclined  to  refer 
the  expansion  there  to  the  increased  dip  of  the  strata.  This  enlargement  of 
the  valley  seems  to  have  antedated  its  filling  with  glacial  gravel  of  Wis- 
consin age.  Since  the  filling  occurred  the  stream  has  been  shifting  its  course 
over  the  gravel  bottom,  and  at  present,  in  both  the  Moundsville  and  the 
New  Martinsville  expansion,  it  is  following  the  west  bluff  instead  of  the  east. 

LOWER    OHIO    SYSTEM. 
PROBABLE   EXTENT. 

Under  this  name  will  be  discussed  the  portion  of  the  Ohio  below  the 
old  divide  near  Manchester,  together  with  such  of  its  tributaries  as  are 
concerned  in  the  drainage  and  glacial  history  of  the  region.  The  Ten- 
nessee and  Cumberland  rivers,  which  now  enter  the  Ohio  near  its  mouth, 
are  practically  independent  of  the  Ohio,  since  their  mouths  are  within  the 
Tertiary  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  Green,  Salt,  Kentucky,  and  Licking 
rivers  are  the  main  large  southern  tributaries.  These  and  the  small  south- 
ern tributaries  have  apparently  suffered  very  little  disturbance  by  glacia- 
tion.  The  northern  tributaries.  Little  and  Grreat  Miami  rivers,  and  the 
Wabash,  with  its  main  affluents,  White  and  East  White  rivers,  have  had 
their  drainage  systems  greatly  modified  by  glaciation,  so  that  it  is  difficult, 
if  not  impossible,  to  restore  the  preglacial  system.  It  is  probable,  however, 
that  a  large  part  of  the  present  drainage  basins  of  these  rivers  was  tributary 
to  the  Lower  Ohio  in  preglacial  time.  Attention  is  called  below  to  the 
question  of  a  former  northward  discharge  of  part  of  the  Ohio  drainage  basin 
through  the  Great  Miami  Basin. 

RELATION   TO   TOPOGRAPHIC   FEATURES. 

In  the  portion  of  the  Ohio  below  the  old  divide  near  Manchester 
several  rock  formations  are  crossed  which  have  yielded  very  unequally 
to  subaerial  degradation,  and  now  present  a  series  of  escarpments  and 
basins  that  are  more  impressive  as  topographic  features  than  the  valley  of 
the  river.  These  topographic  features,  however,  exert  but  little  influence 
upon  the  course  of  the  Ohio  and  its  tributaries.  They  trend  in  line  with 
the  strike,  while  the  Ohio  takes  a  course  more  nearly  in  harmony  with  the 
dip  of  the  rock  formations.  The  river  passes  from  the  Cincinnati  arch 
across  the  low  Niagara  escarpment,  formed  by  the  Lockport  limestone, 
down  to  the  basin  formed  in  the  Devonian  shale  and  thence  on  through 


110  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

tlie  Knobstone  escarpment  at  a  point  where  it  has  a  rehef  of  over  200  feet 
above  the  shale  basin.  It  then  crosses  a  shallow  basin  in  the  St.  Lonis 
limestone,  after  which  it  passes  through  the  prominent  Kaskaskia  and 
Conglomerate  Coal  Measure  formations  and  reaches  the  low  basin  of  the 
friable  Coal  Measures.  Finally  it  traverses  the  elevated  rim  of  Lower  Car- 
boniferous sandstone  and  limestone  and  enters  the  broad  valle}-  of  the 
Lower  Mississippi. 

This  disregard  of  topographic  features  is  paralleled  by  some  of  the 
tributaries  of  the  Lower  Ohio.  Green  River  takes  a  somewhat  direct  west- 
ward course  across  escarpments  and  basins  in  the  formations  between  the 
Devonian  and  Coal  Measures  in  a  district  south  of  the  Ohio,  while  the  East 
White  River  takes  a  similar  course  in  a  district  north  of  the  Ohio.  Salt 
River  passes  westward  across  the  low  basin  of  Devonian  shale  into  the 
Knobstone  escarpment  and  joins  the  Ohio  instead  of  turning  northward 
along  the  axis  of  the  low  basin.  The  Kentucky  River  seems  to  have 
suffered  more  deflection  by  topographic  and  structural  features  than  the 
tributaries  just  mentioned.  In  crossing  the  crown  of  the  Cincinnati  arch 
it  makes  a  marked  detour  to  the  southwest,  but  turns  back  to  the  north 
along  the  east  side  of  the  low  Niagara  escarpment,  as  if  guided  by  that 
escarpment. 

While  the  streams  of  this  drainage  system  usually  pass  somewhat 
directly  across  the  basins  and  escarpments,  their  courses  are  generallj" 
marked  by  a  pronounced  breaking  down  both  of  the  escarpments  and  of 
the  basins  in  the  vicinity  of  the  stream  valleys.  This  is  especially  true  of 
the  major  stream,  the  Ohio.  In  the  passage  across  the  Lockport  (Niagara) 
limestone  near  Madison,  Ind.,  the  immediate  bluffs  rise  350  to  400  feet 
above  the  stream,  or  750  to  800  feet  above  tide,  but  the  uplands  2  or  3 
miles  back  reach  full}"  500  feet  above  the  stream,  and  become  still  higher 
farther  back.  In  the  Devonian  shales  the  Ohio  bluffs  are  only  75  to  125 
feet  above  the  river,  or  -450  to  500  feet  above  tide,  but  back  20  miles  from 
the  Ohio,  at  the  divide  between  this  river  and  the  East  White  River,  the 
axis  of  the  shale  basin  rises  to  an  altitude  of  over  600  feet  above  tide,  and  a 
similar  rise  is  found  south  of  the  Ohio  along  the  axis  of  the  basin.  The 
Knobstone  formation  is  much  more  broken  or  degraded  in  the  -saciuity  of 
the  Ohio  than  a  few  miles  north  or  south  of  the  river,  as  well  as  of  lower 
altitude.     Its  highest  knobs  on  the  border  of  the  Ohio  scarcely  reach  800 


LOWER  OHIO  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  Ill 

feet  above  tide,  but  a  few  miles  back  they  rise  to  about  1,000  feet.  There 
is  a  similar  breaking  down  on  the  borders  of  the  Ohio  in  each  of  the  for- 
mations to  the  west.  In  view  of  this  condition  of  the  formations  on  the 
border  of  the  Lower  Ohio,  there  seem  to  be  grounds  for  considering  it  a 
ver}'  old  drainage  line,  whose  course  was  adopted  before  the  present  pro- 
nounced escarpments  and  basins  had  been  formed. 

TERTIARY    FLUVIAL    DEPOSITS. 

The  great  age  of  the  valleys  of  the  Lower  Ohio  and  its  tiibutaries  is 
also  shown  by  the  occurrence,  on  high  terraces  bordering  the  canyon  val- 
leys, of  deposits  of  sand  and  gravel  which  appear  to  be  fluvial  and  bear 
evidence  of  transportation  to  some  extent  in  the  present  direction  of  di-ainage. 
These  deposits  were  long  ago  recognized  by  Cox  on  the  borders  of  the  Ohio 
in  southern  Indiana,^  and  by  Safford  on  the  borders  of  the  Tennessee  and 
other  streams  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky."  ~  More  recently  they  have  been 
noted  and  described  on  the  Cumberland,  Kentucky,  and  Licking  rivers  by 
Miller,^  and  on  the  Kentucky  River  by  Campbell.^ 

The  deposits  noted  by  Cox  cap  the  bluffs  of  the  Ohio  near  Cannelton, 
Ind.,  at  an  altitude  of  about  350  feet  above  the  stream,  or  nearly  700  feet 
above  tide.  The  present  writer  has  traced  them  eastward  or  up  the  Ohio 
Valley  from  the  points  noted  by  Cox,  and  found  that  they  are  preserved  in 
small  detached  remnants  on  the  bold  bluffs  of  the  Conglomerate  Coal 
Measures  and  Kaskaskia  formation,  on  both  the  Indiana  and  the  Kentucky 
side  of  the  narrow  river  valley,  as  far  as  the  eastern  border  of  the  latter 
formation.  As  now  preserved,  they  are  only  10  to  20  feet  in  depth,  and 
the  original  thickness  may  have  been  but  little  more.  Their  altitude  is 
above  the  general  level  of  the  basin  which  has  been  formed  in  the  St.  Louis 
limestone  to  the  east,  but  in  their  rock  constituents  these  deposits  bear 
clear  evidence  of  derivation  from  the  cherty  portion  of  that  formation. 
The  transportation  must  have  been  effected  before  the  basin  had  been 
formed  in  the  St.  Louis  limestone,  a  fact  which  testifies  strongly  to  the 
great  age  of  the  deposits. 

1  Tertiary  deposits,  by  E.  T.  Cox:  Bept.  Geol.  Survey  of  Indiana  for  1871  and  1872,  p.  138. 

2  The  eastern  gravel,  by  J.  M.  Safford:  Geol.  Tennessee,  1869,  p.  438;  see  also  pp.  434-437. 
'High-level  gravel  and  loam  deposits  of  Kentucky  rivers,  by  A.  M.  Miller:  Am.  Geologist,  Vol. 

XVI,  1895,  pp.  281-287. 

*  The  Irvine  formation,  by  M.  R.  Campbell:  Geologic  Atlas  of  the  United  States,  folio  46,  Rich- 
mond, Ky.,  1898. 


112  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  deposits  on  the  Licking-  and  Kentucky  occur  on  what  are  termed 
by  Campbell  "intermediate  valleys,"  whose  floor  is  about  300  feet  above 
the  present  streams,  and  but  100  feet  below  the  general  level  of  the  border- 
ing uplands.  Miller  calls  attention  to  the  presence  of  pebbles  from  Car- 
boniferous rocks,  and  notes  that  they  are  restricted  to  deposits  on  those 
tributaries  of  the  Licking  and  Kentucky  which  have  their  sources  in  the 
Carboniferous  formations.  From  these  facts  the  inference  is  drawn  that 
they-  were  deposited  by  streams  which  flowed  in  the  present  direction  of 
drainage.  He  has  traced  the  deposits  down  the  Kentucky  Valley  to  the 
vicinity  of  Frankfort,  or  across  the  crown  of  the  Cincinnati  arch.  In  a  letter 
to  the  writer  he  reports  that  the  altitude  of  the  deposits  declines  from  about 
900  feet  in  the  vicinity  of  Irvine,  Ky.,  to  800  feet  near  Frankfoi-t.  They 
stand,  therefore,  at  the  latter  point  about  1^0  feet  higher  than  the  deposits 
above  noted  on  the  Ohio,  and  seem  likely  to  be  of  shnilar  age. 

As  yet  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  trace  the  deposits  from  Frankfort 
to  the  Ohio,  but  it  is  thought  by  Miller  that  the  course  will  continue  down 
the  Kentucky  rather  than  depart  from  that  valley.  The  wide  gaps  made 
by  basins  which  have  been  subsequently  formed  along  the  course  of  the 
Ohio  will  necessarily  render  it  difficult  to  establish  full  connection  between 
the  deposits  of  the  Kentucky  and  those  near  Cannelton,  on  the  Lower  Ohio. 
There  seem,  however,  to  be  no  reasonable  grounds  for  doubting  that  there 
was  such  a  connection,  and  the  degraded  condition  of  the  valley  border 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  to  the  deposits  farther  down  the  Ohio 
seems  of  itself  suificieut  ground  for  inferring  that  the  course  of  drainage 
at  the  time  these  deposits  were  made  was  that  which  the  Ohio  still  pursues. 
So  far  as  the  writer  could  discover,  no  better  course  is  available.  A  course 
about  as  direct  is  found  in  a  line  leading  westward  from  Madison,  Ind., 
along  the  Muscatatuck  to  the  East  White  and  White  River,  and  thence  down 
the  Wabash  to  the  Ohio.  That  there  was  an  ancient  westward  drainage 
along  the  East  White  River  is  shown  by  the  presence  of  Tertiary  gravel 
near  Shoals,  Ind.,  that  was  brought  in  from  the  east.  But  the  East  White 
has  a  smaller  channel  than  the  neighboring  part  of  the  Ohio,  and  no  channel 
has  been  discovered  near  Madison  to  connect  the  Ohio  with  the  Muscatatuck 
Valley.     It  therefore  seems  a  less  favorable  course  than  that  down  the  Ohio. 

The  gap  to  be  filled  between  the  Tertiary  deposits  on  the  Licking  and 
those  on  the  Lower  Ohio  is  still  wider  and  seems  more  difficult  to  bridg-e. 


LOWER  OHIO  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  113 

It  is  probable  that  at  the  time  these  deposits  were  made  the  Licking  crossed 
the  present  Ohio  at  Cincinnati,  and,  together  with  the  section  of  the  Ohio 
between  Manchester  and  Cincinnati,  continued  northward  at  least  to  the 
vicinity  of  Hamilton,  Ohio.  Possibly  it  maintained  a  northward  course, 
passing  Hamilton  along  the  axis  of  the  Great  Miami  Basin,  though  it  seems 
quite  as  probable  that  it  turned  southwestward  to  connect  with  the  Ohio  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Oreat  Miami  and  passed  from  there  down  the  Ohio  and 
connected  with  the  Kentucky.  The  drainage,  as  indicated  below,  appears 
to  have  been  along  the  latter  course  for  a  long  period  before  the  deposition 
of  the  lUinoian  drift. 

GRADATION   PLAINS   BELOW   THE   LEVEL   OF   THE   TERTIARY    DEPOSITS. 

As  may  be  seen  by  comparing  the  altitude  of  these  Tertiary  deposits 
on  the  Lower  Ohio  and  its  tributaries  with  that  of  the  gradation  plains  of 
the  Middle  Ohio  or  old  Kanawha  system,  the  latter  are  far  below  the  former. 
It  will  also  be  noted  that  the  gradation  plains  of  the  Middle  Ohio  system 
pertain  to  valleys  which  had  been  cut  to  a  much  greater  depth  than  those 
that  carry  the  Tertiary  deposits  of  the  Lower  Ohio  system.  Furthermore, 
the  gradation  plains  are  in  a  much  better  state  of  preservation  in  the  Middle 
Ohio  system  than  the  floor  of  the  valleys  which  carry  the  Tertiary  deposits 
of  the  Lower  Ohio  system.  These  features  suggest  that  the  gradation  plains 
of  the  Middle  Ohio  system  and  the  "intermediate  valleys"  of  the  Lower 
Ohio  system  are  not  correlatives  and  lead  us  to  examine  the  valleys  of  the 
latter  system  for  correlative  gradation  plains  at  levels  below  the  Tertiary 
deposits. 

The  glacial  deposits  have  obscured  the  contours  of  the  Ohio  Valley 
throiighout  much  of  the  area  between  Manchester,  Ohio,  and  Louisville, 
Ky.,  rendering  it  difficult  to  trace  ten-aces  or  remnants  of  gradation  plains 
on  the  valley  borders.  They  have  in  a  similar  manner  greatly  obscured  the 
northern  tributaries  of  the  Ohio.  The  southern  tributaries  should,  there- 
fore, afford  the  best  field  for  the  examination  of  gradation  plains.  These,, 
however,  have  been  examined  only  to  a  limited  extent  by  the  writer. 
Observations  were  carried  up  the  Kentucky  only  to  the  mouth  of  Eagle 
Creek,  about  8  miles,  and  up  the  Licking  River  to  Grants  Bend,  about  12 
miles.     Even  less  attention  was  given  to  other  southern  tributaries. 

On  the  Licking  River  no  well-defined  remnants  of  a  gradation  plain 
were  found  below  Grants  Bend;  but  for  2  or  3  miles  in  the  vicinity  of  this 

MON    XLI 8 


114  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

bend  a  gradation  plain  is  preserved,  and  in  places  occupies  about  half  the 
width  of  the  A'-alley.  Its  altitude  by  aneroid  is  640  to  650  feet  above  tide, 
or  nearly  200  feet  above  the  stream.  Its  rock  platform  is  capped  with  a  few 
feet  of  gravel  and  sand,  among  which  are  pebbles  derived  from  the  Lower 
Carboniferous  rocks  that  outcrop  at  the  headwaters  of  the  Licking.  A 
gradation  plain  of  similar  altitude  above  the  river  is  reported  hj  the  resi- 
dents to  be  preserved  at  points  farther  up  the  valley.  This  gradation  plain 
stands  250  to  300  feet  below  the  neighboring  uplands  in  a  valley  much 
narrower  and  more  sharply  outlined  than  that  which  carries  the  Tertiary 
deposits.  Its  relation  to  the  uplands  and  also  to  the  present  drainage  is 
similar  to  that  of  the  gradation  plain  of  the  middle  Ohio  system,  of  which 
it  is  the  probable  correlative. 

On  the  Kentucky  River  but  one  place  was  found  on  the  lower  8  miles  of 
the  valley  which  seems  to  represent  a  gradation  plain.  This  is  a  terrace 
standing  on  the  east  side  of  the  valley  opposite  Lock  No.  1,  about  3  miles 
from  the  Ohio.  Its  altitude  is  by  aneroid  175  feet  above  the  stream,  or 
scarcely  600  feet  above  tide.  A  northern  tributary  of  the  Ohio  (Indian- 
Kentuck  Creek),  entering  4  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  River 
has  well-preserved  remnants  of  a  gradation  plain  near  its  mouth,  standing 
by  aneroid  610  feet  above  tide.  These  seem  to  harmonize  with  the  single 
remnant  found  on  the  Kentucky  and  to  support  the  view  that  it  represents  a 
gradation  plain. 

One  of  the  most  conspicuous  remnants  which  this  region  affords  of  a 
gradation  plain  on  the  immediate  borders  of  the  Ohio,  and  one  which  is 
rather  difficult  to  interpret,  is  that  of  an  abandoned  channel  which  leads 
from  Eagle  Creek,  now  a  tributary  of  the  Kentucky  River,  northward  to 
the  Ohio  River.  It  leaves  Eagle  Creek  2  miles  west  of  Glencoe,  Ky.,  and 
passes  in  a  winding  course  to  the  Ohio  Valley  at  the  bend  above  Warsaw, 
Ky.  It  stands  fully  200  feet  above  the  Ohio,  and  has  a  width  of  about 
one-half  mile. 

An  abandoned  cnannel  with  a  gradation  plain  of  a  similar  height  and 
width  connects  closely  with  this  channel  and  continues  northward,  back  of 
a  range  of  hills  east  of  the  Ohio,  to  the  south  fork  of  Big  Bone  Creek,  a 
stream  which  passes  from  there  westward  into  the  Ohio.  This  northward 
continuation  of  the  abandoned  channel  was  at  first  thought  by  the  writer  to 
indicate  that  the   old   course  of  drainage   continued  northward  from  the 


LOWER  OHIO  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  115 

mouth  of  Big  Bone  Creek,  in  the  reverse  direction  of  the  present  flow  of  the 
Ohio.  This  would  bring-  support  to  a  view  recently  advanced  by  Fowke,^ 
that  the  Licking  and  the  neighboring  part  of  the  Ohio  continued  from 
Cincinnati  northward,  past  Hamilton,  through  the  Great  Miami  Basin,  and 
received  this  and  other  small  tributaries  along  the  line  leading  to  Hamilton 
from  the  southwest,  past  Lawrenceburg,  Ind.  But  upon  further  reflec- 
tion and  a  reexamination  of  the  locality  doubt  has  arisen  concerning  the 
validity  of  this  interpretation.  A  strong  element  of  uncertainty  is  found  in 
the  fact  that  the  part  of  the  Ohio  near  the  points  where  this  small  abandoned 
channel  makes  its  connections  has  the  exceptional  width  of  1 J  to  2  miles, 
and  carries  worn  and  receding  bluff's  that  seem  to  be  as  old  as  the 
abandoned  channel  at  its  side.  There  is  also  some  uncertainty  as  to  the 
interpretation  that  this  abandoned  channel  was  opened  by  Eagle  Creek. 
Its  size  is  more  in  harmon)^  with  that  of  Big  Bone  Creek,  and  markedly 
less  than  the  portion  of  Eagle  Creek  Valley  with  which  it  connects.  At 
present  it  is  uncertain  whether  by  the  abandonment  of  this  valley  the  Eagle 
has  been  deflected  from  the  Ohio  to  the  Kentucky,  or  whether  the  Big  Bone 
has  been  deflected  from  the  Eagle-Kentucky  drainage  to  the  Ohio.  This 
question  is,  however,  of  less  importance  to  the  subject  under  discussion 
than  that  of  the  existence  of  a  gradation  plain  which  corresponds  quite 
closely  with  the  remnants  of  gradation  plains  found  on  the  lower  course  of 
the  Licking  and  Kentucky. 

Upon  passing  below  Louisville  to  the  portion  of  the  Ohio  outside  the 
limits  of  glaciation,  remnants  of  a  gradation  plain  have  been  found  on 
tributaries  which  enter  through  the  resistant  sandstone  formation  They 
are  especially  well  defined  on  Big  Blue  and  Little  Blue  rivers,  one  of  which 
enters  above  and  the  other  below  the  abrupt  bend  made  by  the  Ohio 
River  at  Leavenworth,  Ind.  Like  the  gradation  plains  of  the  Licking  and 
Kentucky,  they  stand  about  175  to  200  feet  above  the  stream,  but  their 
altitude  above  tide  is  only  about  550  feet,  or  fully  50  feet  lower  than  the 
gradation  plains  near  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky.  This  is  to  be  expected 
on  the  supposition  that  the  drainage  was  along  the  present  course.  These 
gradation  plains  in  the  vicinity  of  Leavenworth  stand  about  150  feet  below 
the  level  of  the  Tertiary  deposits  which,  as  above  described,  cap  the  bluffs 
of  that  portion  of  the  Ohio  Valley. 

'Bull.  Denison  Univ.,  Vol.  XI,  1898,  pp.  1-10. 


116  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

In  the  100  miles  between  the  outcrop  of  the  resistant  conglomerate 
Coal  Measures  near  Cannelton,  Ind.,  and  the  ponit  where  the  Ohio  opens 
into  the  broad  valley  of  the  Lower  Mississippi  near  Paducah,  Ky.,  the  rock 
formations  are  so  friable  that  the  bluffs  are  in  large  part  broken  down  to  a 
lower  level  than  the  gradation  plains  would  be  expected  to  occupy.  It  is 
scarcely  possible,  therefore,  to  carry  a  definite  tracing  of  the  gradation 
plains  across  this  interval  and  connect  them  with  the  equivalent  deposits  on 
the  Lower  Mississippi.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  discriminative  studies 
will  make  clear  the  equivalents  on  the  Lower  MississipjDi  both  of  the  grada- 
tion plains  and  the  Tertiar}^  deposits  of  the  Lower  Ohio  system. 

DRAINAGE   CHANGES   NEAR   CINCINNATI. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  old  northward  line  of  dis- 
charge of  the  Licking  and  part  of  the  Ohio  from  Cincinnati,  through  the 
valley  of  Mill  Creek,  to  the  Great  Miami  near  Hamilton,  Ohio.  The  course 
of  the  Licking  was  through  the  western  part  of  Cincinnati  along  the  lo"wer 
course  of  Mill  Creek  reversed,  while  that  of  the  Ohio  was  around  the  east 
and  north  borders  of  the  Walnut  Hills  upland  to  the  junction  with  the  old 
Licking  in  the  north  part  of  the  city  (see  PL  V).  James,  some  years  ago, 
made  the  interpretation  that  the  course  of  drainage  just  outlined  was 
continued  from  the  Grreat  Miami  near  Hamilton  westward,  through  an 
abandoned  valley,  to  the  Whitewater  River  near  Harrison,  Ohio,  and  thence 
down  the  Whitewater  Valley  to  its  junction  with  the  Great  Miami  Valley 
near  the  point  where  the  latter  joins  the  Ohio  at  Lawrenceburg,  Ind.^ 
The  Ohio  is  thus  given  a  detour  of  about  20  miles  to  the  north  of  its 
present  course.  This  interpretation  has  recently  been  in  part  called  in 
question  by  Gerard  Fowke,^  who  has  suggested  that  the  Ohio  continued 
northward  from  Hamilton  along  the  Great  Miami  Valley  and  that  it  received 
a  tributary  from  the  direction  of  Lawrencebui-g  instead  of  taking-  a  course 
past  that  city. 

While  the  course  of  di'ainage  suggested  by  Fowke  may  have  been 
operative  at  some  remote  period,  as  already  indicated,  it  seems  quite  certain 
that  the  course  suggested  by  James  was  in  operation  in  the  jjeriod  of  deep 
valley  excavation  that  preceded  the  deposition  of  the  oldest  drift  of  that 

'  An  ancient  channel  of  the  Ohio  River  at  Cincinnati,  by  Joseph  F.  James:  Jour.  Cincinnati 
Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  Vol.  XI,  1888,  pp.  96-104. 

2  Bull.  Denison  Univ.,  Vol.  XI,  1898,  pp.  1-10.  Also  Ohio  Acad.  Sci.,  Special  Papers  No.  3, 
1900,  pp.  68-75. 


LOWER  OHIO  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  117 

locality  (the  Illinoiaii  drift).  This  abandoned  course,  unlike  the  abandoned 
course  of  the  Middle  Ohio  from  Wheelersburg  to  Waverly,  was  cut  down 
before  its  abandonment  to  a  level  below  that  of  the  present  Ohio.  It  corre- 
sponds apparently  to  the  trenches  or  canyon  valleys  of  the  Middle  and 
Upper  Ohio  systems.  The  rock  floor  of  the  valley  being  below  the  level  of 
the  present  drainage  hues,  its  slopes  can  be  determined  only  by  means  of 
borino-s.  From  the  data  thus  obtained  along  the  abandoned  covu-se,  as  well 
as  along  the  Ohio  below  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami,  it  appears  that  the 
rock  floor  hes  about  60  feet  below  the  present  low-water  level  of  the  Ohio, 
and  has  a  descent  in  the  present  direction  of  drainage.  From  a  level  about 
375  feet  above  tide  at  Cincinnati  it  falls  to  360  feet  or  less  at  Rising 
Sun,  Ind.,  and  to  350  feet  or  less  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  River.  At 
Cincinnati  the  tests  have  been  sufficiently  immerous  to  show  the  full  depth 
where  the  old  Licking  crossed  the  present  Ohio.  At  other  points  the  tests 
are  not  so  numerous,  but  they  are  suflficient  to  show  that  the  altitude  of  the 
rock  floor  becomes  lower  below  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami  than  it  is  at 
Cincinnati.  Borings  in  the  abandoned  channel  between  Cincinnati  and 
Hamilton  show  a  rock  floor  as  low  as  those  in  Cincinnati.  So  far  as  the 
writer  is  aware,  no  borings  along  the  Great  Miami  above  Hamilton  have 
reached  so  low  a  level  before  entering  rock  as  those  on  the  Ohio  below  the 
mouth  of  the  Great  Miami. 

In  addition  to  the  slope  of  the  rock  floor,  there  is  the  fui-ther  evidence 
for  the  route  suggested  by  James,  in  the  presence  of  a  broader  valley  along 
that  line  than  on  the  Miami  northward  from  Hamilton.  The  latter  becomes 
reduced  just  above  Hamilton  to  a  width  of  less  than  a  mile,  and  that,  too, 
at  a  height  of  fully  200  feet  above  the  level  of  the  rock  floor,  and  its 
general  width  as  far  up  as  Dayton  is  but  little  more  than  a  mile.  The 
abandoned  valley  leading  west  from  Hamilton,  in  the  route  suggested  by 
James,  is  IJ  to  2  miles  in  width,  and  there  is  no  constricted  place  from 
there  to  the  Ohio,  nor  down  the  Ohio  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky.  In 
this  connection  it  may  be  remarked  that  constrictions  farther  down  the 
Ohio  near  Madison,  Ind.,  and  Leavenworth,  Ind.,  occur  in  the  passage 
through  escarpments  of  resistant  rocks,  where  the  valley  has  exceptionally 
high  bluffs,  and  apparently  do  not  lessen  the  size  of  the  valley  more  than 
would  naturally  result  from  the  greater  resistance  of  the  rock  strata. 

The  earher  paper  presented  by  Fowke  is  accompanied  by  a  map  which 


118  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

aims  to  show  that  the  tributary  streams  below  the  mouth  of  the  Gi'eat  Miami 
enter  through  valleys  which  point  up  the  Ohio  Valley.  There  are,  how- 
ever, streams  which  are  omitted  from  that  map,  such  as  Gunpowder  Creek 
and  the  North  Fork  of  Big  Bone  Creek,  which  point  very  strongly  down 
the  Ohio  Valley.  It  is  also  found  that  north  from  Hamilton  tributaries  of 
the  Great  Miami  show  a  decided  tendency  to  trend  down  the  Miami  Valley, 
not  only  at  their  points  of  entrance  but  throughout  much  of  their  course. 
This  topographic  feature,  therefore,  can  scarcely  be  urged  to  sustain 
Fowke's  interpretation. 

From  Cincinnati  down  to  the  moutli  of  the  Great  Miami  the  valley  of 
the  present  river  has  scarcely  half  the  width  which  it  presents  below  the 
mouth  of  the  Miami.  Just  below  Cincinnati,  where  the  stream  is  thought 
to  have  crossed  an  old  divide  (see  PI.  V),  the  bluffs  reach  the  exceptional 
height  of  about  450  feet,  and  are  very  abrupt  nearly  to  the  top.  Upon 
passing  down  the  valley  they  soon  assume  the  worn  and  receding  slopes 
characteristic  of  an  old  valley,  though  so  much  smaller  than  that  opened 
by  the  Ohio  past  Hamilton  that  it  seems  the  natural  product  of  a  stream 
draining  only  the  tract  between  Cincinnati  and  the  mouth  of  the  Great 
Miami.  If  we  may  judge  by  the  boldness  of  the  bluffs,  a  prominent  col 
was  crossed  in  the  vicinity  of  the  supposed  divide.  There  may,  however, 
have  been  a  narrow  notch  of  considerable  depth  whose  borders  have  been 
cut  away  by  the  present  large  stream. 

The  old  divide  crossed  by  the  Ohio  above  the  present  mouth  of  the 
Licking  River  has  been  so  greatly  filled  in  by  glacial  deposits  on  the  Ohio 
side  of  the  river  that  its  rock  contours  are  much  obscured.  It  is  certain, 
however,  that  the  bluff's  are  greatly  degraded,  and  it  is  probable  that  a  very 
low  gap  existed  here  at  the  time  the  deflection  was  produced. 

RELATION    OF   THE    GLACIAL    DEPOSITS   TO    THE    EROSION    FEATURES   OF   THE    OHIO 

VALLEY. 

ON   THE   LOWER   OHIO. 

Before  attempting  to  interpret  further  the  changes  of  drainage  which 
have  resulted  in  forming  the  present  Ohio  River,  it  will  be  advantageous  to 
consider  briefly  the  relation  of  the  glacial  deposits  to  the  erosion  features. 
It  so  happens  that  the  only  part  of  the  immediate  valley  of  the  Ohio  which 
lias  been  glaciated  lies  in  the    section  called  the   old  Lower  Ohio,   from 


GLACIATION  AND  EROSION  IN  OHIO  VALLEY.  119 

a  point  a  few  miles  below  Manchester,  Ohio,  down  to  the  vicinity  of 
Loixisville,  Ky.  Bnt  along  the  entire  length  of  the  present  valley  assorted 
material  derived  from  glacial  deposits  has  been  distributed,  and  much  may 
be  learned  by 'determining  the  relation  of  this  assorted  material  to  the 
valley  excavation. 

The  portion  of  the  Ohio  Valley  which  has  experienced  glaciation 
covers  nearly  the  interval  from  Louisville  up  to  Maysville,  Ky.,  1 90  miles, 
for  the  glaciation  fell  short  but  5  to  10  miles  of  reaching  the  site  of  each 
of  these  cities.  The  abandoned  course  of  the  Ohio  near  Cincinnati  should 
also  be  included,  and  as  this  is  less  direct  than  the  present  course  it 
increases  the  length  of  the  glaciated  portion  of  the  valley  to  about  225 
miles.  Throughout  this  glaciated  portion,  including  the  abandoned  course 
of  the  stream,  the  drift  deposits  are  found  to  extend  down  to  a  rock  floor 
lower  than  the  bed  of  the  present  river,  and  as  these  include  till  or  unmod- 
ified glacial  material  it  is  evident  that  the  excavation  of  the  valley  to  its 
lowest  depth  pieceded  that  stage  of  glaciation  which  produced  these  deposits. 
This  particular  glaciation,  as  explained  farther  on,  belonged  to  the  Illinoian 
stage.  It  is  certain,  therefore,  that  at  that  early  stage  this  part  of  the  Ohio 
was  excavated  to  its  full  depth. 

ON   TRE   MIDDLE   OHIO. 

The  Middle  Ohio  or  old  Kanawha  system  is  less  favorably  situated 
than  the  Lower  Ohio  for  determining  the  relation  of  the  glacial  deposits  to 
the  erosion  features,  for  the  part  of  the  Ohio  Valley  which  falls  in  that  sys- 
tem was  not  reached  by  the  ice  sheet.  It  is  also  found  that  along  the  old 
northward  outlet  of  that  drainage  system  the  Ilhnoian  glaciation  extended 
but  a  few  miles  beyond  the  later  or  Wisconsin  glaciation.  There  are,  how- 
ever, a  few  features  outside  the  glacial  boundary  which  throw  some  light 
upon  this  question. 

Above  the  level  of  the  Wisconsin  glacial  terrace  which  leads  down 
the  Scioto  to  the  Ohio  there  are  deposits  of  gravel  and  sand  derived 
apparently  from  Illinoian  drift.  Their  height  is  60  to  7.5  feet  above  the 
Wisconsin  terrace,  and  they  have  been  found  along  the  Scioto  for  about 
30  miles  south  from  the  glacial  boundary  or  nearly  to  the  Ohio  River. 
They  have  been  observed  only  on  the  remnants  of  the  gradation  plain  of 
the  small  stream,  which,  as  above  described,  seems  to  have  been  a  southern 
or  southwestern  tributary  of  the  old  Kanawha,  but  the  presence  of  glacial 


120  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

pebbles  makes  it  certain  that  they  were  deposited  by  water  moving  south- 
ward. There  is  additional  evidence  that  these  deposits  were  derived  from  the 
Illinoian  drift  in  the  fact  that  the  glacial  pebbles  show  more  weathering 
than  is  commonly  displayed  by  similar  rocks  found  in  the  Wisconsin  gravel. 
Although  these  Illinoian  gravels  have  not  been  traced  from  the  Scioto  down 
the  Ohio  past  the  old  divide,  that  course  appears  to  have  been  the  only 
available  one  for  the  stream  which  transported  the  gravel  southward  through 
the  Scioto  Valley.  The  gravels  show  a  decided  slope  toward  the  Ohio  from 
the  glacial  boundary.  From  an  altitude  about  700  feet  above  tide,  at  the 
point  where  the  Scioto  crosses  the  glacial  boundary,  just  south  of  Chilli- 
cothe,  their  surface  declines  to  about  650  feet  near  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto, 
30  to  35  miles  farther  south.  With  the  data  now  at  command  the  writer  is 
unable  to  make  a  definite  estimate  of  the  amount  of  trenching  that  had  been 
accomplished  in  this  part  of  the  Ohio  prior  to  the  Illinoian  stage  of  glacia- 
tion,  but  there  was  probably  enough  to  give  a  downward  slope  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Scioto  past  the  old  divide  near  Manchester  to  the  lower  Ohio. 
There  are  features  in  the  region  which  indicate  that  the  trenching  of 
the  gradation  plain  had  extended  up  the  Scioto  beyond  the  glacial  boundary 
before  the  close  of  the  Glacial  epoch,  but  it  is  not  entirely  certain  that  the 
trenching  had  been  accomplished  prior  to  the  Illinoian  glaciation.  The 
features  referred  to  are  found  in  the  valley  of  the  South  Fork  of  Salt 
Creek.  This  valley,  and  also  the  abandoned  portion  of  the  old  Kanawha, 
in  southern  Ohio,  was  greatly  tilled  by  silt  deposits,  which  are  apparently  of 
glacial  derivation,  for  they  are  in  a  sandstone  region  and  yet  are  quite  cal- 
careous. Borings  in  the  vicinity  of  Jackson,  20  miles  above  the  mouth  of 
the  stream,  show  that  the  silt  deposits  on  South  Salt  Creek  extend  below 
the  level  of  the  postglacial  valley  excavation,  and  are  40  or  50  feet  lower 
than  the  rock  floor  of  the  abandoned  part  of  the  old  Kanawha  west  of 
Jackson,  less  than  10  miles  distant.  The  correlative  rock  flooi-  of  this  val- 
ley should  stand  a  few  feet  higher  than  the  rock  floor  of  the  old  Kanawha, 
since  it  had  its  discharge  into  that  valley.  The  fact  that  it  stands  so  much 
lower  is  a  clear  indication  that  the  valley  had  been  deepened  fully  50  feet 
between  the  reversal  and  partial  abandonment  of  the  old  Kanawha  and  the 
deposition  of  the  silt.  That  this  amount  of  trenching  occuri-ed  here  on  a 
small  tributary  of  the  Scioto  is  a  matter  of  far  more  consequence  than  if 
it  had  been  found  along  the  present  Ohio,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  old  divide, 


GLACIATION  AND  EROSION  IN  OHIO  VALLEY.  121 

or  even  on  the  Scioto.  The  time  required  would  seem  adequate  for  the 
Ohio  to  cut  down  the  old  divide  about  to  the  level  of  the  Lower  Ohio,  with 
which  it  connected,  and  for  the  Scioto  to  have  extended  its  trenching  from 
the  present  mouth  northward  into  the  Scioto  Basin  far  beyond  the  mouth  of 
Salt  Creek. 

Unfortiinately  there  is  an  element  of  uncertainty  as  to  the  age  of  the 
silt  which  fills  this  trench.  There  is  presumably  a  silt  deposit  in  this  valley 
which  connects  at  the  north  with  the  Illinoian  drift  and  perhaps  silts  of  still 
earlier  glacial  stages.  There  was  also  in  the  lowau  stage  of  glaciation  a 
Avidespread  deposition  of  calcareous  silt  in  this  region,  and  the  silts  of  the 
several  stages  have  not  been  properly  discriminated.  If  it  can  be  shown 
that  only  the  surface  portion  is  of  lowan  age  and  the  deeper  portion  is 
Illinoian,  the  entire  excavation  would  have  occurred  in  pre-lllinoian  time 
here,  as  well  as  in  the  Lower  Ohio  drainage  system,  and  the  two  systems 
would  probably  have  been  connected  at  that  early  date  about  as  at  present. 

ON    THE    UPPER    OHIO. 

It  remains  to  consider  the  relation  which  the  deposits  that  contain 
glacial  material  bear  to  the  erosion  features  of  the  Upper  Ohio.  These 
deposits  are  of  several  classes  and  of  different  ages,  and  are  found  at  all 
levels,  from  the  rock  floor  under  the  river  up  to  gradation  plains  which  in 
one  place  attain  an  altitude  nearly  400  feet  above  it.  The  deposits  which 
occupy  the  vallej"  bottom  and  rise  to  a  height  of  100  to  130  feet  above  the 
stream  are  generally  referable  to  fluvial  action  during  and  subsequent  to  the 
Wisconsin  stage  of  glaciation;  but  those  which  appear  at  greater  heights  are 
referable  to  earlier  Pleistocene  stages.  At  the  Wisconsin  stage  the  valley 
here  as  well  as  farther  down  appears  to  have  been  opened  to  its  full  depth. 

A  sheet  of  drift  much  older  than  the  Wisconsin,  and  probably  also 
older  than  the  Illinoian,  has  furnished  material  for  fluvial,  deposits  which 
have  been  built  up  in  the  part  of  the  Ohio  Valley  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Beaver  to  a  height  of  about  980  feet  above  tide,  or  100  feet  above  the  main 
gradation  plain,  and  320  feet  above  the  river.  These  deposits  have  as  yet 
been  found  to  cover  the  gradation  plains  of  the  old  north-flowing  system 
only  as  far  as  Toronto,  Ohio,  35  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Beaver  River. 
The  siirface  of  the  gravel  appears,  from  aneroid  measurements,  to  descend 
in  that  distance  25  or  30  feet,  being  between  950  and  960  feet  at  Toronto. 


122  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Between  Toronto  and  Moundsville  there  are  occasional  remnants  of 
gravel  deposits,  containing-  glacial  pebbles,  on  slopes  and  narrow  rock 
shelves  below  the  level  of  the  g-radation  plains  and  above  the  Wisconsin 
gravel  terrace,  but  the  amount  is  small  compared  with  that  between  Beaver 
and  Toronto.  There  are  also  small  amounts  of  glacial  gravel  at  higher 
levels  than  the  Wisconsin  terrace  south  of  the  old  divide,  from  Mounds- 
ville down  nearly  to  Marietta.  In  that  part  of  the  valley  they  are  found  on 
the  old  gradation  plain  as  well  as  on  the  slopes  below  it,  but,  as  above 
noted,  the  altitude  of  the  gradation  plain  south  from  the  old  divide  is  much 
lower  than  that  of  the  best  defined  gradation  plain  of  the  north-flowing 


The  distribution  of  these  deposits  suggests  that  the  valley  at  and  above 
the  old  divide  had  been  opened  down  about  to  the  level  of  the  gradation 
plain  south  of  the  divide  prior  to  the  culmination  of  the  earliest  glaciation, 
with  its  attendant  deposition  of  the  vallej^  gravel. 

This  subject,  however,  should  not  be  dismissed  until  attention  has  been 
called  to  certain  features  which  seem  difiicult  to  harmonize  with  the  view 
that  considerable  trenching  across  the  old  divide  had  occurred  at  the  time 
of  the  first  glaciation.  On  high  rock  shelves  lying  within  the  limits  of 
the  old  north-flowing  system  south  of  Toronto  there  are  scattering 
pebbles  and  thin  deposits  of  loani}^  clay  and  fine  sand.  These  deposits 
suggest  a  ponding  of  waters  in  the  early  stages  of  reversal,  and  there  are 
suggestions  of  the  presence  of  glacial  material  in  the  ponded  waters.  A 
deposit  especially  open  to  suspicion  is  a  fine  sand  suitable  for  molders'  use, 
which  has  been  obtained  on  the  rock  shelves  near  Wheeling-  and  Bellaire  at 
about  1,000  feet  above  tide,  but  its  glacial  derivation  has  not  as  yet  been 
demonstrated.  In  this  connection  attention  is  directed  to  a  feature  that 
seems  somewhat  inharmonious  with  this  -dew.  The  pebbles  found  on  these 
rock  shelves  are  usually  of  resistant  sandstone,  probably  of  local  deriva- 
tion, and  are  deeply  weathered;  but  on  a  rock  shelf  in  the  north  part  of 
Wheeling,  standing  990  feet  above  tide,  fresh-looking  erratics  were  found. 
They  are  mainly  small  pebbles,  an  inch  or  less  in  diameter,  of  granite,  green- 
stone, and  quartzite.  They  are  especially  abundant  in  an  open  field  south 
of  the  waterworks  reservoir.  Their  fresh  appearance,  when  in  such  an 
exposed  situation,  makes  it  seem  doubtful  if  they  were  deposited  by  glacial 
waters  at  that  high  level.     Possibly  they  have  been  brought  up  from  a 


GLACIATION  AND  EROSION  IN  OHIO  VALLEY.  123 

terrace  of  Wisconsin  age  deep  down  in  the  valley,  though  xipon  inquiry  no 
facts  could  be  obtained  to  sustain  this  inference.  From  their  general 
appearance  they  can  scarcely  be  cited  as  evidence  of  the  preservation  of 
the  old  divide  up  to  that  altitude,  but  the  molders'  sand  may  prove  to  be  a 
point  in  support  of  that  view. 

On  the  Ohio  above  the  mouth  of  the  Beaver,  and  also  on  the  Lower 
Allegheny,  glacial  gravel  has  been  found  on  the  gradation  plain  all  the  way  up 
to  the  supposed  divide  near  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion,  which  is  near  the  point 
where  the  Allegheny  passes  from  the  glaciated  into  the  unglaciated  region. 
It  covers  the  gradation  plain  to  a  depth  of  40  to  100  feet,  the  greatest  filling 
being  near  the  mouth  of  the  Beaver,  where  the  old  drainage  turned  away 
from  the  present  Ohio. 

The  amount  of  trenching'  which  this  part  of  the  old  Upper  Ohio  had  suf- 
fered before  the  deposition  of  the  earliest  glacial  material  is  a  matter  which 
has  been  in  controversy  for  some  years.  On  the  slopes  of  the  trench 
which  has  been  cut  in  the  old  gradation  plain  there  are  patches  or  thin 
sheets  of  glacial  gravel  which  have  afforded  grounds  for  different  interpre- 
tations, it  being  maintained  by  some  that  they  demonstrate  the  preexist- 
ence  of  a  trench  at  the  time  of  the  earliest  filling  with  glacial  material, 
while  it  has  been  held  by  others,  among  whom  the  writer  is  included,  that 
they  represent  probably  the  incidents  of  degradation  subsequent  to  the 
earliest  filling.  The  following  are  the  grounds  set  forth  some  years  ago  by 
Chamberlin  and  Leverett  for  doubting  the  preexistence  of  a  deep  trench:^ 

Between  the  base  of  the  undisputed  high-level  gravels  and  the  summit  of  the 
low-level  sj'stems,  g-ravel  is  found  at  numerous  points  on  the  sides  of  the  Allegheny 
trench.  This  gravel  is  commonly  found  on  sloping  points  in  the  inner  bends  of  the 
river  and  in  other  localities  where,  in  cutting  down  its  valley,  the  river  would  be 
likely  to  leave  remnants  of  gravels,  if  they  were  there  before,  or  would  permit  their 
lodgment  in  the  process  of  sinking  its  bed,  if  hot  there  before.  Herein  lies  the 
radical  difBculty  of  their  interpretation.  A  winding  stream,  which  is  cutting  down 
its  bed  at  a  moderate  rate,  tends  to  extend  its  meanders  as  well  as  deepen  its  floor, 
and  so  it  cuts  outward  as  well  as  downward  on  the  convexities  of  its  bed  and  is  dis- 
posed to  permit  the  lodgment  of  material  on  its  concave  side,  where  the  tendency  of 
the  stream  is  to  recede.  Now,  the  Allegheny,  during  the  whole  process  of  its  descent 
from  the  level  of  the  high  terraces  to  its  present  position,  was  undoubtedly  a  gravel- 
bearing  stream.  It  was  not  only  engaged  in  the  process  of  removal  of  the  gravel 
along  its  own  immediate  course,  but  was  receiving  very  much  that  was  washed  in 
from  the  drift  region  adjacent,  so  that  a  certain  amount  of  lodgment  of  transported 

'Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series,  Vol.  XLVII,  1894,  pp.  275-277. 


124  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

material  may  be  assumed  to  have  been  inevitable.  This  is  dependent  upon  the  .same 
principle  of  action  that  would  permit  the  retention  of  gravels  in  such  situations  if 
they  had  been  previoush'  deposited  within  the  trench. 

As  the  gTavels  on  the  slopes  are  usually  thin  .sheets  or  patches,  we  have  not 
found  decisive  evidence,  in  themselves,  as  to  whether  they  are  remnants  of  earlier 
gravels,  or  incidents  of  degradation.  We  have  searched  industriouslj'  for  evidence 
that  should  be  decisive  on  this  point.  Such  evidence  should  be  found  in  abandoned 
segments  of  the  old  vallej',  if  it  had  been  deeply  excavated  before  the  deposit  of  the 
gravels  and  had  subsequently  been  tilled  by  these  up  to  the  summit  of  high  gravels. 
These  high  gravels  fill  oxbows  and  recessed  shelves,  and  the  stream  which  deposited 
them  had,  in  manj^  instances,  alternative  courses.  This  is  notably  true  in  the  vicinity 
of  Pittsburg.  Here  the  old  high  plain  of  rock  was  extensively  covered  by  the  waters 
that  deposited  the  gravels,  as  is  shown  bj'  the  presence  of  remnants.  There  are,  in 
the  eastern  part  of  the  citj^,  four  islands  surrounded  b}'  broad  channel  ways,  among 
which  the  waters  distributed  glacial  gravels  in  greater  or  less  degree.  Now,  if  the 
present  deep  Allegheny  and  Monongahela  trenches  had  been  cut  previously  to  the 
filling  in  of  the  gravels,  there  is  only  a  small  chance  that,  after  the  gravel-depositing 
period,  during  which  the}'  were  flowing  50  feet  or  more  above  the  rock  plain,  they 
would  have  descended  the  second  time  on  precisely  the  same  lines.  Between  the 
several  broad  channels  open  to  them  the  possible  combinations  are  32  in  number,  and 
hence  theoretically  the  chances  of  a  combination  repeating  itself  are  one  in  32.  If 
it  be  objected  that  certain  of  the  courses  are  more  favorably  situated  than  others,  our 
answer  is,  first,  why  were  these  others  then  ever  produced  hj  the  streams  or  occu- 
pied by  glacial  wash;  and  our  second  answer  is,  that  if  this  be  true  of  certain  combi- 
nations, it  does  not  seem  to  us  to  be  at  all  true  of  many  others. 

Besides  this,  along  the  Alleghenj-  River  above,  and  also  along  the  Ohio  River 
between  Pittsburg  and  Toronto,  to  which  point  the  high  gravels  containing  Canadian 
pebbles  have  been  traced,  there  are  perhaps  a  score  of  oxbows,  deep  recesses, 
shelves,  or  available  cols  which  would  afl'ord  opportunities  for  the  redescending 
river  to  locate  itself  on  other  lines  than  its  old  track  with  all  its  meanders.  When 
these  possibilities  are  added  to  the  preceding  it  becomes  exceedingly  strange  that, 
below  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion,  no  abandoned  channel  is  found  which  retains  any 
old  filling  comparable  in  depth  to  the  present  trench.  We  find  numerous  channels 
containing  gravels  ranging  from  50  to  a  little  over  100  feet  that  represent  such  old 
courses  on  the  higher  plain.  This  demonstrates  the  truthfulness  of  the  principle 
here  urged,  and  shows  its  application  to  this  particular  field. 

The  hypothesis  that  the  river  trenches  of  this  reg'ion  had  been  ent  to 
essentially  their  present  depth  before  the  earliest .  glaciation  encounters 
another  serious  difficulty  in  that  it  calls  for  a  greater  amount  of  valley  filling 
than  can  well  be  postulated.  It  necessitates  enough  valley  gravel  during  that 
glaciation  to  produce  a  filling  fully  300  feet  in  depth  for  a  distance  of  at  least 
250  miles,  and  that,  too,  while  the  ice  edge  occupied  the  narrow  belt  between 
the  glacial  boundary  and  the  basin  of  Lake  Erie.     The  amount  of  material 


RATE  OF  FALL  OF  ALLEGHENY  RIVER.  125 

required  to  spread  a  deposit  40  to  100  feet  in  depth  over  the  surface  of  the 
gradation  plain  seems  surprisingly  great  when  the  limited  extent  of  glaciated 
country  tributary  to  this  drainage  system  is  considered,  but  this  must  be 
doubled  or  trebled  to  fill  the  trenches.  It  would  be  far  in  excess  of  the 
outwash  from  the  Wisconsin,  for  that  has  been  sufficient  to  fill  the  trench  to 
an  average  depth  but  little  more  than  100  feet,  and  it  had  the  advantage  of 
contributions  from  the  earlier  gravel  deposits  all  along  the  line. 

It  should  not  be  inferred  that  the  gradation  plains  of  the  Upper  Ohio 
region  had  reached  only  an  incipient  state  of  trenching  down  to  the  time 
when  those  of  the  Middle  and  Lower  Ohio  had  suffered  trenching  to  their 
full  dejDth.  The  glacial  deposits  of  the  Upper  Ohio  region  apparently  belong 
to  a  stag'e  of  glaciation  much  earlier  than  that  which  furnished  the  drift  of 
the  Lower  Ohio  region.  The  latter  is  of  Illinoian  age,  while  the  foi'mer,  as 
indicated  below,  seems  to  be  fully  as  old  as  the  Kansaii  drift,  if  not  of  pre- 
Kausan  age.  A  sufficient  amount  of  valley  trenching*  may  have  occurred 
in  the  Upper  Ohio  region  between  the  eai'liest  glaciation  and  the  Illinoian 
stage  to  bring  it  into  harmony  with  that  of  the  Lower  Ohio  system.  The 
precise  amount  of  trenching  can  scarcely  be  estimated  in  the  present  stage 
of  investigation. 

ALLEGHENY  RIVER. 

The  Allegheny  River,  the  main  headwater  tributary  of  the  Ohio,  drains 
an  area  of  about  11,500  square  miles,  2,000  square  miles  being  in  south- 
western New  York,  and  9,500  in  northwestern  Pennsylvania.  The  river 
rises  in  Potter  County,  Pa.,  near  the  sources  of  the  Genesee  and  the  Sus- 
quehanna, and  runs  northwestward  into  southwestern  New  York.  It  there 
turns  southwestward  and  holds  this  general  course  to  its  mouth  at  Pitts- 
burg. The  length  of  the  valley  is  about  325  miles.  The  length  of  the 
stream  is  but  little  more,  for  throughout  much  of  its  course  its  meanders 
conform  to  the  windings  of  the  valley.  In  the  headwater  portion,  for  about 
160  miles,  the  curves  are  less  sharp  than  in  the  lower  portion  of  the  valley, 
though  the  course  is  far  from  direct.  In  the  lower  portion  the  valley  makes 
several  sharp  oxbow  loops,  in  some  instances  nearly  severing  the  prominent 
ridges  inclosed  by  them. 

RATE    OF    FALL. 

The  source  of  the  river  is  near  the  crest  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains, 
in  passes  which  stand  about  2,200  feet  above  tide.     The  highest  ridges  in 


126  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

that  vicinity  exceed  2,500  feet.  In  the  first  20  miles,  to  Coudersport,  Pa., 
the  fall  is  very  rapid,  but  below  this  point  the  valley  has  been  silted  up 
and  the  rate  of  fall  becomes  very  much  reduced.  In  the  30  miles  from 
Port  Allegany,  Pa.,  to  Olean,  N.  Y.,  the  fall  is  only  about  50  feet,  or  less 
than  2  feet  per  mile,  and  tliis  low  rate  continues  to  Salamanca,  20  miles 
below  Olean.  The  following  condensed  statement  of  the  fall  of  the  river 
from  Olean  to  Pittsburg  is  taken  from  Roberts's  Report  on  the  Smwey  of  the 
Allegheny  River. -^ 

Fall  of  Allegheny  Eiv&)' from  Olean,  N.  Y.^to  Pittsburg^  Pa. 

Feet 
per  mile. 

First  20  miles  below  Olean 1.7 

Second  20  miles 3.  7 

Third  20  miles. -  - - -  - 5. 0 

Fourth  20  miles - 3. 5 

Fifth  20  miles - 3-5 

Thirty-two  miles  to  Franklin -  -  3.0 

Franklin  to  Pittsburg,  123  miles _. -  -  2. 1 

Average  Olean  to  Pittsburg,  255  miles -  - 2.  8 

Average  Olean  to  Franklin,  132  miles - 3.4 

From  the  same  report  it  appears  that  there  are  190  riffles  between 
Olean  and  Franklin,  with  an  average  length  of  617  feet  and  an  average 
descent  of  1.6  feet.  These  riffles  have  a  combined  length  of  22.2  miles  and 
an  aggregate  descent  of  304.77  feet.  This  leaves  141.49  feet  descent  for 
the  110  miles  not  occupied  by  riffles,  or  a  descent  of  less  than  1.3  feet  per 
mile.  From  an  earlier  report  by  Roberts  ^  it  appears  that  between  Frank- 
lin and  the  mouth  of  Conemaugh  River,  30  miles  above  Pittsburg,  thei-e 
are  58  riffles,  with  an  average  length  of  1,460  feet  and  an  average  descent 
of  2.46  feet.  There  are  11  riffles  in  the  lower  30  miles  of  the  river,  but 
their  length  and  descent  have  not  been  ascertained. 

The  most  formidable  riffle  in  the  entire  length  of  the  portion  surveyed  is 
"McGinnis  Rapids,"  about  8  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion  River, 
where  a  descent  of  11.23  feet  is  made  in  a  distance  of  6,900  feet.  This  is 
described  to  be  a  connected  series  of  rapids,  shoalest  at  the  head.  About 
one-half  mile  above  the  head  of  the  rapids  the  river  has  a  rock  bed,  but 
it  is  not  certain  that  the  rapids  are  over  rock  ledges;  nor  is  it  certain  that 
the.  rock  ledge  over  which  the  river  flows  extends  entirely  across  the  valley 
at  a  level  as  high  as  the  river  bed. 

'Senate  Doc.  No.  89,  Forty-sixth  Congress,  second  session,  25  pages. 
^  House  Doc.  No.  21,  Forty-fifth  Congress,  third  session,  17  pages. 


ROCK  FLOOR  OF  ALLEGHENY  RIVER.  127 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  river  has  a  rock  bed  at 
but  few  places  in  its  entire  length,  and  the  rock  floor  lies  usually  20  to  50 
feet  below  the  stream.  In  the  headwater  portion,  as  indicated  below,  it  lies 
at  a  great  depth  below  the  stream;  yet  in  that  portion  a  rock  ledge  is 
crossed  by  the  stream  at  Limestone  Falls,  about  7  miles  above  the  point 
where  the  river  returns  from  New  York  into  Pennsylvania,  and  a  fall  of  3.84 
feet  occurs  in  a  distance  of  650  feet.'  The  stream  there  is  near  the  left 
bluff,  and  a  buried  channel  is  to  be  expected  in  the  middle  of  the  valley 
that  will  extend  perhaps  200  feet  below  river  level. 

EOCK   FLOOR. 

In  the  upper  20  miles  of  its  course  the  rock  floor  is  but  little  below 
stream  level,  but  in  the  next  20  miles  it  becomes  covered  to  a  depth  of 
about  200  feet,  while  at  Olean,  and  for  nearly  30  miles  below  that  city  to 
Cold  Spring  Ci'eek,  it  is  covered  to  a  depth  of  fully  300  feet.  From  the 
mouth  of  Cold  Spring  Creek,  near  Steamburg,  N.  Y.,  the  Upper  Allegheny, 
as  indicated  by  Carll,  formerly  led  away  from  its  present  course  to  enter  the 
Lake  Erie  Basin.' 

Down  the  present  Allegheny  from  Cold  Spring  Creek  the  rock  floor 
shows  a  rise  of  about  150  feet  in  the  25  miles  to  Great  Bend,  Pa.,  8 
miles  above  Warren,  where  the  old  divide  pointed  out  by  Carll  has  been 
crossed.  It  drops  about  70  feet  in  the  8  miles  to  Warren,  below  which,  for 
10  miles  or  more,  it  appears  to  hold  a  nearly  uniform  level  about  1,100  feet 
above  tide.  A  descent  then  begins,  which  apparentlj^  continues  the  entire 
1 75  miles  to  the  mouth  of  the  stream,  at  a  level  20  to  50  feet  below  low- 
water  level.  In  this  lower  end  of  the  valley,  therefore,  it  resembles  the 
rock  floor  of  the  Ohio,  but  in  the  upper  part  its  relation  to  the  present 
stream  is  different.  Although  the  rock  floor  in  the  lower  end  of  the  valley 
shows  a  descent  with  the  present  stream,  it  does  not  follow  that  there  has 
been  no  change  of  drainage.  Here,  as  on  the  Ohio,  the  old  divides  have 
been  cut  down  below  the  level  of  the  stream  sufficiently  to  give  a  gradient 
in  harmony  with  it.  But  in  the  upper  part  of  the  Allegheny  the  old  streams 
flowed  in  plains  so  far  below  the  level  of  the  present  river  that  their  rock 
floors  have  not  been  touched  by  it. 

1  Roberts's  Report,  Senate  Doc.  89,  Forty-sixth  Congress,  second  session,  pp.  13  and  23. 
*  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Rept.  I',  1880,  pp.  333-355. 


128  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


DESCKIPTION    OF  THE   VALLEY. 


At  the  source  of  the  Allegheny  the  dividing  ridges  between  the  Alle- 
gheny, Genesee,  and  Susquehanna  rivers  have  an  altitude  of  2,500  to  2,6uO 
feet.  Down  the  Allegheny  the  highest  points  on  bordering  uplands  fall  to 
about  2,500  feet  near  Port  Allegany,  to  2,425  feet  near  Olean,  to  2,375 
feet  near  Salamanca,  and  to  perhaps  2,200  feet  in  the  vicinity  of  Steam- 
burg,  where  the  present  channel  departs  from  the  old  one.  There  is  a 
slight  rise  southward  from  that  point  to  the  old  divide  near  Kinzua,  Pa., 
the  uplands  reaching  an  altitude  of  2,150  feet  on  the  immediate  borders  of 
the  valley  west  of  Kinzua.  From  this  point  there  is  a  general  descent 
toward  the  mouth  of  the  present  river,  the  altitude  near  Warren  being 
about  1,960  feet,  near  Tidioute  1,750  feet,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion 
River  1,550  feet,  and  near  Pittsburg  1,200  to  1,300  feet.  A  comparison 
of  these  altitudes  with  the  altitudes  of  the  stream  shows  that  the  stream 
flows  at  a  level  500  to  800  feet  or  more  below  the  highest  parts  of  the 
bordering  uplands,  while  the  rock  floor  in  the  deeply  filled  poi'tions  in 
northern  Pennsylvania  and  southwestern  New  York  was  cut  1,000  to  1,100 
feet  below  the  bordering  uplands.  The  course  of  the  stream,  as  may  be 
seen  by  reference  to  the  glacial  map  (PI.  II),  lies  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
glacial  boundary,  a  large  part  being  just  outside  the  limits  of  the  drift  and 
none  of  the  valley  far  inside  the  drift  border. 

The  Allegheny  Valle}^  increases  gradually  in  width  in  the  northwest 
portion  from  its  source  to  the  point  where  the  present  stream  departs  from 
the  old  course  near  Steamburg,  N.  Y.,  the  width  being  one-fourth  to  one- 
half  mile  from  Coudersport  to  Port  AUegany,  and  one-half  to  three-fourths 
mile  from  Port  Allegany  to  the  bend  just  above  Olean,  N.  Y.,  below  which, 
as  far  as  Cold  Spring  Creek,  the  width  is  a  mile  or  moi-e. 

Southward  from  the  mouth  of  Cold  Spring  Creek  the  valley  maintains 
a  width  of  a  mile  only  as  far  as  the  vicinity  of  the  State  line.  From 
Cory  don  to  Kinzua,  Pa.,  it  has  a  width  of  scarcely  three-fourths  of  a  mile. 
At  the  old  divide  below  Kinzua  it  narrows  abruptly  to  a  width  of  but 
one-fourth  mile,  and  remains  narrow  nearly  to  the  mouth  of  Conewango 
River  at  Warren.  It  there  expands  to  a  width  of  about  a  mile,  and  main- 
tains this  width  from  Warren  to  the  bend  near  Irvineton,  a  distance  of  8 
miles.  Upon  passing  south  from  Irvineton  it  soon  decreases  to  less  than 
one-half  mile,  being  much  narrower  than  the  valley  of  Brokenstraw  Creek, 


OLD  UPPER  ALLEGHENY  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  129 

which  enters  the  Allegheny  at  Irvineton.  It  continues  naiTow  as  far  as  the 
mouth  of  the  Clarion  River,  being  in  places  scarcely  one-fourth  mile,  and 
rarely  exceeding  one-half  mile,  in  width.  In  this  narrow  portion  there  are 
occasional  remnants  of  the  fluvial  plain  of  the  small  predecessor  of  the 
middle  portion  of  the  Allegheny,  which,  as  indicated  below,  discharged 
northwestward  along  French  Creek  (reversed),  and  eventually  reached  the 
Lake  Erie  Basin. 

At  the  mouth  of  Clarion  River  a  broad  gradation  plain  comes  in  from 
that  valley  and  continues  down  the  Allegheny  to  its  mouth.  This  has  been 
trenched  to  a  depth  of  about  200  feet  below  the  level  of  the  old  rock  floor. 
The  trench  or  inner  valley  is  usually  about  one-half  mile  in  width,  though 
it  increases  to  nearly  a  mile  near  the  mouth  of  the  stream.  At  the  level  of 
the  gradation  plain  there  is  a  general  width  of  about  1  mile.  This  grada- 
tion plain  is  capped  by  a  deposit  of  sand  and  gravel,  with  an  average  thick- 
ness of  perhaps  40  feet,  that  serves  to  accentuate  the  terrace-like  appearance, 
for  it  fills  up  small  trenches  that  had  been  cut  in  the  gradation  plain  jjrior 
to  the  gravel  filling.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  state  that  above  the  level 
of  this  gradation  plain  the  blufiFs  are  far  more  worn  and  i-eceding  than  in 
the  inner  or  canyon  valley  lying  below  it. 

OLD   UPPER    ALLEGHENY    DRAINAGE    SYSTEM. 

Evidence  that  the  upper  portion  of  the  Allegheny  drainage  basin  for- 
merly discharged  northwestward  to  the  Lake  Eiie  Basin  was  presented  by 
Carll  some  twenty  years  ago.^  He  called  attention  to  the  constriction  of 
the  present  valley  near  Kinzua,  Pa.,  and  noted  that  the  rock  floor  of  the 
valley  slopes  northward  or  in  the  reverse  direction  from  the  jJresent  stream 
from  this  point  to  the  mouth  of  Cold  Spring  Creek,  where  it  is  met  by  a 
a  rock  floor  sloping  with  the  present  stream.  He  also  noted  a  broad 
valley  deeply  filled  with  drift  leading  westward  from  the  mouth  of  Cold 
Spring  Creek  to  the  headwater  portion  of  Conewango  Creek.  Having  no 
opportunity  to  examine  the  divide  at  the  head  of  Conewango  Creek,  he 
suggested  an  outlet  to  the  Lake  Erie  Basin  along  the  rather  broad  valley 
of  Cassadaga  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Conewango.  In  this  suggestion  he 
seems  to  have  been  in  error,  for  a  much  broader  valley  leads  northward 
across  the  low  divide  between  Conewango   and   Cattaraugus   creeks,  and 

'Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Kept.  I^  1880,  pp.  1-10,  330^39. 
MON    XLI 9 


130  GLACIAL  FOEMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

thence  down  Cattaraugus  Creek  to  the  lake.  In  favor  of  the  route  across 
the  divide  between  Conewango  and  Cattaraugus  creeks  there  is  not  only 
the  greater  width  of  the  valley,  but  also  its  more  direct  course  to  the  lake 
basin  and  the  presence  of  a  channel  deeper  than  is  known  to  be  present  in 
the  Cassadaga  Valley.  Three  wells  along  it  penetrate  drift  to  depths  of 
284,  314,  and  330  feet,  respectively,  without  reaching  rock,  while  a  fourth, 
in  Cattaraugus  Valley,  at  the  Indian  Asyluiii  near  Versailles,  penetrated 
about  200  feet  of  drift. 

The  northward  slope  of  the  rock  floor  and  its  wide  departure  from  the 
bed  of  the  present  streams  is  in  part  shown  diagramatically  in  fig.  4.  On  a 
subsequent  page  it  is  shown  that  on  this  line,  as  well  as  on  other  ancient 
drainage  lines  of  this  region,  the  northward  slope  of  the  rock  floor  may  be 
somewhat  modified  by  surface  warping.    There  may  also  have  been  consider- 

Randolph  ^^^^^^.^^ 

Rurledge  Sreamburg  ■ 

Dayton  nf^  '■"!*'  \Corydon  Kiniua 

'  T  'T     Col.  Warren 

Conewango  River      \  I  -^    ■  ^lu^i. —  :     i    «.  :       1170' 


p,otl^S.J^^-^--"""" 

' Level    of   Lake    Erie   (s?3  A.T.) 


Fig.  4. — Diagram  to  show  the  relation  between  the  present  stream  bed  and  the  old  rock  floor  along  the  preglaeial  Upper 
Allegheny  River.  The  numerals  above  the  stream  bed  indicate  surface  altitudes,  while  those  below  show  the  depth 
to  which  wells  have  penetrated.    The  sign  (?)  indicates  that  rock  ivas  not  reached. 

able  rock  excavation  by  an  interglacial  stream  along  this  line  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  lake  basin,  it  being  not  improbable  that  an  interglacial  stream  would 
have  had  its  source  somewhat  south  of  the  present  divide,  which  is  a 
moraine  of  Wisconsin  or  late  glacial  age.  Both  factors  need  to  be  elimi- 
nated in  determining  the  rate  of  slope  of  the  rock  floor  of  preglaeial  times. 
The  present  rate  seems  too  great  for  the  nature  of  the  valley.  It  may  also 
be  necessary  to  make  allowance  for  excavation  b}"  ice  or  b)^  currents  of 
water  underneath  the  ice  in  the  portion  of  the  valley  within  the  glacial 
boundary,  but  such  an  excavation  could  not  have  occurred  in  the  portion 
of  the  valley  with  northward-sloping  floor  which  lies  outside  the  glacial 
boundary,  i.  e.,  between  Kinzua  and  Cold  Spring  Creek. 

The  general  configuration  of  the  drainage  features  of  the  region  sup- 
port this  view  of  reversal  or  change  in  drainage,  as  may  be  seen  b}'  refer- 


OLD  UPPER  ALLEGHENY  DEAINAGE  SYSTEM.  131 

ence  to  the  map  of  the  restored  drainage  (fig.  1,  p.  vS9).  The  naturahiess  of 
this  restored  system  lends  support  to  the  more  positive  evidence  just  cited. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  old  divide  between  the  small  streams  which 
flowed  south  into  the  Upper  Allegheny  and  those  which  flowed  north  into 
Cattaraugus  Creek  was  farther  south  than  the  present  divide,  Above  the 
village  of  Ischua  the  headwater  portion  of  Ischua  Creek  appears  to  have 
discharged  northward  past  Machias  to  Cattaraugus  Creek.  Tiie  changes  on 
the  headwaters  of  other  tributaries  are  of  less  consequence.  Cattaraugus 
Creek  departs  somewhat  from  the  ancient  line  of  drainage,  as  noted  in  the 
discussion  of  that  stream. 

It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  decide  upon  the  extent  of  the  basin  drained 
by  the  western  tributaries  of  the  old  Upper  Allegheny,  for  the  valleys  and 
lowland  tracts  have  been  so  greatly  filled  by  glacial  deposits  that  the  old 
divides  are  concealed.  Probably  much  of  the  drainage  areas  of  Cassadaga 
Creek,  Chautauqua  Lake,  and  the  lower  portion  of  Conewango  Creek  were 
tributary  to  the  Upper  Allegheny  along  the  valley  leading  from  Jamestown 
eastward  to  Randolph,  N.  Y. 

It  is  possible  that  the  Conewango  Valley  was  a'  line  of  northward  dis- 
charge for  a  small  section  of  the  present  Allegheny  between  the  old  divide 
near  Kinzua  and  a  divide  near  Thompson  station,  about  12  miles  below 
Warren,  Pa.,  and  also  for  the  part  of  the  Tionesta  drainage  basin  above 
Barnesville,  Pa.  It  is  certain  that  the  upper  portion  of  the  Tionesta  dis- 
charged northward  through  Glade  Run  to  the  present  Alleghen}^  at  Warren, 
as  pointed  out  by  Carll.  The  old  divide  where  reversal  took  place  is  readily 
located  near  Barnesville,  where,  as  noted  by  Carll,  the  stream  enters  a 
narrow  gorge  scarcely  one-fifth  the  width  of  the  abandoned  channel.  It  also 
seems  evident,  from  a  constriction  of  the  Allegheny  Valley  that  sets  in 
near  Thompson  and  from  other  features  discussed  below,  that  the  discharge 
could  not  have  been  down  the  present  Allegheny.  The  only  element 
of  uncertainty  is  the  course  of  the  drainage — whether  it  was  northward 
through  the  Conewango  reversed,  or  westward  through  the  lower  course 
of  Brokenstraw  Creek  and  a  deeply  filled  broad  valley  connecting  Broken- 
straw  Creek  with  Oil  Creek  along  the  line  of  the  Dunkirk,  Allegheny 
Valley  and  Pittsburg  Railway.  The  rock  floor  in  the  lower  course  of 
Conewango  Creek  and  on  the  Allegheny  between  Warren  and  the  mouth 
of  Brokenstraw  Creek  is  shown  by  numerous  oil  borings  to  be  nearly  level, 


132         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

while  on  the  old  line  of  northward  drainage  for  the  Tionesta  and  on  the 
portion  of  the  Conewango  north  from  Russellbiirg,  Pa.,  the  rock  floor  shows 
a  perceptible  northward  slant.  This  singular  feature  may  perhaps  be  due 
to  a  recession  of  the  Thompson  col  through  valley  excavation,  as  suggested 
by  Carll,^  and  the  formation  of  a  pseudo-col  north  of  Warren  at  a  point 
where  excavation  and  rocession  were  interrupted  by  a  later  filling  with 
glacial  gravel. 

The  valley  leading  westward  from  the  lower  course  of  Brokenstraw 
Creek  into  the  Oil  Creek  Basin  has  been  insufficiently  tested  by  borings  to 
furnish  satisfactory  evidence  concerning  the  slope  of  its  rock  floor  or  the 
altitude  of  the  floor  compared  with  that  of  the  Lower  Conewango.  A 
decision  between  these  two  routes  can  scarcely  be  rendered  until  a  better 
knowledge  of  the  western  line  is  obtained. 

OLD    MIDDLE   ALLEGHENY    DRAINAGE    SYSTEM. 

This  basin  includes  the  lower  portion  of  the  Tionesta  (below  Barnes- 
ville  post-office),  the  Allegheny  from  the  old  col  at  Thompson's  to  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Clarion,  and  the  tributaries  of  this  part  of  the  Allegheny, 
except  the  headwaters  of  Oil  and  French  creeks,  as  indicated  in  fig.  6. 
Several  lines  of  evidence  unite  in  indicating  that  this  district  formerly 
discharged  northwestward  along  or  near  the  lower  course  of  French  Creek 
nearly  to  Meadville  and  thence  past  Conneaut  Lake  to  Conneaut  Creek  and 
the  Lake  Erie  Basin.  Evidence  in  favor  of  the  reversal  in  the  part  below 
the  mouth  of  French  Creek  is  found  in  the  narrowness  of  the  Allegheny 
Valley  above  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion,  as  compared  with  the  Clarion- 
Lower  Allegheny  Valley.  Evidence  is  also  found  in  an  elevated  tract  which 
is  crossed  by  the  Allegheny  immediately  above  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion, 
and  in  the  rock  shelves  or  old  rock  floors  of  the  Allegheny  and  French 
Creek  valleys. 

Attention  has  already  been  called  (p.  129)  to  the  broad  gradation  plain,  a 
mile  or  more  in  average  width,  which  follows  the  Lower  Allegheny  at  a  level 
about  200  feet  above  the  present  stream,  and  to  the  fact  that  this  gradation 
plain  follows  up  the  Clarion,  but  does  not  extend  up  the  Allegheny  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Clarion,  for  that  part  of  the  Allegheny  has  a  naiTOw  valley 
with  precipitous  bluffs  reaching  a  height  of  nearly  400  feet  above  the  stream. 


'Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Kept.  I*,  1883,  p.  311. 


OLD  MIDDLE  ALLEGHENY  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  133 

The  force  of  this  evidence  has  also  been  noted  in  showing  either  that  a 
disproportionately  small  gradation  plain  with  high  cliff  borders  lay  in  this 
narrow  gorge  (having  a  breadth  of  only  one-third  to  one-half  that  of  the 
Clarion  and  Lower  Allegheny  gradation  plain)  or  that  there  has  been  a 
reversal  of  drainage  by  which  a  small  stream  that  formerly  flowed  north- 
westward through  this  gorge  to  join  the  French  Creek-Conneaut  outlet  was 
reversed  and  its  valley  recut  to  fit  the  new  and  larger  stream.  The  balance 
of  probabilities  in  favor  of  the  latter  has  also  been  set  forth. 

There  seems  to  be  evidence  that  the  portion  of  the  present  Allegheny 
between  the  supposed  col  near  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion  and  the  French 
Creek  outlet  has  been  derived  from  parts  of  two  valleys,  each  discharging 
northwestward,  but  separated  by  a  divide  below  the  mouth  of  East  Sandy 
Creek.  This  view  is  supported  not  only  by  a  notable  constriction  there 
(to  a  width  of  scarcely  1,000  feet)  but  also  by  an  abandoned  valley  leading 
northward  from  the  bend  of  West  Sandy  Creek  at  Polk  (Waterloo)  to 
French  Creek  Valley,  just  above  the  mouth  of  Sugar  Creek,  which  would 
afford  a  northward  outlet  for  the  western  stream.  The  relationships  of  the 
present  streams  to  this  abandoned  valley  and  to  the  supposed  col  may  be 
seen  by  a  comparison  of  figs.  5  and  6.  This  comparison  will  also  serve  to 
show  how  natural  is  the  restored  system  compared  with  the  disturbed  and 
unnatural  present  system. 

Turning  next  to  the  line  of  evidence  found  in  the  rock  shelves  and 
terraces,  a  general  inspection  of  the  French  Creek  Valley  shows  that  there 
has  been  broader  and  deeper  excavation  than  on  the  Middle  Alleghen}^. 
But  inasmuch  as  the  French  Creek  Valley  lies  within  the  glacial  boundary, 
and  its  lower  course  nearly  coincides  with  the  direction  of  the  ice. flow,  it 
seemed  necessary  to  determine  whether  its  greater  size  may  not  be  due  in 
the  main  to  glacial  excavation.  An  examination  of  the  valley  with  this 
question  in  mind  led  to  the  discovery  of  old  channels  and  ox-bow  curves 
of  preglacial  streams  whose  preservation  is  so  complete  as  to  furnish  decisive 
evidence  that  glacial  excavation  has  been  of  little  consequence  in  causing 
the  size  of  the  southern  end  of  the  valley. 

Along  the  valley  which  led  past  Waterloo  from  the  highland  tract  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Clarion  to  the  present  French  Creek  Valley  there  are 
remnants  of  an  old  valley  floor  near  the  supposed  divide  at  an  altitude  of 
375-400  feet  above  the  river,  or  1,275  to  1,300  above  tide,  while  at  Waterloo, 


134 


GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


in  the  abandoned  valley  which  leads  from  Sandy  Creek  northward  to  French 
Creek,  the  rock  floor  is  shown  by  several  oil  wells  to  have  an  altitude  about 
1,060  feet  above  tide.  This  valley  is  filled  with  drift  apparently  of  early 
glacial  age,  and  its  rock  floor  has  not  suffered  excavation  since  the  drift 
deposition.  Its  rock  floor  is  the  probable  continuation  of  the  elevated  rock 
floor  of  the  headwaters  and  indicates  a  descent  of  somewhat  more  than  200 

feet  in  18  to  20  miles.     This  rate 


of  fall  would  be  natural  in  such  a 
small  stream  descending  from  the 
elevated  table-laud,  and  differs  but 
little  from  the  rate  of  fall  in  south- 
ern tributaries  of  the  upper  Alle- 
gheny of  corresponding  size — e.  g., 
the  fall  on  the  Tuna,  a  similar 
sti-eam,  from  De  Golia,  Pa.,  to  the 
mouth  of  the  stream,  a  distance  of 
14  miles,  is  215  feet.-'  At  the  north 
end  of  the  abandoned  valley,  where 
it  opens  into  French  Creek,  a  rock 
floor  is  struck  in  wells  at  an  alti- 
tude about  975  feet  above  tide, 
which  seems  to  mark  the  continua- 
tion of  the  old  valley  floor. 

Turning  now  to  the  main 
stream  of  the  old  Middle  Alle- 
gheny, it  appears  probable  that  the 
col  at  Thompson's  had  a  height  of 
at  least  1,220  feet.  At  Tidioute,  8 
miles  below,  early  glacial  gravels  rest  on  a  rock  shelf  that  represents  the 
old  river  bottom  at  1,160  feet  above  tide.  At  Reno  a  similar  shelf  stands 
only  1,040  feet;  while  at  Franklin,  in  an  oxbow  filled  with  early  glacial 
gravel  (see  PI.  VIII),  one  boring  reached  rock  at  1,040  feet  above  tide, 
and  another  penetrated  to  a  level  only  1,015  feet  above  tide  without  reach- 
ing rock.  The  gravel  at  these  points  rises  to  a  level  much  above  that  of  the 
terraces  connected  with  the  outer  moraine  of  the  Wisconsin  or  late  ice  inva- 


FlG.  5.— Present  drainage  of  part  ot  the  Middle  Allegheny 
drainage  system. 


'See  Carll:  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Bept.  !■',  p.  334. 


OLD  MIDDLE  ALLEGHENY  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM. 


135 


siou,  and  sustains  such  relations  as  to  show  clearly  that  it  has  suiTered  no  dis- 
turbance since  deposition.  The  shelves,  therefore,  antedate  the  gravel,  and 
are  remnants  of  an  old  river  bottom.  The  hill  standing  between  the  old  chan- 
nel and  the  present  river  (see  PL  VIII)  seems  to  have  been  detached  from  the 
bluff  south  of  the  river.  Tin.-!  change  was  probably  brought  about  at  the 
time  the  valley  became  filled  greatly  with  glacial  gravel,  the  amount  of  filling 
being  sufficient  to  raise  the  stream 


above  the  level  of  the  old  neck  that 
joined  the  hill  to  the  south  bluff. 

Following  the  supposed  out- 
let northwestward,  there  is  an  old 
meandering  valley  lying  near  the 
present  French  Creek  and  in  part 
coinciding  with  it  (see  fig.  5).  On 
a  small  eastern  tributary  of  this  old 
valley  3  miles  northwest  of  Frank- 
lin, wells  situated  a  mile  or  more 
back  from  the  junction  of  the  trib- 
utary with  the  old  valley  strike  a 
rock  floor  at  about  1,040  feet  above 
tide,  which  is  about  as  low  a  level 
as  the  rock  floor  found  in  one  of 
the  wells  in  the  Franklin  oxbow, 
and  is  within  2.5  feet  of  the  bottom 
of  the  other.  These  wells  pene- 
trate about  100  feet  of  drift  of 
early  glacial  age.  As  they  are 
back  from  the  principal  valley,  the 
presumption  is  that  the  main  channel  is  lower.  Farther  northwest  along  the 
valley,  at  a  point  8  miles  from^  the  Allegheny,  a  well  is  found  which  reaches 
the  rock  floor  at  1,025  feet  above  tide — i.  e,  at  a  depth  intermediate  between 
the  depths  of  the  two  wells  in  the  abandoned  oxbow  at  Franklin.  This  well 
is  situated  near  the  southern  edge  of  the  valley  and  can  scarcely  be  sup- 
posed to  have  struck  its  deepest  portion.  Again,  in  an  old  oxbow  3  miles 
north  of  Utica,  similar  in  every  way  to  the  oxbow  at  Franklin  except  that 
it  lies  within  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin  ice  invasion,  the  floor  is  shown  by 


Fig.  6. — Probable  preglaclal  drainage  of  part  of  the  Middle 
Allegheny  drainage  basin. 


136  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

one  well  to  be  945  feet  and  by  another  960  feet  above  tide — i.  e.,  70  feet  and 
55  feet,  respectively,  below  the  bottom  of  the  lowest  well  in  the  Franklin 
oxbow.  Still  farther  northwest,  on  French  Creek,  at  Cochranton,  Buchanan, 
and  Meadville,  there  are  wells  showing  excavation  to  even  greater  depths; 
the  first  two  not  reaching  the  bottom  at  915  and  800  feet  above  tide,  respec- 
tively, and  the  last  finding  rock  at  605  feet  above  tide.  The  depth  of 
drift  at  this  last  point  is  reported  to  be  475  feet,  and  the  rock  bottom  is 
only  32  feet  above  Lake  Erie.  The  low  altitude  at  Meadville  seems  to 
be  confined  to  a  narrow  trench,  for  within  short  distances  either  side  the 
rock  floor  is  100  to  200  feet  higher.  The  conditions  here  are  somewhat 
problematical,  as  in  the  north  end  of  the  old  Upper  Allegheny. 

The  evidence  seems  very  strong  that  the  oxbow  at  Franklin,  the  old 
channel  northeast  of  Utica,  and  the  oxbow  north  of  Utica  are  remnants  of 
the  floor  of  the  same  old  meandering  stream  leading  northwestward.  The 
fact  that  the  rock  floor  in  the  oxbow  north  of  Utica  is  70  feet  below  the 
deepest  determination  of  the  old  channel  where  it  left  the  present  Allegheny 
renders  it  highly  improbable,  if  not  impossible,  that  it  was  formed  by  a 
stream  discharging  toward  the  Allegheny.  It  is  even  lower  than  the  present 
rock  bottom  of  the  Allegheny,  notwithstanding  all  the  erosion  tlie  latter  is 
believed  to  have  suffered  since  the  deposition  of  tlie  early  glacial  gravels. 
It  is  highly  probable,  therefore,  that  we  have  in  these  abandoned  valleys  a 
continuation  of. the  old  Middle  Allegheny.  An  inspection  of  the  general 
configuration  of  the  old  channel,  as  shown  in  fig.  6,  will  add  to  the  force  of 
these  considerations. 

An  objection  to  the  northwestward  outlet  may  perhaps  seem  to  be 
presented  by  deposits  of  gravel  which  occur  along  the  Allegheny  Valley 
between  the  niouth  of  French  Creek  and  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion.  In 
several  places,  notabl)'  at  the  bends  of  the  river  at  Brandon,  at  a  point  2 
miles  below  Brandon,  at  Kennerdell,  at  Black's  (Winter  Hill  station),  and 
at  Emlenton,  there  are  deposits  on  the  face  of  the  gorge  extending  from 
near  the  river's  edge  up  to  heights  of  200  to  300  feet  or  more  above  the 
stream.  The  occurrence  of  this  gravel  at  low  levels  can  not  be  accounted 
for  by  creeping  or  landslides,  since  in  some  places,  notably  at  Kennei'dell 
and  2  miles  below  Brandon,  the  gravels  show  clearly  by  their  situation  and 
bedding  that  they  have  not  been  disturbed  since  the  stream  deposited  them. 
We  are  not,  however,  reduced  to  the  one  interpretation  that  the  valley  had 


U.  S.  GEOLOGICAL   SURVEY 


MONOGRAPH   XLI   PL.  VIII 


Prom  Second  Geological  Survey  orPennaylvaJiia 
RejiorHn.  PL  18. 1880 
J.E  LESLEY",  State  Geologist. 


OLD  MIDDLE  ALLEGHENY  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  137 

been  opened  to  its  present  depth  and  had  southward  drainage  before  the 
beginning  of  the  glacial  period.  These  gravels  are  in  every  observed 
case  situated  on  sloping  points  on  the  inner  curves  of  sharp  bends  in  the 
river.  At  such  places  a  stream  works  outward  as  well  as  downward,  there 
being  erosion  on  the  outer  curve  and  liability  of  deposition  on  the  inner 
curve.  It  is  to  be  expected,  therefore,  on  the  hypothesis  that  the  stream 
has  greatly  deepened  its  channel  since  the  ice  invasion,  that  such  deposits 
should  be  present,  and  these  deposits  do  not,  it  is  thought,  necessarily 
oppose  the  hypothesis  of  former  northwestward  drainage,  nor  that  of  great 
erosion  since  the  beg'inning  of  the  Glacial  epoch. 

Concerning  the  line  of  discharge  for  the  Middle  Allegheny  from  near 
Meadville  to  the  Lake  Erie  Basin  a  few  remarks  seem  necessary.  It  is 
certain  that  the  old  drainage  line  did  not  follow  French  Creek  Valley 
northward  beyond  Meadville,  for  there  is  clear  evidence  of  an  old  divide 
on  the  present  creek  a  short  distance  above  that  city.  The  line  described 
by  Carll  as  the  Conneaut  outlet  departed  from  French  Creek  about  4  miles 
below  Meadville,  followed  up  the  outlet  of  Conneaut  Lake  to  that  body  of 
water,  passed  northward  across  a  low  divide  filled  heavily  with  drift  to  the 
northward-flowing  portion  of  Conneaut  Creek,  passed  down  that  creek  to 
the  bend  near  Albion,  then  continued  northward  and  entered  the  Lake  Erie 
Basin  a  few  miles  east  of  the  Ohio-Pennsylvania  line. 

Another  valley-like  lowland  leads  from  Meadville  along  Cussewago 
Creek  (reversed)  nearly  to  its  source,  and  thence  northwestward  to  the 
Conneaut  outlet  near  Albion,  through  a  region  heavily  covered  with  drift. 
The  Cussewago  channel  is  narrower  than  the  Conneaut  and  seems,  on  the 
whole,  a  less  probable  line  of  discharge  for  the  Middle  Allegheny.  The 
northern  end,  however,  afforded  a  line  of  discharge  for  a  portion  of  the 
French  Creek  valley  above  Meadville,  as  indicated  on  page  139. 

On  both  the  Conneaut  and  Cussewago  channels  the  borings  are  too 
few  to  afford  a  satisfactory  knowledge  of  the  rock  floor.  At  the  border  of 
Lake  Erie,  for  several  miles  each  side  of  the  place  where  the  old  stream 
entered,  the  rock  surface  seldom  rises  above  lake  level.  It  is  probable 
that  the  channel  of  the  old  stream  had  reached  a  level  in  harmony  with 
the  bed  of  the  lake. 

It  was  suggested  by  CarlP  that  the  headwater  portion  of  the  Shenango 

'  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Kept.  I',  pp.  5-6. 


138         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

connected  with  the  Coianeaut  outlet  along-  the  line  of  the  old  Beaver  canal. 
In  apparent  support  of  this  view,  there  is  found  to  be  a  very  low  divide 
on  this  line  composed  of  drift.  But  within  a  short  distance  back  from  the 
canal  on  either  side  rock  appears  above  the  canal  level,  a  feature  which 
suggests  that  the  drift  here  covers  a  low  rock  ridge  instead  of  an  old  chan- 
nel. It  seems  probable,  therefore,  that  the  middle  Allegheny  received  very 
little  of  the  present  Shenango  drainage. 

OLD    DRAINAGE    BETWEEN    THE    UPPER    AND    MIDDLE    ALLEGHENY    DRAINAGE    SYSTEMS. 

The  greater  part  of  Brokenstraw,  Little  Brokenstraw,  Oil,  and  French 
Creek  drainage  basins  appear  to  have  been  largely  independent  of  either 
the  Upper  or  Middle  Allegheny.  Instead  of  discharging,  as  now,  in  a 
southeastward  direction  to  the  Allegheny,  they  appear  to  have  taken  a 
northwestward  course  to  the  Lake  Erie  Basin.  Only  a  small  part  of  the 
ancient  drainage  can  be  readily  traced,  owing  to  the  deep  filling  of  drift, 
which  completely  conceals  many  of  the  low  divides  and  renders  it  difficult, 
if  not  impracticable,  to  locate  them.  The  borings,  also,  are  not  sufficiently 
numerous  to  afford  a  satisfactory  knowledge  of  the  slope  of  the  rock  floors, 
except  in  a  few  localities  especially  favored  by  oil-well  borings.  The 
present  discussion  can  therefore  set  forth  only  a  few  of  the  points  which 
bear  upon  the  ancient  courses  of  drainage. 

The  enlargement  of  Oil  Creek,  a  small  northern  tributary  of  the  Mid- 
dle Allegheny,  was  brought  to  notice  by  Carll.'  He  called  attention  to  the 
old  divide  just  south  of  Titusville,  and  to  the  fact  that  in  the  part  of  tlie 
present  creek  above  this  divide  the  rock  floor  slopes  toward  the  Lake  Erie 
Basin. 

The  region  now  drained  by  French  Creek  seems  to  have  suffered 
greater  changes  than  that  drained  by  Oil  Creek.  Indeed,  the  i^resent 
stream  appears  to  unite  several  areas  which  were  drained  by  distinct  lines. 
The  lower  course,  as  already  indicated,  formed  the  old  line  of  discharge  for 
the  Middle  Allegheny,  while  a  small  section  in  the  middle  of  the  present 
valley  was  occupied  by  the  stream  which  di-ained  the  headwater  part  of  the 
present  Oil  Creek  Basin,  and  which  may  be  called  Mudd}^  Creek,  from  the 
stream  which  now  connects  it  with  the  Allegheny.  Between  these  two 
lines  of  drainage  there  was  a  smaller. line  which  crossed  the  present  French 

'  Op.  cit,  pp.  356-360. 


OLD  DRAINAGE  FROM  UPPER  TO  MIDDLE  ALLEGHENY.      139 

Creek  Valley  at  Saegerstown,  which  may,  perhaps,  be  denominated  the  old 
Woodcock  Creek,  since  a  stream  by  that  name  now  drains  the  headwater 
portion  of  the  valley,  entering  French  Creek  at  Saegerstown.  French 
Creek  crosses  another  old  divide  in  the  extreme  southwest  corner  of  New 
York.  The  drainage  systems  thus  united  may  nevei-  have  been  entirely 
distinct,  but  they  certainly  have  been  greatly  modified  in  their  courses  and 
connections. 

The  old  Woodcock  Creek  passed  directly  across  French  Creek  through 
a  depression,  now  deeply  filled  with  drift,  which  leads  past  Mosiertown  to 
Cussewago  Creek,  from  which  it  apparently  continued  northwestward  near 
Crossingville  and  Pleasant  Valley  to  the  old  Middle  Allegheny  or  "Con- 
neaut  outlet"  in  the  vicinity  of  Albion,  Pa.  At  the  point  where  the  old 
stream  crosses  French  Creek  the  width  is  nearly  one-half  mile,  or  about 
double  that  of  the  present  valley  of  French  Creek  just  above  and  below 
the  line  of  this  old  valley.  Although  this  ancient  line  drained  an  area 
much  smaller  than  the  present  French  Creek,  its  age  was  so  many  times 
greater  than  that  of  these  new  portions  of  the  creek  that  the  amount  of 
excavation  is  greater.  Wells  at  Saegerstown  enter  rock  at  only  30  feet 
below  French  Creek,  or  about  1,070  feet  above  tide,  but  it  is  probable  that 
the  deepest  part  of  the  old  valley  has  not  been  struck  by  them.  These 
wells,  however,  stand  in  the  midst  of  French  Creek  Valley,  and  bear  strong 
testimony  to  the  absence  of  a  deep  channel  between  Saegerstown  and 
Meadville.  The  old  divide  crossed  by  French  Creek  on  each  side  of  the 
old  Woodcock  Creek  apparently  stood  but  50  to  60  feet  above  the  present 
creek;  at  least  the  rock  rises  no  higher  than  that  on  the  immediate  borders 
of  the  stream. 

No  difficulty  was  experienced  by  Carll  in  tracing  the  old  upper  part 
of  the  Oil  Creek  drainage  northwestward  to  French  Creek  through  the 
broad  lowland  now  occupied  by  Muddy  Creek;  but  the  line  of  discharge 
from  French  Creek  to  the  Lake  Erie  Basin  was  not  so  readily  determined. 
There  appear  to  be  rock  barriers  on  the  line  of  the  two  principal  lowlands 
leading  from  French  Creek  toward  the  basin,  one  of  which  is  di-ained  by 
Le  Boeuf  Creek  and  the  other  by  Conneautee  Creek.  On  account  of  these 
apparent  barriers  the  old  line  of  drainage  was  thought  by  Carll  to  have 
followed  down  the  present  course  of  French  Creek  to  the  Conneaut  outlet 
near  Meadville.     In  giving  the  stream  this  route  he  apparently  overlooked 


140  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  two  old  divides  just  noted,  one  of  which  is  crossed  by  French  Creek 
between  Cambridge  and  Saegerstown,  and  the  other  between  Saegerstown 
and  Mead\dlle.  The  presence  of  these  old  divides  makes  it  necessary  to 
give  the  stream  a  different  course  from  Cambridge  to  the  lake.  The  great 
amount  of  drift  in  the  region  through  which  it  must  have  passed  has  nearly, 
if  not  quite,  concealed  the  line  of  discharge,  hence  it  is  not  possible  at 
present  to  trace  the  line  through  to  the  lake. 

As  indicated  in  the  discussion  of  the  Upper  Allegheny,  there  is  a  possi- 
bility that  a  small  section  of  the  Allegheny,  together  with  the  headwater 
portion  of  Tionesta  Creek  and  the  lower  course  of  Conewango  Creek, 
formerl}^  discharged  south  westward  into  the  upper  part  of  Oil  Creek  drain- 
age basin  past  Grand  Valley,  carrying  with  it  the  lower  courses  of  Broken- 
straw  and  Little  Brokenstraw  creeks,  as  well  as  several  smaller  streams  now 
tributary  to  the  Allegheny.  This  being  the  case,  a  much  larger  stream 
than  the  present  headwater  portion  of  Oil  Creek  (above  Titusville)  dis- 
charged through  Muddy  Creek  channel.  It  seems  more  likely,  however, 
as  suggested  above,  that  the  drainage  of  this  section  of  the  Allegheny  was 
northward  through  the  Conewango.  The  valley  at  Titusville  is  nearly  a 
mile  in  width,  and  becomes  gradually  larg-er  upon  passing  northwestward 
along  the  line  of  the  Muddy  Creek  channel,  the  width  being  nearly  2  miles 
along  the  portion  of  French  Creek  between  the  mouth  of  Muddy  Creek 
and  Cambridge.  It  is  several  times  the  size  of  the  small  valley  which  now 
forms  the  lower  course  of  Oil  Creek. 

The  headwater  part  of  Oil  Creek  drainage  basin  was  excavated  to  a 
level  below  that  of  the  lower  part;  that  is,  of  the  small  drainage  line  south 
of  the  divide.  The  valley  floor  at  Titusville,  as  shown  by  numerous  oil 
wells,  is  only  1,100  feet  above  tide,  and  it  falls  to  1,034  feet  in  the  Muddy 
Creek  channel,  7  miles  northwest  of  Titusville,^  thus  reaching  an  elevation 
tion  about  as  low  as  the  lower  Oil  Creek  reached  at  Oil  City  on  the  Middle 
Allegheny,  18  miles  below  Titusville  as  the  stream  now  flows. 

The  old  divide  near  Titusville  is  found  to  consist  of  a  narrow  ridge 
situated  but  a  short  distance  south  of  the  line  of  the  old  upper  Oil  Creek. 
It  was  apparently  quite  similar  to  the  divide  at  the  head  of  Pithole  Creek, 
a  few  miles  east  of  Titusville,  which  almost  overlooks  the  valley  of  a  head- 
water tributary  of  Oil  Creek  and  yet  stands  about  400  feet  above  it.     The 

iSee  Carll,  op.  cit.,  pp.  357-358. 


OLD  DRAINAGE  FROM  UPPER  TO  MIDDLE  ALLEGHENY.      141 

divide  at  the  head  of  Pithole  Creek  rises  to  a  height  of  1,640  feet  above 
tide,  and  the  rock  surface  is  about  1,560  feet,  while  the  rock  floor  in  the 
valley  ou  the  north  is  less  than  1,200  feet.  It  is  scarcely  probable  that 
the  divide  crossed  by  Oil  Creek  south  of  Titusville  stood  quite  so  high.  The 
gap  made  by  the  creek  is  bordered  by  abrupt  blufiPs  up  to  a  height  of  only 
1,320  feet,  which  probably  marks  the  height  of  the  old  divide.  South  of 
this  old  divide  is  the  small  valley  of  the  old  lower  Oil  Creek,  leading  to 
the  Allegheny  at  Oil  City.  Its  width,  including  rock  shelves,  averages 
scarcely  100  rods,  while  the  width  inside  the  rock  shelves  is  in  places  but 
40  to  60  rods.  It  is  similar  in  size  to  Pithole  Creek  Valley,  which  drains 
a  small  district  on  the  east.  This  small  valley  had  been  excavated  nearly 
to  the  present  level  of  Oil  Creek  before  the  culmination  of  the  earliest 
glaciation,  for  low  rock  shelves  on  its  borders  40  to  60  feet  above  the 
stream  are  thickly  covered  with  early  glacial  deposits.  Its  valley  floor  is  in 
harmony  with  that  of  the  neighboring  portion  of  the  Middle  Allegheny, 
which  was  excavated  nearly  to  the  present  stream  level  before  the  glacial 
deposition  took  place.  An  abandoned  oxbow  channel  west  of  Petroleum 
Center  has  a  rock  floor  as  low  as  the  creek  level,  1,090  feet  above  tide,  and 
yet  it  seems  not  improbable  that  its  excavation  preceded  the  drift  deposition.^ 
At  the  Boughton  Acid  Works,  within  a  mile  south  of  the  old  divide,  the 
valley  floor  appears  to  have  stood  only  about  1,200  feet  above  tide,  or  40 
to  50  feet  above  the  creek  at  the  time  the  reversal  took  place. 

The  headwater  portions  of  French  Creek  and  Little  and  Big  Broken- 
straw  creeks  evidently  have  been  greatly  modified  by  the  obstruction  of 
old  lines  of  drainage.  In  several  places  the  waters  now  divide  in  the 
vallej^-like  lowlands  which  probably  were  formed  by  ancient  streams. 
It  is  probable  that  the  headwater  portion  of  Little  Brokenstraw  Creek 
discharged  into  the  valley  now  occupied  by  Lake  Chautauqua,  there  being 
an  abandoned  valley  along  the  line  of  the  Erie  Railway  from  this  creek  at 
Grant,  N.  Y.,  to  Lake  Chautauqua.  Evidence  that  the  headwater  portion  of 
this  creek  was  once  distinct  from  the  lower  course  is  found  in  the  lower 
altitude  of  its  rock  floor,  and  also  in  the  fact  that  the  headwater  portion 
is  in  a  larger  valley  than  the  lower  course  of  the  creek.  A  boring  at 
Lottsville,  Pa.,  in  the  headwater  portion  of  the  creek  reached  a  level  150 
feet  below  the  rock  floor  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek  without  entering  rock. 

^See  Carll:  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Kept.  I*,  1883,  p.  311. 


142  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

It  was  suggested  by  Carll  ^  that  currents  imder  the  ice  ma}"  in  this 
instance  have  excavated  to  a  considerable  depth  below  the  level  of  the  main 
outlet,  but  it  seems  hardly  necessary  to  assume  that  so  much  excavation 
had  been  made  through  this  agency.  It  is  Carll's  opinion  that  the  old 
drainage  was  northward  from  Lotts^dlle  to  the  valley  of  Lake  Chautauqua 
through  the  abandoned  valley  just  noted. 

Possibly  a  part  of  Big  Brokenstraw  Creek  also  discharged  to  the 
Lake  Chautauqua  Valley  and  carried  with  it  the  headwater  portion  of 
French  Creek,  there  being  lowland  connection  with  Little  Brokenstraw  along 
Coffee  Creek  and  Swamp  Run  near  the  north  line  of  Pennsylvania  and  also 
from  Clymer,  N.  Y.,  eastward  into  the  headwaters  of  Brokenstraw  and  the 
abandoned  valley  referred  to  above.  But  it  seems  more  probable  that  the 
headwater  portion  of  Big  Brokenstraw  Creek  connected  toward  the  north 
or  west  with  French  Creek  and  found  a  northward  discharge  to  the  Lake 
Erie  Basin.  The  lowlands  coiuiecting  Big  Brokenstraw  with  French  Creek 
are  broader  and  have  a  slightly  lower  altitude  than  those  connecting  it 
with  Little  Brokenstraw  Creek.  At  Corry  a  broad  lowland  deeply  filled 
with  drift  connects  Big  Brokenstraw  with  the  head  of  South  French  Creek. 
This  lowland  also  connects  toward  the  north  through  Hare  Creek  Valley 
with  the  main  French  Creek  just  above  the  old  divide  crossed  by  that 
creek  in  the  southwest  corner  of  New  York.  From  the  point  where  this 
lowland  connects  with  French  Creek  an  old  valley  leads  northward  to  North 
French  Creek  at  Findley  Lake,  and  from  North  French  Creek  a  lowland 
heavily  covered  with  drift  extends  northward  past  Grrahamsville  to  the  plain 
bordering  Lake  Erie  near  Northeast,  Pa.  The  filling  of  drift  is  so  great 
in  these  lowlands  that  at  present  it  is  not  possible  to  determine  whether 
there  was  formerly  a  northward  discharge  from  Corry  through  these  old 
valleys  into  the  basin  of  Lake  Erie. 

The  portion  of  French  Creek  Basin  in  eastern  Erie  County,  Pa.,  is 
connected  with  old  valleys  leading  northward  from  South  French  to  North 
French  Creek  and  thence  to  the  headwaters  of  small  tributaries  of  Lake 
Erie.  The  valley  of  the  present  creek  shows  a  marked  constriction  just 
south  of  the  Erie-Crawford  county  line,  being  reduced  to  about  one-fourth 
the  usual  width  of  that  portion  of  the  valley.  These  features  seem  to  favor 
northward  discharge  rather  than  a  connection  toward  the  southwest  with 

'■  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Rept.  I*,  pp.  234-235. 


LOWER  ALLEGHENY  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  143 

the  old  Muddy  Creek  (Upper  Oil  Creek)  drainage.  But  as  yet  no  line 
has  been  traced  out  to  the  lake  and  it  is  not  certain  that  the  constriction 
on  French  Creek  Valley  near  the  Erie-Crawford  county  Hue  marks  an  old 
divide. 

THE    LOWER   ALLEGHENY   AND    ITS    TRIBUTARIES. 

In  the  discussion  of  the  old  Mouongahela  system  (p.  88),  attention  was 
called  to  the  broad  gradation  plain  found  on  the  Lower  Allegheny,  and  com- 
parison was  drawn  between  the- breadth  of  that  gradation  plain  and  the  much 
narrower  rock  shelves,  abandoned  ox-bows,  and  gradation  plains  found  on 
the  Middle  Allegheny  system.  The  Lower  Allegheny  and  all  its  tributaries 
lie  in  large  part,  if  not  entirely,  outside  the  glacial  boundary.  Consequently 
the  several  fluvial  plains  are  better  displayed  than  in  the  Middle  and  Upper 
Allegheny  where  much  of  the  drainage  area  Ues  within  the  glacial  boundary 
and  where  the  old  fluvial  plains  have  been  greatly  concealed  by  glacial 
deposits.  But  even  on  the  Lower  Allegheny  there  have  been  quite  heavy 
deposits  of  glacial  gravel  (60  to  100  feet  in  depth),  made  by  streams  that 
led  down  this  valley  from  the  ice  field  to  the  north,  after  the  old  divide 
which  separated  the  Lower  from  the  Middle  Allegheny  had  been  cut  away. 

The  main  gradation  plain,  as  determined  by  aneroid,  has  a  height  of 
1,020  to  1,040  feet  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion  River  or  150 
to  170  feet  above  the  present  stream.  It  falls  to  about  900  feet  at  the 
junction  of  the  Allegheny  and  Monongahela  at  Pittsburg  and  stands  at  that 
point  very  nearly  200  feet  above  the  river.  The  glacial  gravel  which  caps 
the  gradation  plain  has  an  upper  hmit  at  about  1,135  feet  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Clarion  and  about  975  feet  near  Pittsburg.  The  original  lower  limit 
is  not  known,  inasmuch  as  the  amount  of  trenching  prior  to  the  gravel 
deposition  has  not  been  settled. 

In  the  western  part  of  the  city  of  Allegheny  a  feature  was  observed  which 
supports  the  view  that  the  streams  had  cut  somewhat  below  the  level  of  the 
old  gradation  plain  before  the  gravel  filling  took  place.  Upon  ascending  to 
the  old  gradation  plain  along  Cahfornia  avenue  north  of  Woods  Run  the 
contact  between  the  glacial  gravel  and  the  underlying  shales  is  well  exposed. 
The  shales  are  found  to  be  deeply  weathered,  so  that  for  1^  to  2^  feet  from 
the  surface  only  a  brown  residuary  clay  remains.  The  surface  of  the  shale 
here  stands  about  890  feet  above  tide  and  very  nearly  at  the  general  level  of 
the  old  gradation  ijlain.     The  amount  of  weathering  which  it  had  undergone 


144  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

prior  to  the  gravel  deposition  seems  to  indicate  that  it  stood  above  the  old 
stream  for  a  considerable  period  before  the  gravel  deposition  occurred.  But 
it  does  not  throw  light  upon  the  depth  to  which  trenching  had  reached. 

Within  tlie  trench  cut  in  the  old  gradation  plain  there  are  a  few  rock 
shelves  which  seem  sufficiently  near  a  definite  horizon  to  be  coi'related. 
They  stand  about  76  to  100  feet  above  the  river,  and  vary  in  width  from 
one-fourth  of  a  mile  to  narrow  strips  but  a  few  feet  wide.  Whether  they 
are  merely  an  incident  in  the  cutting  down  of  the  valley  or  signify  the  ter- 
mination of  an  epoch  of  degradation  which  was  followed  by  a  notable  halt 
and  possibly  a  refilling,  has  not  been  determined. 

There  remain  two  other  fluvial  plains  to  be  considered.  One  is  the 
rock  floor  beneath  the  present  stream  and  the  other  is  the  gravel  filling 
which  took  place  in  connection  with  the  Wisconsin  glaciation.  The  rock 
floor  is  usually  but  20  to  30  feet  below  the  stream  bed,  though  in  a  few 
places  it  appears  to  reach  50  feet.  The  excavation  down  to  the  rock  floor 
seems  to  have  preceded  the  Wisconsin  stage  of  glaciation,  for  the  rock  floor 
is  found  to  be  as  low  under  undisturbed  portions  of  the  Wisconsin  gravel 
as  in  the  trench  which  the  river  has  cut  in  that  gravel.  The  filling  connected 
with  the  Wisconsin  glaciation  extends  to  a  height  of  60  to  80  feet  above  the 
present  stream,  and  about  100  feet  above  the  rock  floor. 

In  the  table  below  the  relation  and  altitudes  of  the  several  fluvial  plains 
are  set  forth.  The  altitudes  are  largely  barometric,  but  as  a  base  for  cal- 
culation the  Allegheny  Valley  Railway  has  furnished  a  series  of  levels 
extending  the  whole  length  of  the  Lower  Allegheny.  The  altitudes  of  the 
stream,  the  surface  of  the  Wisconsin  terrace,  and  the  rock  floor  below  the 
stream  were  estimated  with  a  fair  degree  of  accuracy  from  these  railway 
levels,  but  for  the  gradation  plain,  high  rock  shelves,  and  the  upper  limit 
of  gravel  on  the  gradation  plain,  the  barometer  was  called  into  use.  In  the 
vicinity  of  Pittsburg,  however,  Jillson  has  made  a  series  of  measurements 
of  the  gradation  plain  and  upper  limit  of  gravel  with  a  Locke  level. 


LOWER  ALLEGHENY  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  145 

Height  rihoiie  tide  of  puvial  plains  along  the  Lower  Allegheny  Rvver. 


Dis- 
tance. 

Upper  limit 
of  gravel. 

Gradation  plain. 

Lower  rock 
shelves. 

Wisconsin 
gravel 
filling. 

Present 
stream. 

Rock  floor. 

Mouth  of  Clarion 

Miles. 

0.0 
2 

4.4 
3.5 
6  1 

Feet. 

1,135 
1,115 
1, 125 

Feet. 

1,  020-1,  040 
1,015,  1,060 
1,000± 
980 

(?) 

950 

(?) 

960 
890  and  980 
885  and  980 

(?) 

Feet. 

Feel. 

910 
900 
885 
870 
860 
850 
840 
825 
,       810 
805 
800 
800 
800 
800 
800 
800 

Feel. 

870 
860 
845 
830 
825 
815 
807 
800 
770 
765 
740 
730 
725 
725 
720 
710 

Feel. 

(?) 
840-1- 

835— 

Hillville 

East  Brady 

1  n.'i 

815 

5  5!      1 _ 1  no 

810 

3.6 

4.7 
10.6 

4 
10 

4 

5 

1 

7 

7.4 

2 

3 

(?) 

1,050 
1,010 
1,025 

(?) 

1, 000± 
1, 000± 
1,011 

Mahoning 

Kittanning 

Ford 

850 

710 

Tarentum 

975 

825 
815 

700- 

Sharpsburg 

972 
975 
978 

904 

898- 

898± 

800 

Allegheny 

800 

698.4 

The  interesting  series  of  channels  connecting  the  Lower  Allegheny 
with  an  old  oxbow  of  the  Monongahela  River  at  Pittsburg  were  mentioned 
in  the  discussion  of  the  old  Monongahela  system,  but  it  may  be  of  interest 
to  consider  them  in  more  detail.  An  old  channel  of  the  Monongahela 
leaves  the  present  stream  near  Homestead  and  passes  northward  to  East 
Liberty  (now  a  part  of  Pittsburg).  It  there  curves  around  to  the  southwest 
through  Oakland  and  Schenley  Park,  coming  to  the  Monongahela  again 
about  3  miles  below  Homestead.  This  channel,  like  the  gradation  plain  of 
the  Monongahela,  is  nearly  a  mile  in  average  breadth.  Its  rock  floor 
stands  175  to  200  feet  above  the  present  stream,  or  about  the  same  as 
the  gradation  plain.  Its  northernmost  part  is  only  1  to  2  miles  from  the 
Allegheny  Valley,  but  is  separated  from  it  by  a  chain  of  hills  which  in 
places  rise  200  to  300  feet  above  the  old  channel.  There  are,  however, 
thi-ee  gaps  in  the  chain  of  hills  which  were  sufficiently  low  to  permit  the 
waters  of  the  Allegheny  to  enter  the  old  oxbow  of  the  Monongahela  and 

MOX   XLI 10 


146  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

bring  into  it  a  heavy  deposit  of  glacial  gravel.  The  easternmost  gap  is 
along  Negley  Run,  immediately  north  of  East  Liberty,  and  has  a  width  of 
nearly  one-half  mile.  The  middle  gap  is  along  Haights  Run,  less  than 
a  mile  west  of  Neg'ley  Run.  This  gap  is  scarcely  more  than  one-fourth 
mile  in  width.  The  third  or  westernmost  gap  sets  in  at  Allegheny  cemetery 
and  extends  westward  to  the  base  of  Herron  Hill,  being  nearly  a  mile  in 
width.  These  gaps  were  filled  by  glacial  gravel  to  a  height  of  about 
75  feet  above  the  rock  floor  of  the  old  oxbow  of  the  Monongahela,  their 
highest  points  being  970  to  976  feet  above  tide,  as  determined  by  Jillson 
with  Locke  level.  The  gravel  extends  biit  little  into  the  old  channel  of 
the  Monongahela,  a  feature  which  seems  to  indica^te  that  the  gravel-bearing 
water  from  the  Allegheny  there  encountered  a  lagoon  with  but  little 
current. 

All  the  important  tributaries  of  the  Lower  Allegheny  enter  from  the 
east,  the  divide  on  the  west  being  but  10  to  20  miles  distant  from  the  river. 
The  largest  eastern  tributary,  Conemaugh  River,  has  a  drainage  area  of 
about  1,800  square  miles,  or  nearly  one-sixth  of  the  entire  basin  of  the 
Allegheny  and  fully  one-third  of  the  Lower  Allegheny  Basin.  The  Clarion 
has  a  drainage  area  of  about  1,200  square  miles,  Redbank  River  550  square 
miles,  and  Mahoning  Creek  400  square  miles.  These  four  streams  drain 
nearly  four-fifths  of  the  area  tributary  to  the  Lower  Allegheny. 

Rising,  as  these  eastern  tributaries  do,  on  the  border  of  the  Allegheny 
Mountains,  they  have  very  rapid  fall  and  are  subject  to  great  freshets  in  the 
spring,  at  which  time  the  melting  of  snow  and  heav}^  rains  often  unite  to 
swell  their  volume.  The  Johnstown  flood,  on  the  Conemaugh,  is  a  con- 
spicuous instance  of  the  disasters  occasioned  by  such  freshets.  These 
streams  are  also  subject  to  extremely  low  stages  in  the  summer  months. 
Porter  estimates  that  the  Conemaugh  is  at  times  reduced  to  less  than  90 
cubic  feet  per  second,  or  scarcely  two-fifths  its  proportion  of  the  average 
low-water  discharge  of  the  Allegheny  River  (1,330  cubic  feet  per  second).^ 
It  is  conspicuously  lower  than  the  low-water  discharge  of  tributaries  that 
drain  drift-covered  districts.  Thus,  French  Creek,  which  has  a  drainage 
area  of  but  1,130  square  miles,  is  estimated  to  have  a  low- water  discharge 
of  about  700  cubic  feet  per  second.^ 

^  Water  power  of  the  Ohio  River  Basin,  etc.,  by  Dwight  Porter:  Tenth  Census  o£  United  States, 
1880,  Vol.  XVII,  Pt.  11,  pp.  442,445. 
2  Op.  cit,  p.  448. 


LOWER  ALLEGHENY  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM. 


147 


Evidence  that  additions  have  been  made  to  the  upper  drainage  basin 
of  the  Allegheny,  is  furnished  by  the  features  of  the  tributar}^  valleys.  It 
is  found  that  the  trenching  of  the  gradation  plains  on  the  tributaries  is 
conspicuous  only  in  their  lower  courses.  On  the  Redbank  River,  which 
enters  22  miles  below  the  Clarion,  accurate  data  are  obtainable,  since  the 
railroad  follows  its  valley  for  70  miles  and  has  a  grade  nearly  coincident 
with  the  stream  and  but  a  few  feet  (20  to  40)  above  it.  The  profile  of 
this  railroad  (see  fig.  7)  brings  out  the  significant  fact  that  the  stream  has 
a  much  more  rapid  fall  in  the  lower  20  miles  of  its  course  than  for  some 
distance  above  that  point,  which  is  the  reverse  of  the  normal  law  of 
mature   streams.     The   average  fall  for  this   20   miles    is   nearly   12   feet 


fiedbai 


Benezett 

WhO' 

'^'^"'^^'smTfi)     L 1000  ■ 


Fig.  7.— Profile  along  a  portion  of  the  Low-Grade  Division  of  tiie  Allegheny  Valley  Railway  (so  named  because  of  the 
low  altitude  at  which  it  crosses  the  Allegheny  Mountains).  It  shows  the  increase  in  the  rate  of  fall  of  Redbank 
River  in  Its  lower  20  miles,  a  feature  due  to  the  deeper  trenching  of  that  portion.  The  profile  also  shows  the  extreme 
narrowness  of  the  col  which  separates  the  Redbank  and  Susquehanna  systems,  the  tunnel  beneath  the  col  being 
b>it  1,950  feet  in  length. 

per  mile,  while  for  the  next  20,  or  even  50,  miles  above,  the  average  fall 
is  less  than  two-thirds  of  this.  In  the  upper  portion  the  present  floor  of 
the  stream  nearly  corresponds  with  an  old  floor.  In  the  lower  portion,  this 
old  floor  continues  on  to  the  mputh  with  a  rate  of  descent  a  little  less  than 
that  of  the  upper  portion,  following  the  normal  law.  The  later  stream 
here,  however,  enters  the'  Allegheny  about  150  feet  below  the  old  floor; 
but  this  lessens  rapidly  upstream,  and  at  20  miles  above  the  mouth  it  is 
reduced  to  about  60  feet.' 

It  appears  quite  evident  from  these  facts  that  there  has  been  an 
abnormal  deepening  of  the  Allegheny  since  the  formation  of  the  old  floor, 
and  that  this  has  been  so  recent  that  it  has,  as  yet,  made  itself  seriously  felt 

^  Compare  statement  of  I.  C.  White  respecting  the  relative  altitude  of  water  deposits  on  the  upper 
and  lower  courses  of  the  Conemaugh,  Youghiogheny,  and  Cheat  rivers:  Am.  Jour.  Sei.,  3d  series, 
Vol.  XXXIV,  1887,  p.  378. 


148  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

upon  the  gradient  of  the  Redbank  only  in  its  lower  20  miles.  Such  an 
abnormal  deepening  is  accounted  for  by  the  sudden  enlargement  of  the 
drainage  area  to  several  times  its  former  size  in  consequence  of  the  diver- 
sions of  drainage  previously  discussed.  It  is  improbable  that  a  simple 
change  in  the  altitude,  or  in  the  general  slope  of  the  region,  would  produce  a 
result  of  precisely  this  nature.  The  main  stream,  of  course,  usually  leads 
in  rejuvenated  excavation,  but  not  in  such  a  disproportionate  degree^  as  this 
nor  in  precisely  this  method. 

In  the  Clarion  Valley  the  present  stream  has  a  fall  of  about  500  feet 
in  the  lower  75  miles  below  Ridgway  and  the  old  fluvial  plain  about  340 
feet  Redbank  River  falls  about  400  feet  in  the  lower  40  miles  below 
Brookville,  but  the  old  fluvial  plain  falls  only  about  280  feet.  In  the  62 
miles  from  Falls  Creek  station  to  the  mouth  of  Redbank  River,  the  stream 
has  a  fall  of  550'  feet  and  the  old  fluvial  plain  a  fall  of  430  feet.  The 
Conemaugh  falls  about  425  feet,  and  the  old  fluvial  plain  about  300  feet  in 
the  64  miles  below  Johnstown.  Of  these  old  fluvial  plains  the  one  on  the 
Clarion  shows  the  lowest  fall,  about  4.5  feet  per  mile.  If  these  data  are 
compared  with  those  given  in  the  table  on  the  fluvial  plains  of  the  Lower 
Allegheny,  it  will  be  found  that  both  in  its  present  and  in  its  old  stream  beds 
the  Lower  Allegheny  has  a  much  lower  gradient  than  its  main  tributaries. 

BEAVER  RIVER. 

Beaver  River  is  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  Shenango  and  Mahoning 
rivers,  and  has  a  drainage  area  of  about  3,000  square  miles,  of  which,  per- 
haps, 1,800  square  miles  are  in  Pennsylvania  and  the  remainder  in  Ohio. 
Attention  has  already  been  called  to  the  evidence  that  the  Beaver  consti- 
tuted the  former  line  of  discharge  for  the  Upper  Ohio  and  its  main 
tributaries  as  far  to  the  northeast  as  the  Clarion  River.  The  restoration  of 
the  old  system  of  drainage  given  on  fig.  1  (p.  89)  serves  to  show  its  natural- 
ness compared  with  the  present  system.  The  Conoquenessing,  an  eastern 
tributary,  has  a  noi'thwestward  trend  to  its  junction  with  the  Beaver,  and 
formerly  continued  in  this  direction  toward  the  Lake  Erie  Basin,  but  now 
it  turns  abruptly  southward  to  enter  the  Ohio.  The  former  outlet  of  Slip- 
pery Rock  Creek  was  in  a  course  north  of  west  through  the  valley  now 
drained  by  Big  Run  entering  the  Shenango  at  Newcastle.  This  finds  a 
natural  continuation  northwestward  along  the  old  line  to  Sharon,  Pa.  The 
upper  course  of  Mahoning  River  is  northward  from  its  source  in  Columbiana 


BEAVER  RIVER  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  149 

County  to  the  head  of  Grrand  River  Basin  near  Warren,  Ohio,  through 
which  it  formerly  evidently  discharged.  It  now  makes  an  abrupt  turn  to 
the  southeast  along  a  small  valley  which  apparently  headed  near  the  Ohio- 
Pennsylvania  line.  Smaller  tributaries  illustrate  still  further  the  unnatural 
courses  of  the  present  lines  of  discharge. 

In  coimection  with  this  drainage  system,  it  is  necessary  to  consider 
several  distinct  fluvial  plains.  The  gradation  plains  and  rock  shelves  which 
slope  toward  Lake  Erie  from  the  mouth  of  the  Beaver  are  the  earliest  of 
the  series.  The  gravel  filling  which  built  iip  the  lower  part  of  the  Beaver 
and  the  Upper  Ohio  sufficiently  high  to  give  a  discharge  down  the  present 
Ohio  comes  next  in  the  series.  A  rock  floor  cut  to  a  lower  level  than  the  beds 
of  the  present  streams  apparently  forms  the  next  well-defined  fluvial  plain. 
A  gravel  filling  which  occurred  during  the  Wisconsin  stage  of  glaciatiou 
evidently  succeeded  the  deep  excavation  of  the  valleys,  and  comes  later  in 
the  series.  This  gravel  filhng  is  now  in  process  of  excavation  by  streams 
whose  beds  form  the  last  of  the  series  of  fluvial  plains.  Attention  will 
be  here  directed  only  to  the  main  gradation  plain,  to  the  rock  floor  buried 
beneath  the  present  streams,  and  to  the  gradients  of  the  stream  beds 
The  gravel  fillings  are  considered  in  connection  with  their  respective  drift 
sheets. 

The  gradation  plain  has  been  greatly  disguised  by  a  drift  coating, 
except  in  the  lower  course  of  the  Beaver.  It  apparently  descends  north- 
ward along  the  Beaver  and  the  Shenango,  as  outlined  on  a  preceding  page, 
about  to  Sharon,  Pa.,  but  it  does  not  appear  to  continue  its  descent  along 
the  Shenango  north  of  that  city.  At  Oreenville,  25  miles  above  Sharon, 
a  series  of  wells  test  the  valley  quite  widely  and  strike  a  rock  floor,  appar- 
ently the  old  gradation  plain,  at  a  level  about  36  feet  higher  than  the  level 
of  the  old  plain  at  Sharon.  This  condition  fits  in  naturally  with  the  inter- 
pretation that  the  old  drainage  passed  westward  from  Sharon  into  the 
Grand  Elver  Basin.  At  Youngstown,  Ohio,  which  is  on  the  fine  apparently 
followed  by  the  old  stream,  the  gradation  plain  appears  to  be  lower  than 
at  Sharon,  though  the  valley  has  not  been  explored  sufficiently  to  make 
certain  the  precise  altitude  of  the  gradation  plain.  At  Niles,  also  on  the 
old  line,  the  rock  floor  in  one  boring  was  found  to  be  65  feet  lower  than  at 
any  ascertained  borings  in  the  vicinity  of  Youngstown.  Borings  in  the 
Grand  River  Basin  near  Southington,  Mesopotamia,  and  Rome,  Ohio,  have 


150  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

in  several  instances  reached  a  level  only  70  to  80  feet  above  Lake  Erie 
without  striking-  the  rock  floor,  but  one  boring  near  Mesopotamia  is 
thought  to  have  reached  rock  at  a  level  70  feet  above  Lake  Erie. 

As  the  gradation  plain  at  the  mouth  of  the  Beaver  stands  nearly  300 
feet  above  Lake  Erie  and  is  distant  but  90  to  100  miles  from  some  of  these 
borings  in  Grrand  River  Basin,  it  is  evident  that  the  northward  slope  is 
rapid.  In  the  30  miles  from  the  mouth  to  the  head  of  the  present  Beaver 
there  appears  to  be  a  descent  of  fully  60  feet,  and  in  the  50  miles  to  Sharon 
of  about  85  feet,  thus  giving  an  average  slope  of  about  20  inches  per  mile. 
This  slope  has  possibly  been  made  greater  by  Pleistocene  changes  in  level, 
though  specific  evidence  is  not  at  hand. 

The  old  gradation  plain  and  the  rock  floor  of  the  valley  excavated  in 
it  are  widely  separated  in  altitude  near  the  mouth  of  the  Beaver,  but 
apparently  approach  each  other  rapidly  in  passing  northward.  The  evidence 
seems  clear  that  the  reversal  of  drainage  took  place  before  much  of  the 
deep  channeling  occurred. 

In  general  the  slope  of  the  rock  floor  beneath  the  jjresent  streams  is  in 
harmony  with  the  present  di-ainage,  and  in  the  main  is  the  reverse  of  the 
ancient  system.  There  is,  however,  a  part  of  the  channel  in  which  the 
rock  floor  appears  to  be  excavated  to  a  level  too  low  to  correspond  with 
the  floor  at  points  lower  down  the  stream.  Such  features  were  at  first 
interpreted  to  signify  that  the  drainage  was  in  the  reverse  direction  from 
the  present  line  of  discharge,  but  further  examination  has  rendered  it  prob- 
able that  the  excavation  has  been  accomplished  by  a  stream  running  in  the 
present  line  of  discharge.  On  the  lower  course  of  the  Mahoning  the  oil- 
well  records  show  the  rock  floor  to  be  fully  as  low  as  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Beaver  and  apparently  about  90  feetlower  than  at  the  mouth  of  the  Con- 
oquenessing,  midwa}-  of  the  Beaver  Valley  and  15  miles  below  the  mouth 
of  the  Mahoning.  The  piers  of  the  railway  bridge  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Conoquenessing  are  reported  by  R.  R.  Hice,  of  BeaA^er,  to  stand  u])ou  the 
rock  floor,  and  are  so  distributed  as  to  test  the  middle  as  well  as  the  border 
of  the  valley.  Upon  passing  up  the  Mahoning,  a  few  miles  from  the 
deeply  excavated  part,  the  rock  floor  is  found  to  have  an  altitude  nearly 
150  feet  higher.  There  is  an  abrupt  descent  just  above  Edenburg.  Here 
the  buried  floor  seems  to  fall  165  feet  in  half  a  mile,  as  shown  by  four 
wells  reported  by  W.  H.  Raub,  of  Edenburg.     The  declivity  may  be  even 


BEAVEE  EIVER  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  151 

more  precipitous,  as  the  wells  are  not  situated  so  as  to  limit  more  closely 
the  space  occupied  in  the  descent.  The  variations  in  the  valley  floor 
appear  to  be  such  as  might  result  from  the  recession  of  a  fall  or  cascade, 
and  this  sugg-estion  harmonizes  with  the  more  clearly  indicated  history 
of  the  region,  which  appears  to  be  as  follows: 

Before  the  ice  invasion  forced  the  waters  of  the  upper  portion  of 
the  Grand  River  Basin  across  the  divide,  which  apparently  stood  near  the 
State  line  above  Edenburg,  there  was  only  a  small  tributary  leading  down 
to  the  valley  occupied  by  the  old  north-flowing  Monongahela  system. 
But  when  the  waters  of  the  upper  Grand  River  Basin  were  forced  over  the 
divide  in  large  volume  and  descended  the  steep  slope  of  the  little  valley, 
deep  scouring  at  the  mouth  would  naturally  result  and  the  formation  of 
cascades  or  falls  would  readily  follow.  These  would  work  upstream  as 
the  erosion  progressed.  They  appear  to  have  reached  a  point  just  above 
Edenburg  when  a  later  incursion  of  the  ice  stopped  the  process  and  filled 
the  deep  valley  with  debris.  The  formation  of  a  pool  was  favored  by  the 
softness  of  the  rock  in  this  portion  of  the  valley  and  the  hardness  of  the 
strata  encountered  near  the  mouth  of  the  Conoquenessing. 

The  present  system  of  drainage  displays  considerable  variation  in  the 
slope  of  its  stream  beds,  some  portions  being  very  sluggish,  while  other  por- 
tions present  rapids  and  even  low  cascades.  The  Shenango  falls  but  2  to 
2^  feet  per  mile  in  the  upper  22  miles  above  Jamestown,  Pa.,  the  source 
of  the  river  being  in  a  swampy  lowland  at  an  altitude  only  1,025  feet  above 
tide.  In  the  next  30  miles,  from  Jamestown  to  Sharon,  there  is  a  fall  of 
4  to  5  feet  per  mile.  From  Shai-on  to  the  mouth  of  the  Shenango,  a  dis- 
tance of  24  miles,  the  average  fall  is  2^  feet  per  mile.  The  Mahoning  has 
a  fall  of  about  3  feet  per  mile  in  the  35  miles  from  Warren,  Ohio,  to  its 
mouth,  but  the  northward-flowing'  headwater  portion  is  more  rapid.  In 
the  23  miles  from  its  head  to  Beaver  Falls  the  descent  of  the  Beaver  is 
only  about  2  feet  per  mile,  but  in  the  lower  5  miles  it  makes  a  descent  of 
52  feet,  or  more  than  10  feet  per  mile. 


152 


GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


The  principal  data  concerning  the  several  fluvial  plains  which  form  the 
basis  of  the  above  discussion  are  grouped  in  the  following  table: 

Height  above  tide  of  fluvial  jplains  along  ths  Beave?'  and  Shenango  rivers. 


Gradation  Buried  Present 

plain.  channel.         stream. 


Mouth  of  Beaver  River 

Beaver  Falls 

Mouth  of  Conoquenessing  Biver 

Head  of  Beaver  Eiver 

Newcastle 

Harbor  Bridge 

Sharon 

Clarksville 

Greenville . .  - 

Jamestown 

Outlet  of  Pymatuning  Swamp.. 
Head  of  Pymatuning  Swamp. . . 


Miles. 
0 
5 
9 

14 
3 
4 

17 
5 

20 
5 

13 
9 


Feet. 
865  to  i 
855± 
840 
810± 


800 
780 


Feet. 

6054 

6154 

682 

6204 

645 


664 
716 
734 
764 


840 
860 
940 
965 
1,000 
1,025 


LITTLE  BEAVER  RIVER. 


The  Little  Beaver,  a  small  north  tributary,  flows  into  the  Ohio  near  the 
Ohio-Pennsylvania  line.  Its  drainag'e  area  lies  mainly  in  Ohio,  thoug'h  the 
North  Fork  has  much  of  its  watershed  in  Pennsylvania.  The  northern  half 
of  the  area  drained  by  the  Little  Beaver  has  been  glaciated,  and  its  pre- 
glacial  features  are  greatly  obscured  by  heavy  deposits  of  di'ift.  Its  general 
elevation  is  scarcely  so  great  as  the  unglaciated  southern  half.  This  and 
other  features  suggest  that  much  of  this  drainage  basin  once  had  a  north- 
ward discharge  to  the  old  Beaver  system.  The  lower  course  of  the  j^resent 
stream  is  very  narrow,  and  in  preglacial  times  may  have  carried  but  a 
small  fraction  of  the  present  drainage.  The  jjrobable  course  or  courses  of 
northward  drainage  and  the  extent  of  change  in  drainage  have  not  been 
determined.  White  reports  that  the  North  Fork  has  a  sluggish  flow  through 
a  region  heavily  covered  with  drift  from  its  source  nearly  to  its  junction 
with  the  main  creek  at  Fredericktown,  Ohio,  but  that  below  that  junction 
the  stream  falls  at  the  rate  of  25  feet  per  mile.^ 


'  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Eept.  Q,  1878,  p.  6. 


MUSKINGUM  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  153 

MUSKINGUM    RIVER, 

The  Musking-um  River  drains  the  greater  part  of  eastern  Ohio  and  has 
an  area  of  about  7,740  square  miles.  The  name  Muskingum  is  apphed 
only  to  the  lower  portion  below  the  junction  of  the  Tuscarawas  and 
Walhonding  rivers,  a  length  of  109  miles.  From  the  sources  of  the  Wal- 
honding  and  Tuscarawas  to  their  junction  is  a  distance  of  about  100  miles, 
thus  giving  the  basin  a  length  of  200  miles.  It  is  a  broadly  branching- 
drainage  system  at  the  north,  with  an  extreme  width  of  about  100  miles. 
At  the  south  it  receives  few  tributaries,  there  being  none  of  importance 
below  Zanesville. 

The  following  estimates  of  the  areas  of  the  drainage  basin  are  taken 
from  Porter's  census  report:' 

Drainage  an^eas  of  Mkcskingum  Rivet^  and  its  trihivta/ries. 

Square  miles. 

Walhonding  River 2, 1.59 

Tuscarawas  River - 2,  547 

Wills  Creek 815 

Licking  River - 703 

Muskingum  and  tributaries  belovi'  Zanesville 1, 175 

Total  area  of  Muskingum  system 7,  740 

This  drainage  basin  is  mainly  in  the  unglaciated  portion  of  south- 
eastern Ohio,  and  the  greater  part  of  it  is  in  soft  Coal  Measures  strata, 
which  have  become  greatly  broken  down  under  atmospheric  and  stream 
action.  On  the  northwest  border  of  this  watershed  the  hard  sandstones 
and  conglomerates  which  underlie  the  Coal  Measures  come  to  the  surface. 
These,  in  some  cases,  are  preserved  as  outlying  knobs  and  ridges,  standing 
200  to  300  feet  or  more  above  the  lowlands  that  surround  them.  The 
most  elevated  parts  of  the  watershed  are  found  in  these  outlying  knobs, 
some  of  which  are  nearly  1,500  feet  above  tide.  The  eastern  border  of 
the  watershed  is  also  high,  its  altitude  reaching  about  1,400  feet.  In  the 
central  portion  of  the  watershed  the  uplands  are  but  900  to  1,000  feet  and 
the  valleys  700  to  800  feet  above  tide. 

Many  of  the  valleys  are  broad  and  characterized  by  gently  sloping 
bluffs.  The  old  gradation  plains  in  much  of  the  area  stand  below  the  level 
of  the  present  streams.  The  large  amount  of  gravel  filling  in  valleys  that 
lead  away  from  the  glaciated  area  has  built  up  the  stream  beds  to  such  an 

1  Tenth  Census  of  the  United  States,  1880,  Vol.  XVII,  Part  II,  p.  466. 


154  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

extent  that  the  tributaries  leading  in  from  nnglaciated  portions  of  the  basin 
have  become  silted  up  to  a  marked  degree.  In  these  respects  a  striking 
contrast  is  found  between  this  drainage  system  and  that  of  the  Upper  Ohio, 
which  lies  immediately  east  of  it. 

Notwithstanding  the  low  altitude  of  the  gradation  plains  and  conse- 
quent absence  of  trenches,  the  present  system  of  di-ainage  departs  greatly 
from  the  ancient  system.  Not  only  have  changes  occurred  in  the  glaciated 
district,  but  also  outside,  notablv  in  the^ine  of  discharge  for  the  main  river. 
The  filling  of  the  valleys  was  sufficient  to  raise  the  streams  aboA^e  the  level 
of  the  low  cols  that  separated  the  ancient  drainage  lines  without  the  neces- 
sity- of  much  excavation  at  the  cols.  The  present  di-ainage  lines  are  almost 
entirely  in  old  valleys,  for  the  divides  crossed  by  them  constitute  but  a 
siuall  portion  of  the  length  of  the  streams.  The  position  of  the  old  divides 
is  usually  shown  by  a  constriction  in  the  valleys  combined  with  a  hig-her 
altitude  of  the  rock  floor.  The  changes  are  numerous  in  the  headwater 
portions  that  lie  within  the  glacial  boundary,  but  ouh-  a  few  have  been 
sufficiently  examined  to  justify  an  interpretation.  In  some  cases  where 
constrictions  occur  in  the  valleys  there  have  been  no  borings  sufficiently 
deep  to  throw  light  upon  the  altitude  of  the  rock  floor,  thus  leaving  an 
element  of  uncertainty  concerning  the  significance  of  the  constriction.  The 
changes  of  drainage  in  the  central  and  western  portions  of  this  watershed, 
and  also  along  the  lower  course  of  the  valley,  have  been  investigated  by 
W.  G.  Tight  in  some  detail,  but  his  latest  results  have  not  yet  been  pub- 
lished. Tlie  writer  has  given  the  region  onlj-  a  hasty  reconnaissance. 
The  changes  in  the  northern  portion  have  also  been  investigated  by  J.  H. 
Todd,  of  Wooster,  Ohio.^  In  the  eastern  part  of  the  watershed  no  changes 
of  importance  appear  to  have  taken  place.  M.  C.  Read,^  of  the  Ohio  surve}^, 
has  outlined  on  a  map,  and  to  some  extent  discussed,  the  position  of  many 
preglacial  lines,  some  of  which  are  not  followed  by  the  present  streams,  but 
he  did  not  attempt  such  a  full  interpretation  of  the  connections  of  the  old 
lines  of  drainage  as  has  been  made  by  Tight  and  other  later  students. 

iQhio  Acad.  Sci.,  Special  Papers  No.  3,  1900,  pp.  46-67. 

'^Geology  of  Huron,  Richland,  Knox,  and  Licking  counties,  Ohio,  by  M.  C.  Bead:  Geology  of 
Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  1878,  pp.  289-361.  Also  Geology  of  Ashland,  Wayne,  and  Holmes  counties,  Ohio,  by 
the  same  author:  Ibid.,  pp.  519-561. 


MUSKINGUM  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  155 


THE    OLD   WESTWARD    OUTLET. 


Tig-ht  has  shown  that  the  g-reater  part  of  the  Muskingum  drainage 
system  was  formerh^  connected  with  the  Scioto  system  by  a  broad  valley 
leading  from  Dresden  (a  few  miles  above  Zanesville)  westward  past  Newark 
to  the  Licking  reservoir  and  thence  into  the  Scioto  Basin  near  Circleville.-' 
The  present  southward  course  past  Zanesville  is  through  a  much  narrower 
valley  than  the  old  line  leading  westward  to  the  Scioto  Basin,  and  the  rock 
floor  is  markedly  higher  along  the  present  course  of  the  Muskingum  than 
along  the  old  course. 

Along  the  old  line  of  discharge  there  is,  for  about  10  miles,  an  open 
valley,  1  to  li  miles  in  width,  leading  westward  from  Dresden  past  Frazers- 
burg.  This  open  valley  is  now  drained  by  a  small  stream,  Wahatomaka 
Creek,  which  enters  it  from  the  north  near  Frazersburg.  The  old  outlet  of 
the  Muskingum  continues  broad  and  open  as  far  west  as  the  eastern  border 
of  Licking  County,  where  it  becomes  obstructed  by  a  great  accumulation 
of  drift,  which  fills  the  valley  to  a  height  of  150  feet  or  more  above  the 
level  of  the  broad  bottom  on  the  east.  This  drift  filling  obstructs  the 
valley  in  this  manner  for  only  a  couple  of  miles,  and  even  there  but  half 
fills  it,  for  the  bluffs  rise  about  300  feet  above  the  broad  bottom  just  men- 
tioned. At  Hanover  an  open  valley  sets  in,  which  extends  westward  to 
Newark  and  thence  southwestward  along  the  South  Fork  of  Licking  Biver 
to  the  vicinity  of  the  Licking  reservoir,  where  it  is  so  filled  with  drift  as 
to  render  its  further  course  difficult  to  determine.  A  series  of  gas  borings, 
however,  indicate  that  it  passes  southward  about  to  Hadley  Junction  and 
there  turns  westward,  passing  near  Canal  Winchester  and  Groveport  and 
coming  to  the  Scioto  River  about  midway  between  Columbus  and  Circle- 
ville,  where  it  seems  to  have  joined  the  old  Kanawha  system. 

The  course  or  choice  of  courses  for  the  old  Kanawha  from  this  point 
has  already  been  discussed  (p.  103).  It  should  be  stated,  however,  that 
Tight  inclines  to  favor  the  northwestward  course  across  the  rim  of  the 
Scioto  Basin  into  the  old  Wabash  system  rather  than  the  northward  course 
along  the  axis  of  the  Scioto  Basin  to  the  Lake  Erie  Basin. 

The  old  line  of  discharge  from  the  Muskingum  into  the  Scioto  Basin 
was  excavated  to  a  level  much  below  the  broad  bottoms  above  described. 

iBull.  Denison  Univ.,  Vol.  VIII,  Pt.  II,  1894,  pp.  35-61. 


156  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

A  well  about  1  mile  east  of  Hanover  is  reported  by  Tight  to  have  reached 
a  depth  of  218  feet  without  striking  the  old  rock  floor  of  the  valley,  though 
the  bottom  of  the  well  is  about  150  feet  below  the  present  level  of  the 
Muskingum  at  Dresden,  or  but  550  feet  abo'^'e  tide.  It  is  50  feet  or  more 
below  the  level  of  the  rock  floor  of  the  present  Muskingum  at  points  30  to 
40  miles  below  Dresden.  At  Newark  the  old  valley  was  cut  to  a  level 
about  250  feet  below  the  present  river,  or  to  less  than  550  feet  above  tide. 
Gras  wells  at  Hadley  Junction  and  other  points  along  the  old  line  between 
Hadley  and  the  Scioto  River  also  reach  a  similarly  low  level  before 
encountering  rock. 

THE    PRESENT    LINE    OF    DISCHARGE. 

Turning  now  to  the  present  course  of  the  Muskingum  below  Dresden, 
we  find  a  much  narrower  valley  than  the  old  channel  of  discharge,  the 
width  ranging  between  one-half  and  three-fourths  of  a  mile  in  the  first  25 
miles  below  Dresden.  It  there  grows  narrower,  and  in  the  vicinitj-  of  the 
line  of  Muskingum  and  Morgan  counties,  33  miles  below  Dresden,  it  is  less 
than  one-fourth  of  a  mile  in  width  and  is  bordered  by  abrupt  bluff's  200  to 
250  feet  in  height.  This  is  the  narrowest  place  on  the  lower  course  of  the 
river  and  is  aj^parently  the  site  of  an  old  divide.  The  valley,  however, 
remains  narrow  nearly  to  the  mouth  of  the  stream,  its  measured  Ijreadth  at 
Lowell,  12  miles  above  the  mouth,  being  barely  one-half  mile. 

No  data  concerning  the  elevation  of  the  rock  floor  in  the  portion  of  the 
valley  between  Dresden  and  the  supposed  old  divide  have  been  obtained; 
but  at  Eaglesport,  about  3  miles  below  the  supposed  divide,  a  gas  well  on 
the  east  side  of  the  river  about  midway  between  the  bluff's  entei'ed  rock  30 
to  35  feet  below  low  water,  or  about  615  feet  above  tide.  Another  boring 
at  McConnelsville,  7  miles  farther  down  the  valley,  is  reported  to  have 
entered  rock  50  feet  below  low  water  at  that  point,  or  590  feet  above  tide.^ 
The  rock  floor  here  seems  to  be  about  as  low  as  at  Lowell,  35  miles  farther 
down  the  valley,  the  dam  at  Lowell  being  built  upon  the  rock  floor  in  the 
middle  part  of  the  valley  which  there  stands  at  580  to  590  feet  above  tide. 

Concerning  the  height  of  the  supposed  divide  above  Eaglesport,  there 
is  good  evidence  from  the  contours  of  the  bluff"  that  it  did  not  exceed  900 
feet  above  tide,  for  the  bluff's  rise  abruptly  in  this  constricted  portion  to  a 

^  Data  concerning  the  borings  at  McConnelsville  and  Eaglesport  were  obtained  from  Dr.  H.  L. 
True,  of  McConnelsville. 


MUSKINGUM  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  157 

height  of  ouly  875  to  900  feet.  Possibly  the  old  divide  was  even  lower. 
In  districts  both  to  the  east  and  west  of  the  supposed  divide  on  the  Muskin- 
gum, cols  are  found  at  an  altitude  not  far  from  900  feet  above  tide,  and 
this  also  favors  the  view  that  the  col  crossed  by  the  Muskingum  stood 
equally  low. 

DEPOSITS   ON    THE    LOWER    COURSE    OF   THE    MUSKINGUM. 

In  the  portion  of  the  Muskingum  Valley  between  Dresden  and  the 
sup230sed  divide,  glacial  deposits,  probably  of  Wisconsin  age,  have  been 
built  up  to  a  level  750  to  800  feet  or  more  above  tide,  or  about  lOO  feet 
above  the  present  stream.  They  appear  to  be  as  high  in  Zanesville,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Licking  River,  as  in  the  portion  of  the  valley  above,  between 
Zanesville  and  Dresden.  Below  Zanesville  the  altitude  apparently  declip.es 
about  as  rapidly  as  the  descent  of  the  present  stream,  being  hj  Locke, level 
from  the  Grovernment  bench  marks  85  feet  above  the  river  near  Taylorsville, 
90  feet  at  Eaglesport,  110  feet  near  the  mouth  of  Meigs  Creek,  119  feet  at 
Beverly,  and  105  feet  at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum.  In  the  75  miles 
from  Zanesville  to  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum  the  present  stream  descends 
from  683  to  570  feet  above  tide,  while  the  gravel  Surface  descends  from  800 
to  675  feet  above  tide.  Before  this  gravel  was  carried  down  the  valley 
there  apparently  had  been  an  excavation  at  the  supposed  divide  to  a  level 
30  to  35  feet  below  the  present  stream  or  to  less  than  625  feet  above  tide. 

Deposits  of  waterworn  material  have  been  found  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  Muskingum  Valley  at  higher  elevations  than  the  glacial  gravels.  In 
the  south  part  of  McConnelsville  a  rock  shelf  standing  about  775  feet  above 
tide,  or  1 35  feet  above  the  river  carries  a  deposit  of  gravel  several  feet  in 
depth.  No  rocks  of  glacial  derivation  W3re  observed  in  this  gravel,  while 
in  the  gravel  which  appears  at  a  lower  elevation  such  rocks  are  abundant. 
Dr.  True,  of  McConnelsville,  reports  that  at  a  point  about  1  mile  above 
Stockport  pebbles  occur  up  to  a  level  about  180  feet  above  the  river,  or  810 
feet  above  tide.  These  include  pieces  of  the  Cambridge  limestone,  whose 
outcrop  is  up  the  river  from  this  point,  showing  clearly  that  the  deposit  was 
made  by  a  southward-flowing  stream.  Near  this  point  a  col  was  found  at  an 
altitude  of  about  830  feet  above  tide,  which  appeared  to  True  to  show 
evidence  of  excavation  by  a  stream.  At  Luke  Chute,  Tru§  found  pebbles 
on  the  slope  of  the  valley  up  to  a  height  of  160  feet  above  the  river,  or  780 


158  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

feet  above  tide.     In  that  vicinity  he  also  found  a  few  small  quartz  pebbles 
in  a  surface  loam  capping  the  upland  at  about  840  feet  above  tide. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  remarked  that  small  gtones  apparently 
derived  from  the  drift,  including  greenstone,  granite,  and  quai'tzite,  are 
scattered  over  the  uplands  in  the  vicinity  of  McConnelsville  at  various 
altitudes  up  to  1,000  feet  above  tide.  True  has  collected  about  a  half 
bushel  of  these  erratics.  As  the  glacial  boundary  seems  to  lie  several 
miles  northwest  of  McConnelsville,  it  may  be  necessary  to  refer  the  dis- 
tribution of  these  erratics  to  human  agency.  The  Indians  were  perhaps 
responsible  for  their  wide  distribution  outside  the  glacial  boundary.  The 
small  pebbles  found  in  the  surface  loam,  which  are  usuall)''  a  half  inch  or 
less  in  diameter,  and  are  found  at  a  depth  of  1  to  4  feet  from  the  surface 
seem  more  likely  than  these  larger  pebbles  to  have  been  deposited  by 
natural  agencies.  The  surface  loam  is  apparently  a  water  deposit,  possibly 
a  phase  of  the  loess,  as  indicated  on  a  subsequent  page.  The  loam  and  its 
included  pebbles  j)oint  strongly  to  an  interval  of  submerg-euce  which 
antedated  the  Wisconsin  gravel  filling  in  the  valley  of  the  Musking-um,  but 
which  may  be  more  recent  than  the  change  of  drainage  just  discussed.  The 
subject  is  one  requiring  further  investigation. 

STEIATED    BLOCKS    IN   MUSKINGUM   VALLEY    NEAR    m'cONNELSVILLE. 

True  called  the  writer's  attention  to  striated  sandstone  blocks  found  on 
the  slope  of  the  east  bluff  of  the  Musking-uni  about  2  miles  above  McCon- 
nelsville, at  an  altitude  780  to  800  feet  above  tide.  They  apparently  were 
derived  from  the  ledges  in  the  immediate  ^^icinit)'.  The  striation  consists 
of  a  series  of  shallow  grooves,  which  varv  a  few  degrees  in  trend  and 
seem  less  regular  than  glacial  striae.  The  writer  has  observed  a  g-rooving 
more  marked  and  regular  than  is  here  exhibited  on  a  rock  reef  in  the  bed 
of  the  Ohio  River  near  Ravenswood,  W.  Va.  As  that  locality  is  far  outside 
the  glacial  boundary,  the  grooving  is  apparently  due  to  river  ice.  It  seems 
not  improbable,  therefore,  that  the  g-rooving  displayed  by  these  blocks  is 
referable  to  the  transportation  of  stones  by  river  ice  when  the  stream  was 
flowing  at  an  altitude  as  high  as  these  ledges. 

EXTENT    OF    THE    OLD   MUSKINGUM    DRAINAGE    BASIN. 

The  old  Muskingum  drainage  basin  extended  up  the  Tuscarawas 
nearly  to  the  mouth  of  One  Leg  Creek,  a  distance  of  75  miles  above  the 


MUSKINGUM  DRAINAGE  ST  STEM  159 

old  westwai'd  outlet.  The  eastern  tributaries  of  the  Tuscarawas  and  Mus- 
kingum between  the  mouthy  of  One  Leg  Creek  and  the  south  line  of 
Muskingum  County  probably  had  as  great  an  extent  then  as  at  present; 
but  the  northern  and  western  tributaries  of  the  Tuscarawas  and  Muskingum 
all  appear  to  have  been  quite  small.  The  Walhonding,  which  now  has  a 
drainage  area  of  more  than  2,000  square  miles,  appears  to  have  formerly 
drained  scarcely  500  square  miles,  its  basin  being  mainly  in  Coshocton 
County.  It  received  only  the  8  miles  of  the  lower  course  of  Owl  Creek 
below  Millwood  and  the  lower  8  or  10  miles  of  Mohican  Creek.  How 
much  of  Killbuck  Creek  was  tributary  to  the  Walhonding  has  not  been 
determined,  though  it  appears  probable  that  the  old  divide  was  below  the 
village  of  Killbuck,  or  less  than  20  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  stream. 
Sugar  Creek,  which  enters  the  Tuscarawas  at  Canal  Dover,  is  almost 
entirely  a  new  accession,  the  old  divide  being  apparently  south  of  Strasburg, 
only  6  or  7  miles  from  its  mouth.  From  these  observations  it  appears  that 
the  entire  drainage  area  discharging  westward  past  Dresden  can  scarcely 
have  exceeded  3,000  square  miles,  which  is  but  little  more  than  half  the 
area  that  now  discharges  southward  past  that  point. 

It  has  not  been  decided  whether  the  old  drainage  of  the  portion  of 
the  Muskingum  south  of  the  westward  outlet  led  northward  from  Zanesville 
along  the  present  stream  (reversed)  to  the  old  outlet  at  Dresden  or  took  a 
northwestward  course  froln  Zanesville,  along  a  line  followed  in  pai't  by  the 
Licking  (in  reverse  direction),  to  enter  the  old  outlet  near  Nashport. 
Along  either  line  there  is  only  a  narrow  valley  scarcely  one-half  a  mile  in 
average  width.  Drift  accumulations  in  the  northwestward  line  so  conceal 
its  channel  that  some  uncertainty  is  felt  as  to  its  continuity;  but  it  is  the 
more  direct  line  and  appears  to  be  fully  as  capacious  as  the  northward  line. 
In  its  favor  there  is  also  a  peculiarity  of  drainage  at  Zanesville.  An  old 
valley  leaves  the  present  Muskingum  just  below  Zanesville  and  bears 
northwestward  through  the  western  part  of  the  city,  being  separated  from 
the  present  river  by  a  prominent  ridge  known  as  Putnam  Hill.  It  there 
connects  with  the  old  channel  leading  up  the  Licking.  It  also  connects 
eastward  with  the  Muskingum,  but  this  may  be  simply  the  old  line  of  west- 
ward discharge  for  a  small  drainage  basin  north  and  east  of  Zanesville. 
In  case  there  was  an  old  divide  on  the  present  line  of  the  Muskingum 
between  Dresden  and  Zanesville  it  is  more  likely  to  have  been  near  Ellis 


160  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

than  at  points  above  or  below,  for  the  valley  is  exceptionally  narrow  there. 
The  bordering  uplands  also  reach  a  higher  elevation  there  than  in  other 
parts  of  this  section  of  the  Muskingum. 

DRAINAGE    TRIBUTARY    TO    THE    WESTWARD    OUTLET. 

The  portion  of  the  westward  outlet  between  Dresden  and  Newark 
apparently  received  the  drainage  from  about  the  same  territory  as  is  now 
tributary  to  Wahatomaka  Creek  and  the  lower  course  of  Licking  River. 
The  headwater  portions  of  the  North  Fork  and  the  Middle  or  Raccoon  Fork 
of  Licking  River  appear  to  have  discharged  directly  westward  into  the 
Scioto  Basin,  as  determined  bj''  Tight,  there  being  an  old  divide  crossed  by 
the  Raccoon  Fork  near  Granville,  and  by  the  North  Fork  south  of  Utica.^ 
The  South  Fork  of  Licking  once  received  a  larger  drainage  from  the  east 
than  it  does  at  present.  Jonathan  Creek,  which  now  leads  eastward  into 
the  Muskingum  from  near  the  Licking  reservoir,  crosses  an  old  divide  at  the 
narrows  in  its  lower  course  near  Fultonham,  as  determined  by  Tight  and 
Davis.^  The  greater  part  of  the  old  drainage  was  in  the  reverse  direction 
from  the  present  stream,  and  entered  the  old  outlet  near  the  Licking- 
reservoir.  Farther  south  the  old  outlet  received  the  headwater  portion  of 
Hocking  River  from  as  far  down  as  Rockbridge,  in  northern  Hocking 
County,  including  the  entire  drainage  basin  of  Rush  Creek.  It  also  received 
the  drainage  of  the  district  now  tributary  to  Little  Walnut  Creek,  a  portion 
of  the  outlet  now  being  followed  by  the  creek. 

CHANGES   IN    OWL    CREEK    DRAINAGE    BASIN. 

Owl  Creek,  which  drains  the  greater  part  of  Knox  County  and  adjacent 
parts  of  Morrow  and  Richland  counties,  unites  with  Mohican  Creek  in  west- 
ern Coshocton  County  to  form  the  Walhonding  River.  It  is  the  first 
drainage  line  of  importance  that  leads  into  the  Muskingum  from  the  west 
above  the  old  outlet.  The  changes  of  drainage  which  it  has  experienced 
were  partially  worked  out  and  discussed  by  Read  prior  to  1878.^  The 
writer  examined  the  drainage  basin  in  1890,  and  subsequently  it  was 
examined  by  Tight  and  his  assistants.  It  has  been  noted  by  each  of  the 
persons  who  have  examined  this  drainage  basin  that  the  stream  crosses  an 


^  Communicated  to  the  writer.  ■ 

^  Modification  in  the  Jonathan  Creek  drainage  basin,  by  H.  ,J.  Davis:  Bull.  Denison  Univ.,  Vol. 
XI,  1899,  pp.  165-173. 

''Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  1878,  pp.  32.5-326. 


OWL  CREEK  DRAINAGE  BASIN.  161 

old  divide  between  Mount  Vernon  and  Gambier,  cutting  off  a  spur  that 
projected  from  the  north,  and  separating  a  valley  that  leads  southward 
from  Mount  Vernon  from  one  that  leads  southwestward  from  Gambier.  It 
was  also  noted  by  each  that  another  old  divide  is  crossed  a  few  miles  below 
Gambier,  near  Millwood.     Concerning  these  changes  Read  remarks:^ 

For  a  part  of  the  distance  between  Mount  Vernon  and  Gambier  the  stream  has 
made  for  itself  an  independent  channel  through  rock  spurs  projecting  from  the  north, 
but  the  course  of  the  old  river  can  be  traced  a  little  to  the  south  of  it.  At  Gambier 
it  is  in  the  ancient  bed  of  a  channel  extending  southward  toward  Martinsburg,  now 
filled  with  gravel  and  sand  hills,  and  occupied  hy  Big  Run,  which  flows  northward  in 
a  direction  opposite  to  that  of  the  old  stream,  and  becomes  a  tributary  of  Owl  Creek. 
At  Millwood  also  the  channel  of  Owl  Creek  is  narrow,  rock  bound,  and  recent,  but 
the  old  channel  is  easily  traced  to  the  south  of  the  massive  blufl^s  of  the  Waverly 
conglomerate,  where  it  is  now  filled  with  modified  drift  hills  of  gravel  and  sand. 

The  old  channel  referred  to  by  Read  leads  past  Danville  to  Mohican 
Creek  at  Gann,  and  is  utilized  by  the  Cleveland,  Akron  and  Columbus 
Railroad.  It  is  evident  from  the  remarks  just  quoted  that  he  thought  the 
old  course  of  drainage  from  Gambier  was  southwestward,  but  it  is  not  so 
clear  that  he  thought  the  old  channel  that  connects  Mohican  Creek  and  Owl 
Creek  also  had  a  southwestward  discharge.  To  the  writer  and  also  to 
Tight  it  seems  necessary  to  give  the  old  channel  a  southwestward  discharge, 
for  it  appears  to  be  continuous  with  the  channel  to  the  southwest  that 
discharged  in  that  direction. 

Read  thought  that  there  was  a  line  of  southward  drainage  from  Mount 
Vernon  to  Newark  through  a  lowland  tract  followed  by  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  Railroad,  but  he  appears  to  have  overlooked  evidences  of  an  old  divide 
on  this  line  south  of  Utica.  Upon  examining  this  lowland  in  1890  the  writer 
found  low  rock  hills  in  its  midst  about  3  miles  south  of  Utica,  which  seem 
to  bar  out  completely  a  southward  course  for  the  old  drainage.  At  that  time 
no  clue  to  the  old  course  of  drainage  could  be  found,  but  subsequentl}^  it 
was  ascertained  by  Tight,  through  data  furnished  by  wells,  that  the  dis- 
charge may  have  been  westward  from  near  Utica  past  Homer  to  the  Scioto 
Basin.  The  drift  filling  is  so  great  along  this  westward  line  as  to  completely 
conceal  its  course.     At  Homer  the  di'ift  has  a  depth  of  400  feet. 

It  now  seems  probable  that  the  greater  part  of  the  Owl  Creek  drainage 
basin  above  Mount  Vernon  formerl}^  had  a  southward  discharge  to  the  bend 

'  Some  typographical  errors  in  Read's  description  are  here  corrected. 
MON    XLI 11 


162         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  EEIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

of  the  North  Fork  of  Licking  River  east  of  Homer,  where  it  was  joined  by 
a  di'ainage  hne  leading  in  from  the  northeast  past  Danville  and  Gambler. 
The  united  waters  then  passed  westward  into  the  Scioto  Basin.  It  is  not 
yet  known  how  much  of  the  basin  of  Mohican  Creek  was  tributary  to  this 
line,  but  judging  from  the  small  size  of  the  old  valley  at  Danville  it  was 
probably  only  a  small  part.  Possibly  it  included  only  the  section  between 
the  high  ridge  at  the  north  line  of  Knox  County  and  a  narrow  part  of  the 
Moliican  Valley  a  short  distance  below  the  point  where  the  old  valley  turns 
off  toward  Danville,  a  section  about  12  miles  in  length.  This  leaves  a 
stream  about  8  miles  in  length  on  the  lower  course  of  Owl  Creek  and  a 
similar  stream  on  the  lower  course  of  Mohican  Creek  to  form  the  old 
headwaters  of  the  Walhonding  River. 

CHANGES   IN    CLEAR   FORK    OF   MOHICAN    CREEK. 

Clear  Fork  drains  a  small  district  immediately  north  of  the  drainage 
basin  of  Owl  Creek.  Its  headwaters  are  in  eastern  Morrow  and  southwestern 
Richland  counties  in  a  moraine  that  forms  the  east  border  of  the  Scioto 
Basin.  The  moraine  has  in  that  vicinity  an  altitude  of  1,300  feet  or  more. 
Fi'om  the  moraine  the  several  headwater  streams  flow  east  and  southeast 
and  unite  a  short  distance  west  of  Bellville.  The  stream  then  passes  into  a 
more  elevated  hilly  region  whose  highest  points  are  nearly  1,500  feet  above 
tide.  The  valley  at  the  west  border  of  these  hills  is  more  than  one-half 
mile  in  width,  but  upon  passing  eastward  down  the  present  stream  it 
narrows  and  finally  becomes  a  contracted  gorge  just  above  Newville,  where 
the  rock  bluffs  are  scarcely  100  yards  apart.  This  evidently  marks  the 
position  of  an  old  divide. 

Below  this  divide  the  old  drainage  was  eastward,  as  at  present,  but  it 
apparently  was  a  short  distance  north  of  the  present  stream,  along  a  line 
now  followed  in  part  by  Black  Fork.  The  present  course  is  across  points 
on  the  slope  south  of  the  old  valley.  This  departure  from  the  old  line  is 
due  to  a  moraine  that  follows  the  north  side  of  the  present  stream  from 
Perryville  eastward  and  prevents  the  stream  from  following  the  old  line. 

CHANGES   IN    OTHER   HEADWATERS    OF   MOHICAN    CREEK. 

There  are  several  other  headwater  tributaries  of  Mohican  Creek  in 
Richland  and  Ashland  counties  which,  like  Clear  Fork,  have  their  sources 
outside  of  the  highest  country  included  in  their  basins.     The  most  impor- 


MOHICAN  CREEK  AND  ITS  TRIBUTAEIES.  163 

tant  are  Muddy  Fork,  Black  Fork,  Jerome  Fork,  and  Lake  Fork.  The 
sources  of  each  of  these  tributaries  is  in  a  morainic  system  that  here  consti- 
tutes the  continental  divide.  It  is  evident  that  this  morainic  system  is  north 
of  the  old  divide,  for  it  stands  on  a  slope  facing  toward  Lake  Erie.  Its 
altitude  is  200  to  300  feet  lower  than  the  hills  a  few  miles  to  the  southeast. 
Furthermore,  it  is  traversed  by  buried  valleys,  250  feet  or  more  in  depth, 
which  lead  northward  from  the  high  upland  just  refeiTed  to  toward  the 
Lake  Erie  Basin,  These  valleys  are  now  nearly  concealed,  but  well  borings 
have  shown  their  great  depth.  The  old  divide  on  each  of  these  headwater 
streams  of  Mohican  Creek  was  probably  but  a  few  miles  south  of  the  present 
divide,  as  the  lower  courses  of  the  streams,  as  indicated  below,  appear  to 
connect  with  a  valley  that  leads  eastward  toward  the  old  Cuyahoga  Valley; 
but  as  yet  the  old  divides  have  not  been  located  with  precision.  At  the 
present  time  the  streams  flow  over  passes  or  cols  which  were  once  much 
lower  than  the  hills  of  that  region.  Probably  some  of  these  cols  stood 
below  the  general  level  of  the  drift  filling.  In  such  cases  they  may  per- 
haps be  located  by  well  borings  or  by  careful  examination  of  the  valley 
contours ;  though,  unfortunately,  the  drift  in  these  old  valleys  is  aggregated 
in  knolls  and  ridges  that  greatly  obscure  the  preglacial  topography.  On 
one  of  these  tributaries,  Muddy  Fork,  the  valley  filling  was  such  that  the 
stream  made  a  detour  of  several  miles  near  Lucas  through  a  hilly  district 
north  of  the  old  valley.  This  serves  to  show  that  there  were  low  passes  by 
which  the  drainage  systems  could  easily  be  reversed  or  otherwise  changed. 
J.  H.  Todd,  has  recently  called  attention  to  evidence  that  the 
lower  courses  of  these  tributaries  of  Mohican  Creek  had  an  eastward  dis- 
charge.^ There  is  a  continuous  valley  or  lowland  with  an  average  width 
of  about  a  mile,  followed  by  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago 
Railroad  from  Mansfield  to  Wooster,  Ohio.  It  follows  down  Muddy  and 
Black  Forks  (except  for  the  detour  of  Muddy  Fork  above  noted)  to 
Loudonville,  thence  eastward  across  the  divide  between  Black  and  Lake 
forks  and  across  the  divide  east  of  Lake  Fork  into  Killbuck  Valley  near 
Slu-eve,  iTp  which  it  passes  to  Woostei*.  East  of  Wooster  there  is  a  great 
drift  accumulation  rising  nearly  200  feet  above  Killbuck  Valley,  but  it 
is  Todd's  opinion  that  the  old  valley  continued  in  that  direction  about  10 
miles,  to  the  vicinity  of  On'ville,  where  a  valley  is  found  with  very  low 

'Ohio  Acad.  Sci.,  Special  Papers,  No.  3,  1900,  pp.  49-55. 


164         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


rock  floor.  This  valley  seems  to  have  drained  northward  either  to  Rocky 
Eiver  or  the  Cuyahoga,  passing  near  Sterling.  The  writer  is  inclined  to 
favor  the  view  that  this  valley  had  a  course  eastward  from  Sterling  to 
Warrick,  and  thence  north  past  New  Portage  and  Copley  Marsh  into  the 
old  Cuyahoga,  that  being  a  larger  valley  than  the  old  Rocky  River  Valley. 
Todd,  however,  favors  Rocky  River  Valley  as  the  line  of  discharge  into  Lake 
Erie.  The  valley  under  discussion,  with  its  deep  filling  of  drift,  shows  gen- 
eral eastward  descent,  as  indicated  in  the  table  below.  The  available  data 
concerning  the  rock  floor  shown  in  the  table,  though  meager,  also  favor  the 
view  that  it  slants  eastward.  It  furnishes  a  more  natui-al  trunk  line  than 
any  other  old  line  of  drainage  yet  found  in  that  region.  The  several  tribu- 
taries of  Mohican  Creek  converge  toward  this  old  valley,  and  seem  to  find 
in  it  a  natural  line  of  discharge.  This  old  fine  may  properly  be  termed 
the  old  Mohican.  The  table  presents  the  railway  stations  in  order  from 
west  to  east  between  Mansfield  and  Wooster,  showing  elevations  of  the 
present  surface  and  rock  floor  so  far  as  known.  The  borings  at  Millbrook 
and  Wooster  fail  to  reach  rock  at  the  altitudes  given. 

AltiPades  above  tide  along  the  old  Mohican  d/rainage. 


Distance 
from  Mans- 
field. 


Mansfield... 

Lucas 

Perrysville  . 
Loudonville 
Lakeville . . . 

Shreve 

Millbrook  ., 
Wooster 


Feet. 
1,151 
1,090 
992 
974 
939 
911 
900 
901 


Feet. 

900 
(?) 
(?) 

825 

(?) 

(?) 
715- 
790- 


Black  Fork  now  turns  south  from  this  old  valley  at  Loudonville,  and 
passes  tlirough  a  range  of  hills  to  join  Lake  Fork.  Lake  Fork  passes 
across  the  old  valley  at  Lakeville,  and  discharges  through  a  much  nar- 
rower valley  toward  the  south.  It  seems  probable  that  an  old  divide  which 
separated  this  drainage  system  from  the  east  fork  of  the  old  Owl  Creek 
drainage  was  crossed  just  below  the  junction  of  this  old  valley  and  Black 
Fork.     For  a  few  miles  north  of  Lakeville  Lake  Fork  is  in  a  broad  valley, 


OLD  UPPEE  TUSCARAWAS  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  165 

but  farther  up  the  valley,  near  the  mouth  of  Jerome  Fork,  it  passes  through 
a  narrow  channel  among  the  hills.  The  old  valley  lies  west  of  this  narrow 
channel.  Whether  it  connects  at  the  north  with  Jerome  Fork  has  not  been 
ascertained. 

KILLBUCK   CEEEK. 

This  creek  now  drains  the  western  part  of  Wayne  and  the  greater 
part  of  Holmes  County,  flowing  southward  into  the  Walhonding  a  short 
distance  above  the  head  of  the  Muskingum.  It  apparently  is  flowing  in 
the  main  in  the  reverse  direction  from  its  old  course.  The  headwater 
portion,  down  to  within  8  or  10  miles  of  Wooster,  found  its  old  line  of 
discharge  northward  past  Lodi  to  the  Black  River,  a  tributary  of  Lake  Erie. 
A  boring  recently  made  in  this  old  valley  near  Lodi  is  reported  by  Todd 
to  have  reached  a  level  less  than  700  feet  above  tide  without  entering  rock, 
the  depth  of  the  boring  being  210  feet. 

It  is  quite  certain  that  the  old  valley  which  leads  noi-thward  along  the 
Killbuck,  as  above  noted,  from  Shreve  to  Wooster  did  not  continue  along 
this  creek  beyond  Wooster,  for  there  is  only  a  narrow  valley  for  several 
miles  above  Wooster,  the  width  between  rock  blufi's  being  in  places  less 
than  one-fourth  of  a  mile.  The  continuation  of  that  old  valley  (the  old 
Mohican)  was  probably  eastward,  as  suggested  by  Todd. 

A  large  part  of  Killbuck  Valley  apparently  once  discharged  northward 
to  the  old  Mohican,  for  there  is  a  marked  narrowing  of  the  valley  in  passing 
southward  down  the  present  stream.  Beneath  the  glacial  gi-avel  the  valley 
is  also  filled  with  a  fine  silt,  which  was  probably  deposited  in  a  pool  of  water 
that  found  outlet  to  the  south  only  after  rising  above  the  level  of  a  divide 
on  the  lower  course  of  the  creek.  This  silt  is  a  conspicuous  feature  below 
Millersburg  at  least  to  the  village  of  Killbuck,  and  seems  to  indicate  that 
the  divide  was  south  of  that  village.  That  portion  of  the  valley  is  narrow 
and  winding,  as  if  it  had  once  constituted  the  headwaters  of  drainage  lines, 
but  the  precise  position  of  the  old  divide  was  not  determined.  After  this 
divide  had  been  surmounted  the  south-flowing  stream  carried  down  the 
valley  to  the  Muskingum  a  large  amount  of  gravel  of  Wisconsin  age 
that  is  now  preserved  in  the  form  of  terraces  on  the  valley  borders. 

OLD    UPPER   TUSCARAWAS    DRAINAGE    SYSTEM. 

It  was  noted  above  (p.  168)  that  the  Tuscarawas  crosses  an  old  divide 
between  the  mouth  of  One  Leg  Creek  and  Canal  Dover.     This  is  one  of 


166  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  most  plainly  marked  instances  of  the  crossing  of  an  old  divide  to  be 
found  in  northern  Ohio.  The  Tuscarawas,  whose  valley  above  the  mouth 
of  One  Leg-  Creek  is  fully  one-half  mile  in  average  width,  enters  a  gorge 
below  the  mouth  of  this  creek  which  is  scarcely  twice  the  width  of  the 
stream,  or  but  150  to  200  yards.  The  gorge  is  a  winding  channel  about 
4  miles  in  length,  which  was  probably  mainly  drained  southward  to  the 
Lower  Tuscarawas,  for  the  old  divide  appears  to  be  within  a  mile  of  its  north 
end.  In  this  gorge,  1  to  2  miles  below  the  mouth  of  One  Leg  Creek,  the 
river  is  running  on  the  rock  floor.  Above  the  gorge,  at  the  mouth  of  One 
Leg  Creek,  the  rock  floor  is  known  to  be  more  than  100  feet  below  the  stream 
bed,  a  boring  on  its  flood  plain  having  failed  to  reach  rock  at  a  depth  of  130 
feet.  A  few  miles  below  the  gorge,  at  Canal  Dover  and  New  Philadelphia, 
borings  have  shown  the  rock  floor  to  be  nearly  150  feet  below  the  stream 
bed.  There  is,  therefore,  not  only  the  marked  constriction  of  the  valley, 
but  also  the  presence  of  a  concealed  rock  divide  to  prove  that  the  Tuscara- 
was is  there  opening  a  new  channel. 

The  small  size  of  this  gorge  compared  with  other  channels  across  old 
divides  in  this  part  of  Ohio  is  a  matter  on  which  further  light  is  needed. 
The  gorge  is  much  smaller  than  the  part  of  Sugar  Creek  Valley  near 
Strasburg,  which,  as  noted  above,  is  thought  to  have  been  opened  by  a 
reversal  of  drainage.  These  disparities  in  size  may  prove  to  be  due  simply 
to  difference  in  resistance  aff'orded  by  the  rocks  in  the  two  localities,  for 
the  valleys  of  that  region  present  surprising  variations  in  width,  which  seem 
due  solely  to  rock  texture.  For  example,  the  valley  of  One  Leg  Creek, 
whose  usual  width  in  its  lower  course  is  less  than  one-half  mile,  expands 
near  New  Cumberland  to  a  width  of  more  than  a  mile  and  then  contracts 
near  its  mouth  to  a  width  of  about  one-third  of  a  mile.  The  valley  of 
the  Tuscarawas  at  Canal  Dover  is  exceptionally  broad,  being  more  than  a 
mile  in  width,  yet  it  appears  to  be  the  headwater  portion  of  the  old  Lower 
Tuscarawas.  In  case  rock  texture  proves  inadequate  to  account  for  the 
exceptionally  small  size  of  this  gorge  across  the  old  divide,  it  becomes  nec- 
essary to  consider  whether  its  opening  does  not  date  from  the  Wisconsin 
stage  of  glaciation,  while  the  opening  of  the  broader  channel  in  the  lower 
course  of  Sugar  Creek  dated  from  an  earlier  invasion.  The  consideration 
of  this  question  would  also  carry  with  it  an  inquiry  into  the  question  whether 
the  lower  course  of  Sugar  Creek  may  have  furnished  the  southward  line  of 


OLD  UPPER  TUSCARAWAS  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  167 

interg-lacial  discharge  for  the  Upper  Tuscarawas  drainage.  These  matters 
can  scai'cely  be  decided  in  the  present  stage  of  investigation.  It  can  only 
be  said  that  there  appears  to  be  nothing  in  the  features  of  the  region  that 
would  have  seriously  interfered  with  the  interglacial  drainage  of  the  Upper 
Tuscarawas  through  the  lower  course  of  Sugar  Creek. 

Above  this  old  divide  the  di-ainage  was  formerly  northward  to  the 
Lake  Erie  Basin.  One  Leg  Creek  was  the  main  line  of  headwater  drainage, 
but  at  Bolivar  Sandy  Creek  entered  from  the  southeast,  and  at  Navarre 
Sugar  Creek  entered  from  the  southwest.  The  course  of  the  old  stream 
from  this  point  is  less  easy  to  determine,  for  the  drift  is  so  heavy  in  that 
region  that  the  old  valleys  are  in  places  completely  filled.  It  may  have 
left  the  Tuscarawas  Valley  and  passed  eastward  along  an  abandoned  valley, 
in  which  Ricliville  stands,  to  the  vicinity  of  Canton,  though  quite  as  probably 
that  abandoned  valley  was  the  line  of  westward  discharge  for  an  eastern 
tributary  that  drained  the  headwater  portion  of  Nimishillen  Creek.  In  that 
case  the  old  stream  passed  northward  along  the  Tuscarawas  Valley.  That 
valley  above  Navai-re  seems  wide  enough  as  far  north  as  Massillon  to  have 
carried  the  drainage  of  the  old  stream,  but  from  Massillon  to  Clinton,  a 
distance  of  about  12  miles,  it  seems  much  too  narrow  for  the  old  sti'eam. 
There  was  apparently  an  old  divide  at  the  bend  of  the  present  stream  3  or  4 
miles  north  of  Massillon,  the  valley  being  narrow  and  having  a  rock  floor 
at  slight  depth.  It  seems  not  unlikely  that  the  old  stream  had  a  westward 
discharge  from  Massillon  along  a  depression  utilized  by  the  Pittsburg,  Fort 
Wayne  and  Chicago  Railroad,  between  Massillon  and  Orrville.  It  would 
there  connect  with  the  old  Mohican  Valley,  which,  as  indicated  above  (p.  164), 
probably  discharged  northeastward  to  the  old  Cuyahoga.  The  thought 
that  this  may  have  been  the  line  of  discharge  for  the  old  Upper  Tuscarawas 
did  not  occur  to  the  writer  while  in  the  field,  and  too  little  attention  was 
given  the  valley  to  justify  an  opinion.  While  it  is  a  somewhat  indirect 
course,  that  may  not  be  a  serious  objection.  So  little  is  known  concerning 
the  district  east  of  the  Tuscarawas  that  it  is  impossible  either  to  suggest  an 
alternative  line  of  discharge  or  to  rule  it  out.  The  old  line  may  be  found 
to  have  continued  northward  from  the  vicinity  of  Massillon  on  the  east  side 
of  the  present  stream  past  Turkeyfoot  Lake,  which,  apparently,  lies  in  an 
old  valley,  and  to  have  come  to  the  Tuscarawas  again  a  short  distance  above 
New  Portage.     It  would  there  connect  with  an  old  valley  coming  in  from  the 


168  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

southwest  and  pass  northward  through  Copley  Marsh  to  the  ohl  Curahog-a, 
a  few  miles  northwest  of  Akron. 

These  courses  are  suggested  on  the  assumption  that  the  old  line  of  dis- 
charge passed  northward  to  Massillon;  but  as  noted  above  there  is  a  pos- 
sibility that  it  led  eastward  to  Canton.  In  that  case  it  is  not  certain  that 
the  discharge  was  into  the  Cuyahoga.  It  may  prove  to  have  been  north- 
eastward to  the  Mahonmg  at  Alliance  and  thence  northward  into  the  Grand 
River  Basin.  It  seems,  howevei',  quite  as  probable  that  the  discharge  would 
have  been  northward  from  Canton  past  Turkeyfoot  Lake  and  Copley 
Marsh  to  the  Cuyahoga.  Notwithstanding  this  uncertainty  concerning  the 
course  of  discharge,  there  is  no  question  that  the  old  Upper  Tuscarawas 
was  tributary  to  the  Lake  Erie  Basin. 

This  northward-flowing  system  apparently  embraced  the  g-reater  part  of 
Sugar  Creek  drainage  basin  and  all  the  eastern  tributaries  of  the  Tuscarawas 
from  One  Leg"  Creek  northward  to  the  source  of  the  river,  though  these  tribu- 
taries have  had  their  drainage  Ijasins  greatly  modified.  At  the  supposed  old 
divide  on  Sugar  Creek,  near  Strasburg,  the  valley  becomes  reduced  to 
scarcely  half  the  width  of  the  portion  above,  though  the  narrowest  jDart 
has  a  breadth  of  nearly  one-fourth  of  a  mile.  The  evidence  for  the  former 
northward  discharge  of  this  creek  is  g-reatl}"  strengthened  by  the  presence 
of  a  broad,  parf  ially  filled  valley  leading  northward  from  the  bend  at  Beach 
City  to  the  Tuscarawas  at  Navarre,  which  is  utilized  by  both  tlie  railway 
lines  that  pass  through  these  villages.  The  possibility  that  the  lower  course 
of  Sugar  Creek  was  a  line  of  interglacial  discharge  for  the  old  Upper 
Tuscarawas  was  considered  above. 

It  is  probable  that  only  the  lower  course  of  Nimishillen  Creek  was 
tributary  to  Sandy  Creek,  the  old  divide  being  3  or  4  miles  below  Canton, 
whei'e  the  valley  becomes  very  naiTow.  As  noted  above,  it  is  uncertain 
whether  the  headwater  stream  of  this  drainage  system  discliarged  westward 
past  Richville  through  an  abandoned  valley  to  the  old  Tuscarawas  at 
Navarre,  or  instead  met  the  old  Tuscarawas  at  Canton.  The  northern 
portion  of  this  old  drainage  system  is  evidently  not  in  harmony  with  pre- 
glacial  lines.  ^^Tiether  the  extent  of  the  present  system  is  about  the  same 
as  the  old  system  is  not  easy  to  determine  because  of  the  great  body  of 
drift  in  that  region. 


HOCKING  DRAINAGE  BASIN.  169 

HOCKING  RIVER. 
THE    PRESENT   DKAINAGE. 

The  Hocking  drainage  basin  lies  southeast  of  the  southern  part  of  the 
basin  drained  b}"  the  Muskingum.  It  has  its  headwaters  on  the  east  side  of 
the  Scioto  Basin,  near  Lancaster,  and  connects  witli  the  Ohio  at  Hocking- 
port.  The  length  of  the  main  stream  is  scarcely  100  miles,  and  the  area 
tributary  to  it  is  only  1,200  square  miles. 

The  fall  of  the  main  stream  is  about  250  feet  between  Lancaster  and 
the  mouth,  a  distance  of  perhaps  90  miles.  Of  this  fall  about  1()0  feet  is 
m.ade  in  the  first  25  miles.  The  headwater  portion  of  the  basin  carries  a 
drift  filling  of  200  to  300  feet,  but  the  middle  and  lower  portions  have 
but  a  moderate  filling-.  They  lie  outside  the  glacial  boundary,  and  have 
received  a  train  of  gravel  and  sand  which  was  carried  down  toward  the 
Ohio,  and  which  graded  up  the  valley  to  a  level  75  to  100  feet  above  the 
present  stream.  The  stream  has  carried  away  much  of  this  gravel  and 
sand,  leaving  only  narrow  strips  of  it  as  terraces  on  the  borders  of  the 
valley  and  a  small  filling  beneath  the  stream  bed. 

CHANGES    IN   THE    HEADWATER    PORTION. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  headwater  portion  of  Hocking  River,  as  far 
down  as  the  glacial  boundary,  and  also  nearly  all  the  tributary  drainage 
within  the  glacial  boundary,  formerly  discharged  northwestward  into  the 
westward  outlet  of  the  old  Muskingum.  This  is  indicated  both  by  the  slope 
of  the  rock  floor  and  by  abandoned  valleys  which  connect  the  headwaters 
of  the  Hocking  and  its  tributaries  with  the  portion  of  the  Scioto  Basin 
traversed  by  the  old  Muskingum.  The  rock  floor  is  shown  by  numerous 
gas  borings  at  Sugar  Grove  to  be  about  650  feet  above  tide,  while  at  Lan- 
caster, 7  miles  up  the  present  valley,  it  is  only  about  600  feet,  and  at  Had- 
ley  Junction,  near  which  it  connected  with  the  old  Muskingum,  560  feet. 
The  valley  from  Sugar  Grove  to  Lancaster  is  nearly  a  mile  in  average 
width,  and  becomes  still  wider  as'  it  opens  into  the  Scioto  Basin  northwest  of 
Lancaster.  Yet  the  bordering  uplands  near  Sugar  Grove  are  higher  than  in 
any  part  of  the  Hocking  drainage  basin  below  that  village,  the  highest  points 
being  above  1,200  feet,  or  nearly  600  feet  above  the  rock  floor  of  the  valley. 

Within  8  or  10  miles  below  Sugar  Grove  the  uplands  fall  to  about 
1,050  feet.     Within  3  miles  the  valley  narrows  to  scarcely  one-third  its  width 


170  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

at  Sugar  Grove,  or  about  one-fourth  of  a  mile;  it  continues  narrow  for  the 
next  5  miles,  and  below  it  is  irregular  and  varies  in  width  from  one-fourth 
mile  up  to  nearly  a  mile.  The  level  of  the  rock  floor  in  the  naiTow  part 
below  Sugar  Grove,  as  shown  by  gas  borings,  is  about  the  same  as  at  that 
village,  650  feet,  but  farther  down  it  appears  to  descend  with  the  present 
stream.  From  the  features  just  noted  it  seems  probable  that  the  old  divide 
stood  within  a  few  miles  southeast  of  Sugar  Grove,  but  its  precise  position 
may  be  difficult  to  determine. 

Beginning  a  short  distance  below  Sugar  Grove  there  are  shelves  along 
the  borders  of  the  valley  at  a  height  of  50  to  75  feet  above  the  stream,  or 
about  800  feet  above  tide;  these  seem  to  be  remnants  of  an  old  gradation 
plain.  By  means  of  these  rock  shelves  it  may  be  possible  to  determine  the 
condition  of  the  old  divide,  but  this  has  not  as  yet  been  done.  It  is  still  to 
be  determined  whether  the  portion  of  the  Hocking  Valley  below  this  divide 
belonged  to  a  single  or  to  two  or  more  distinct  old  drainage  systems. 

Upon  turning  to  the  tributaries  of  this  headwater  portion  of  Hocking 
River  we  find  important  changes.  Clear  Creek  now  drains  a  district  east- 
ward into  the  Hocking  that  was  in  large  part  drained  westward  into  the  Scioto 
Basin.  The  old  divide  between  the  westward-flowing  stream  and  a  much 
smaller  stream  flowing  eastward  into  the  Hocking  is  found  about  4  miles 
from  the  mouth  of  the  creek.  The  creek  here  passes  through  a  gorge  only 
100  to  150  yards  in  width,  or  but  a  small  fraction  of  its  width  near  its 
present  headwater  portion.  Above  this  gorge  the  tributaries  of  the  creek 
point  westward,  while  in  the  portion  below  they  point  eastward.  The 
bluffs  at  this  gorge  rise  abruptly  more  than  100  feet,  and  it  is  probable  that 
the  pass  or  col  stood  nearly  as  high  as  this  abrupt  part.  This  old  divide  is 
very  near  the  glacial  boundary,  but  a  tei'race  of  glacial  gravel  appears 
farther  down  the  valley,  at  an  altitude  about  100  feet  above  the  stream  bed. 
This  gravel  is  apparently  of  Illinoian  age;  this  being  the  case,  the  stream 
was  thrown  across  this  divide  as  early  as  that  ice  invasion. 

Changes  of  drainage  on  Rush  Creek,  the  largest  eastern  tributary  of 
this  headwater  portion  of  the  Hocking,  have  been  noted  both  by  Tight 
and  the  writer.  An  abandoned  valley,  forming  the  old  line  of  discharge 
from  Bremen  to  Lancaster,  was  examined  by  the  writer  in  1890,  and  the 
cause  for  abandonment  referred  to  great  accumulations  of  drift  immedi- 
ately below  Bremen.     The  position  of  the  old  divide  crossed  by  the  stream 


HOCKING  DRAINAGE  BASIN.  171 

in  its  present  course  south  of  Bremen  was  not  determined.  Tight  examined 
this  drainage  basin  in  1896  and  located  the  old  divide  about  6  miles  below 
Bremen.  He  also  independently  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  stream 
formerly  discharged  westward  from  Bremen  to  Lancaster  through  the  par- 
tially filled  valley  noted  b}^  the  writer.  This  change  of  drainage  has  been 
discussed  quite  fully  by  Tight,  and  his  description  is  accompanied  by 
photographs  of  the  abandoned  valley  and  of  the  old  divide.^  Tln-ough 
a  misinterpretation  of  the  maps  of  that  region,  he  has  placed  the  old 
divide  at  the  line  of  Fairfield  and  Hocking  counties.  Its  position  is  really  2 
miles  below  the  county  line,  in  section  10,  Marion  Township,  Hocking 
County,  where  the  photograph  of  the  old  divide  was  taken  which  appears  in 
the  paper  referred  to.  At  this  old  divide  a  ledge  of  rocks  extends  out  fully 
halfway  across  the  valley,  reducing  the  width  of  the  channel  to  scarcely 
200  yards.  This  remnant  of  the  col  probably  stands  nearly  as  high  as  the 
old  divide,  and  shows  it  to  have  been  scarcely  50  feet  above  the  present 
stream.  The  valley  was  filled  with  glacial  deposits  to  a  higher  level  than 
this  renmant  of  the  divide,  for  it  is  coated  with  gravel  to  a  depth  of  several 
feet.  The  glacial  boundary  apparently  follows  somewhat  closely  the  north 
side  of  Rush  Creek  from  this  old  divide  westward  to  its  mouth  at  Sugar 
Grove.  East  from  the  old  divide  the  drift  border  lies  farther  south  than  the 
stream,  except  in  the  extreme  headwaters  east  of  Junction  City. 

A  pecviliar  change  of  drainage  is  found  at  Sugar  Grove,  near  the  mouth 
of  Rush  Creek.  There  are  two  broad  channels  opening  out  from  Rush 
Creek  Valley  into  the  Hocking  just  above  its  mouth,  which  stand  less  than 
50  feet  above  the  stream,  and  yet  are  not  utilized  by  the  stream.  Instead, 
the  creek  has  turned  away  from  both  of  them  and  cut  a  narrow  gorge 
across  a  rock  point  on  the  east  side  of  the  valley.  The  point  thus  cut  off 
rises  nearly  100  feet  above  the  level  of  these  broad  valleys,  but  the  stream 
probably  found  a  notch  or  depression  back  of  it  at  a  somewhat  lower  level. 
It  seems  necessary  to  suppose  that  both  of  these  broad  valleys  were  at  one 
time  filled  sufficiently  to  cause  the  stream  to  select  its  present  course.  Yet 
it  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  removal  of  the  obstruction  unless,  perchance, 
the  ice  sheet  was  the  obstruction. 

The  occurrence  of  two  broad  channels  is  also  a  puzzling  feature. 
They  do  not  appear  to  be  in  the  natural  position  for  an  oxbow  channel  of 


'Bull.  Denison  Univ.,  Vol.  IX,  Pt.  II,  1897,  pp.  33-37,  Pis.  D,  E,  F,  and  IV. 


172  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

either  the  old  north-flowiug  Hocking  or  the  lower  course  of  Rush  Creek. 
Each  is  about  as  broad  as  the  valley  of  Rush  Creek  above  the  point  of  sepa- 
ration from  the  latter,  being  nearly  one-half  mile  in  width,  but  they  are 
decidedly  narrower  than  the  Hocking  Valley.  They  seem  too  broad  to  have 
been  excavated  by  an  interglacial  stream,  and  it  appears  more  probable  that 
the  double  channel  is  a  preglacial  feature. 

A  slight  change  in  one  of  the  eastern  tributaries  of  Rush  Creek,  between 
the  point  where  it  leaves  the  old  valley  near  Bremen  and  the  old  di^^de, 
should  be  mentioned.  This  tributary  enters  Rush  Creek  within  a  mile 
inside  the  glacial  boundary,  yet  its  lower  course  was  so  greatly  obstructed 
by  drift  deposits  that  it  has  cut  a  new  channel  across  a  rock  point  south  of 
the  old  channel. 

The  North  Fork  of  Rush  Creek  enters  the  main  creek  through  a  rock 
gorge  between  Rushville  and  Bremen.  The  headwater  portion  ap^Darently 
discharged  westward  near  the  line  of  the  Ohio  Central  Railway,  leaving  the 
present  valley  about  2  miles  above  Rushville.  The  course  is  so  greatly 
concealed  by  accumulations  of  drift  that  it  can  be  only  approximately 
determined. 

RACCOON   CREEK. 

Passing  over  a  few  small  northern  tributaries  of  the  Ohio  below  the 
mouth  of  Hocking  River  we  come  to  the  valley  of  Raccoon  Creek.  The 
sources  of  this  creek  are  in  western  Athens  and  southern  Hocking  counties,  on 
the  immediate  border  of  the  Hocking  Valley.  One  branch  heads  near  the  line 
of  Athens  and  Hocking  County  within  1^  miles  of  the  Hocking  River  and 
branches  farther  west  are  but  4  to  6  miles  back  from  the  river.  The  divide  at 
the  head  of  these  tributaries  is  a  prominent  sandstone  ridge  with  an  elevation 
200  to  300  feet  above  the  Hocking  Valley  or  900  to  1,000  feet  above  tide. 
The  heads  of  these  tributaries  are  in  valleys  100  to  200  feet  below  the  crest 
of  the  dividing  ridge,  or  about  800  feet  above  tide.  In  the  middle  part  of 
this  drainage  basin  there  are  remarkable  variations  in  the  valley  contours, 
the  streams  being  partly  in  low  lands  which  have  the  appearance  of  being 
old  lines  of  drainage,  and  partly  in  nan-ow  valleys,  with  abrupt  bluffs,  which 
have  the  appearance  of  being  newly  opened  channels.  The  writer  did  not 
give  these  features  sufficient  attention  to  warrant  an  interpretation.  They 
are,  however,  under  investigation  by  Tight. 


SYMMES  CEEEK  AND  LITTLE  SCIOTO  RIVER.  173 

SYMMES   CREEK. 

Immediately  west  of  the  lower  end  of  the  Raccoon  drainage  basin  is 
the  basin  of  Symmes  Creek.  The  sti-eam  heads  a  short  distance  southeast 
of  Jackson  and  has  a  general  southward  course  to  the  Ohio,  which  it  enters 
opposite  the  city  of  Huntington,  W.  Va.  An  inspection  of  this  drainage 
system  suggests  a  northward  discharge  for  the  entire  system  except  a  sec- 
tion a  few  miles  in  length  in  the  lower  course.  The  writer  was  able  to 
trace  out  a  series  of  valleys  connecting  the  two  headwater  forks  in  south- 
eastern Jackson  County  with  the  South  Fork  of  Salt  Creek.  Grass  Fork 
crosses  an  old  divide  within  a  mile  north  of  the  Jackson-Gallia  county  line. 
Its  old  line  of  discharge  appears  to  have  been  in  the  reverse  of  the  present 
course  to  the  line  of  the  Cincinnati,  Hamilton  and  Dayton  Railroad  and 
thence  westward  past  Clay,  Vaughn,  and  Camba  into  Salt  Creek.  The 
region  now  drained  by  Black  Fork  appears  to  have  discharged  in  part  along 
the  line  of  the  railway  just  named  from  Gallia  Furnace  northward.  The 
headwater  portion  of  the  creek  may  have  discharged  past  Oak  Hill,  joining 
the  other  branch  and  Grass  Fork  at  the  swamp  east  of  Clay.  The  present 
stream  appears  to  have  crossed  an  old  divide  in  the  vicinity  of  the  county 
line  a  short  distance  east  of  Gallia  Furnace. 

Tight  reports  the  discovery  of  an  old  divide  south  of  Aid  about  15 
miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  creek.  The  portion  of  the  drainage  basin 
between  this  divide  and  the  one  near  Gallia  Furnace  may  have  found  an 
eastward  discharge  into  Raccoon  Creek,  passing  near  the  village  of  Patriot; 
the  divide  there  between  Symmes  Creek  and  Raccoon  Creek  is  exception- 
ally low. 

LITTLE  SCIOTO  RIVER. 

This  small  stream  drains  the  southern  end  of  the  abandoned  part  of 
the  old  Kanawha  channel  in  southwestern  Jackson,  southeastern  Pike,  and 
eastern  Scioto  counties,  Ohio.  It  is  singularly  out  of  harmony  with  the  old 
channel,  as  may  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  sketch  map  (fig.  3,  p.  101.)  The 
east  or  Brushy  Fork  heads  on  the  northeast  border  of  the  old  channel  about 
3  miles  north  of  Glade  and  takes  a  southward  course,  entering  the  channel 
at  Glade  and  following  it  for  about  6  miles.  The  stream  then  leaves 
the  old  channel  near  the  line  of  Jackson  and  Scioto  counties,  and  utilizes 
the  channel  of  a  little  tributary.  It  is  joined  by  Flat  Fork,  which  leads 
eastward   from   California   along  the  old  channel,  but  which  turns  south 


174  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

through  a  narrow  rock-bound  valley  to  enter  Brushy  Fork.  The  stream 
then  follows  the  valley  of  this  small  tributary  to  its  former  head,  3  or  4 
miles  south  of  the  county  line.  It  then  ci'osses  an  old  divide  into  the 
valley  of  a  larger  stream  coming  in  from  near  Mabees  that  discharged 
southwestward  into  the  old  Kanawha.  It  follows  this  valley  down  to  the 
junction  with  Rocky  Fork  near  Wallace  Mills.  The  old  valley  of  this 
tributary  probably  discharged  westward  from  Wallace  Mills  to  the  old 
Kanawha  along  Rocky  Fork  (reversed),  though  possibly  it  continued  down 
the  line  of  the  present  stream  and  entered  the  old  Kanawha  channel  near 
Harrison  Mills.  The  distance  to  the  old  channel  of  the  Kanawha,  by  either 
route,  is  only  two  miles  from  Wallace  Mills.  From  Harrison  Mills  the  Little 
Scioto  River  occupies  the  old  channel  nearly  to  the  present  Ohio.  It,  how- 
ever, cuts  off  a  rock  point  west  of  the  old  channel,  just  before  entering  the 
present  Ohio. 

Rocky  Fork  rises  in  the  uplands  west  of  the  old  Kanawha  channel  in 
southeastern  Pike  Count}",  and  follows  that  channel  southward  for  several 
miles  before  turning  east  to  join  Brushy  Fork.  In  leaving  the  old  channel 
it  seems  to  have  disregarded  the  most  favorable  line  of  discharge. 

The  only  cause  for  these  incursions  of  the  present  drainage  into  the 
hills  which  has  suggested  itself  to  the  writer  is  found  in  the  large  amount  of 
filling  which  the  old  channel  received,  there  being  in  places  a  depth  of  60 
feet  of  silt  on  the  old  rock  floor.  This  amount  of  filling  was  perhaps  suffi- 
cient to  raise  the  drainage  lines  above  the  level  of  low  divides  among 
neighboring  hills  to  the  east  and  thus  bring  about  the  singular  system  of 
drainage  presented  by  the  Little  Scioto  and  its  tributaries.  It  is,  however, 
somewhat  doubtful  if  this  silt  filling  caused  all  the  changes,  and  they  may 
prove  to  be  independent  of  it. 

SCIOTO  RIVER. 

The  Scioto  is  the  chief  drainage  system  of  central  and  southern  Ohio. 
The  main  stream  has  a  length  of  about  210  miles,  and  with  its  tributaries 
drains  an  area  of  6,400  square  miles.  Its  source  is  in  eastern  Auglaize 
County,  and  its  mouth  at  Portsmouth,  Ohio. 

The  region  drained  by  the  Scioto  and  its  tributaries  has  undergone  a 
series  of  changes  of  peculiar  interest,  some  of  which  have  been  outlined  in 
the  discussion  of  the  Ohio  and  Muskingum  drainage  basins.     The  present 


SCIOTO  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  175 

system  presents  very  few  lines  which  are  identical  in  extent  and  direction 
of  drainage  Avith  the  old  system;  indeed  a  large  part  is  quite  independent 
of  the  old  system. 

THE    HEADWATER   PORTION. 

In  the  northern  portion  of  the  present  system  from  the  source  down  to 
the  glacial  boundary  near  Chillicothe  the  extent  and  the  direction  of  dis- 
charge for  the  main  stream  and  its  tributaries  are  determined  chiefly  by 
the  slope  of  the  great  Scioto  Basin,  the  drift  filling  being  so  great  as  to 
nearly  conceal  the  lines  of  preglacial  drainage.  This  basin  slopes  from  the 
eastern  and  western  borders  toward  a  north-to-south  axis,  while  the  axis 
itself  has  a  decided  southward  slope.  Moraines  govern  the  courses  of 
drainage  only  to  a  limited  extent. 

The  Scioto  itself  leads  down  from  the  western  rim  to  the  axis  of  the 
basin  iii  an  eastward  course,  which  is  governed  by  a  moraine  lying  on  the 
north  side  of  the  river.  It  is  met  near  Marion  by  a  small  northeastern 
tributary,  Little  Scioto  River,'  whose  course  is  along  the  south  border  of  the 
eastward  continuation  of  the  same  moraine.  The  united  stream  then  takes 
a  southward  course,  but  flows  a  little  to  the  west  of  the  axis  of  the  basin  as 
far  as  Columbus.  In  this  portion  the  axis  of  the  basin  is  more  nearly  fol- 
lowed by  the  Olentangy  River,  which  for  a  distance  of  about  40  miles  lies 
only  4  to  8  miles  east  of  the  Scioto.  The  two  rivers  become  united  at 
Columbus,  where  the  Scioto  makes  an  eastward  turn  to  receive  the  Olentangy. 
From  Columbus  to  Chillicothe  the  Scioto  follows  nearly  the  axis  of  the 
basin. 

The  Scioto  receives  three  western  tributaries  above  Columbus — Rush 
Creek,  Bokes  Creek,  and  Mill  Creek.  Each  of  these,  like  the  main  sti'eam, 
rises  on  the  elevated  western  rim  of  the  basin.  The  courses  of  these 
tributaries  are  governed  to  some  extent  by  morainic  ridges,  there  being  a 
ridge  between  Mill  Creek  and  Bokes  Creek,  and  another  along  a  part  of 
the  north  border  of  Rush  Creek.  Below  Columbus  three  large  western 
tributaries — Darby  Creek,  Deer  Creek,  and  Paint  Creek — are  received. 
Darby  Creek  flows  eastward  from  the  western  rim  of  the  Scioto  Basin  along 
the  south  border  of  a  morainic  ridge  to  within  a  few  miles  of  the  Scioto. 
It  there  turns  sovithward  and  joins  the  Scioto  near  Circleville.     Its   chief 

^TMs  stream  must  be  distinguished  from  a  tributary  of  the  Ohio  of  tlie  same  name  which,  as 
above  described,  enters  the  Ohio  a  few  miles  east  of  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto. 


176         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

tributary,  Little  Darby  Creek,  also  heads  in  the  elevated  western  rim  of  the 
Scioto  Basin.  Deer  Creek  heads  in  the  western  rim  of  the  Scioto  Basin 
and  drains  a  narrow  strip  on  the  southwest  border  of  the  Darby  Creek 
drainage  basin,  entering  the  Scioto  about  midway  between  Circleville  and 
Chillicothe.  Paint  Creek  with  its  several  forks  drains  the  southwestern  part 
of  the  Scioto  Basin  and  enters  the  Scioto  at  Chillicothe.  As  shown  on  Pis. 
II  and  XIII,  the  courses  of  several  of  its  forks  are  governed  largely  by 
moraines. 

The  Scioto  receives  no  eastern  tributaries  of  importance  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Olentangy  River.  The  northeastern  part  of  the  Scioto  Basin 
is  drained  by  three  south-flowing  streams — Olentangy  River,  Alum  Creek 
and  Walnut  Creek — each  of  which  has  a  drainage  basin  but  5  to  10  miles 
in  width.  With  the  exception  of  the  headwater  portion  of  Walnut  Creek, 
which  is  kept  in  a  southward  course  by  a  moraine,  these  streams  show  little 
regard  for  morainic  ridges.  Their  courses  are  in  the  direction  of  the  most 
rapid  slope  of  the  basin.  The  Olentangy  River,  as  above  noted,  enters  the 
Scioto  at  Columbus,  Alum  Creek  enters  Walnut  Creek  a  short  distance  south 
of  Columbus,  and  the  united  stream  enters  the  Scioto  near  Lockbourne,  a 
few  miles  farther  south.  Just  before  entering  the  Scioto  it  is  joined  by 
Little  Walnut  Creek,  a  stream  which  rises  near  the  Licking  reservoir  and, 
as  above  noted,  follows  nearly  the  line  of  the  old  westward  outlet  of  the 
Muskingum  down  to  the  Scioto. 

The  portion  of  the  Scioto  drainage  basin  just  described  lies  within  the 
limits  of  the  Scioto  glacial  lobe,  which  occupied  the  region  as  late  as  the 
Wisconsin  stage  of  glaciation.  The  valleys  are  nearly  all  postglacial  and 
are  shallow  and  narrow,  the  depth  seldom  reaching  50  feet,  while  the  width 
is  commonly  less  than  one-fourth  of  a  mile.  In  places  the  valleys  extend 
down  through  the  drift  into  the  rock,  notably  along  the  Scioto  above 
Columbus  and  on  the  lower  course  of  Alum  Creek,  but,  as  a  rule,  their 
beds  are  far  above  the  level  of  the  rock  floor.  It  seems  hazardous  at 
present  to  attempt  to  restore  the  old  systems  of  drainage  in  this  northern 
part  of  the  Scioto  drainage  area. 

In  the  area  drained  by  Paint  Creek  it  is  possible  to  trace  preglacial 
valleys  for  some  distance  back  from  the  Scioto.  The  main  creek  from 
Bainbridge  eastward  nearly  to  Chillicothe  occupies  a  preglacial  valley 
about  a  mile  in  width  and  fully  300  feet  in  depth.     Before  joining  the  Scioto, 


SCIOTO  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  177 

however,  it  crosses  a  rock  point  in  the  old  south  bluff,  as  indicated  by 
Orton/  The  old  drainage  system,  of  which  this  valley  is  the  lower  course, 
pi'obably  drained  aii  area  of  several  hundred  square  miles,  but  as  yet  only 
a  few  of  the  old  tributary  lines  have  been  traced. 

It  was  noted  several  years  ago  by  H.  W.  Overman,  county  surveyor 
of  Pike  County,  that  tke  headwater  portion  of  Brush  Creek  above  Fort 
Hill  formerly  discharged  to  the  preglacial  valley  of  Paint  Creek  at  Bain- 
bridge.'  This  interpretation  was  independently  reached  by  the  writer  in 
1889,  and  by  Tight  and  Fowke  a  few  years  later.^  There  is  a  well-defined 
though  partially  filled  valley  connecting  it  at  the  north  with  Paint  Creek, 
while  at  the  south,  near  Fort  Hill,  the  present  stream  is  cutting  a  gorge  across 
a  low  pass  in  the  old  divide. 

The  region  now  drained  by  Rocky  Fork,  a.  branch  of  Paint  Creek, 
appears  to  have  been  drained  by  a  line  farther  north,  whose  valley  is  only 
partially  filled.  A  few  suggestions  of  the  old  courses  of  drainage  were 
obtained  in  northern  Highland  County  and  in  Fayette  County,  but  they 
are  scarcely  complete  enough  to  justify  a  mapping  or  full  interpretation  of 
the  lines  of  discharge. 

THE    LOWER   COURSE. 

The  Scioto  Basin  terminates  on  the  south  at  the  hills  of  Ross  County, 
just  above  Chillicothe.  The  Scioto  there  enters  a  district  in  which  the  hills 
rise  400  to  500  feet  above  the  stream,  and  flows  in  a  valley  but  little  more 
than  a  mile  in  average  width.  The  evidence  that  this  lower  course  of  the 
Scioto  has  now  a  discharge  in  the  reverse  direction  from  that  of  the  old 
system  has  been  so  fully  presented  in  connection  with  the  discussion  of  the 
Ohio  that  only  this  passing  reference  seems  necessary. 

WESTERN    TRIBUTARIES    SOUTH    OF    THE    GLACIAL   BOUNDARY. 

South  of  the  glacial  boundary  the  western  tributaries  of  the  Scioto  are 
all  small,  and  all  are  following  their  old  lines.  The  most  important  one 
is  Scioto-Brush  Creek  which  drains  the  northwestern  jjart  of  Scioto  County 
and  the  eastern  border  of  Adams  County.  Sunfish  Creek  di-ains  much  of 
the  western  half  of  Pike  County,  while  Camp  Creek  and  Bear  Creek  drain 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  II,  1874,  pp.  653-655. 

2  Ohio  Archffiological  and  Historical  Quarterly,  Vol.  I,  1887-1888,  pp.  260-264. 
'Bull.  Denison  Univ.,  Vol.  IX,  Pt.  I,  1895,  pp.  15-34. 

MON   XLI 12 


178  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

each  a  small  strip  between  the  two  tributaries  just  mentioned.  The  lower 
courses  of  these  tributaries  have  been  filled  to  some  extent  with  silt  and 
slack-water  material,  as  a  result  of  the  filling  of  the  Scioto  Valley  with 
glacial  gravel. 

BEAVER    CREEK. 

There  are  two  important  eastern  tributaries  of  the  Scioto  entering 
south  of  the  glacial  boundary,  Beaver  Creek  and  Salt  Creek.  Beaver  Creek 
is  very  small,  but  is  of  importance,  as  it  occupies  tlie  broad  channel  of  the 
old  Kanawha  from  near  Glade  westward  to  the  vicinity  of  Pikeville  (see 
fig.  3,  p.  101).  It  leaves  the  old  valley  near  Pikeville  and  cuts  across  a 
rock  point  on  its  south  border,  passing,  into  the  Scioto  below,  while  the  old 
valley  connects  with  the  Scioto  at  Waverly,  3  miles  above  Pikeville.  The 
silt  filling  in  the  old  valley  has  perhaps  been  sufficient  to  cause  this  deflection 
of  the  present  di'ainage. 

SALT   CREEK. 

Salt  Creek  embraces  a  widely  branching  di'ainage  system,  with  an  area 
of  about  500  square  miles,  which  connects  with  the  Scioto  near  the  glacial 
boundary,  a  short  distance  below  Chillicothe.  There  are  really  three  drain- 
age basins,  which  become  united  at  the  east  border  of  the  Scioto  Valley  and 
have  a  common  line  of  discharge  across  the  Scioto  bottoms  into  the  river. 
These  are  known-  as  North  Fork,  Middle  Fork,  and  South  Fork  of  Salt 
Creek.  North  Fork  drains  the  southwestern  third  of  Hocking  County  and 
adjacent  portions  of  Fairfield,  Pickaway,  Ross,  and  Vinton  counties,  its  line 
of  discharge  being  southeastward  from  Faii-field  County  across  the  eastern 
edge  of  Pickaway  into  Hocking  County,  and  thence  west  of  south  across 
western  Vinton  and  eastern  Ross  County.  Middle  Fork  drains  a  much 
smaller  area,  lying  in  westei'n  Vinton  and  northern  Jackson  counties.  South 
Fork  drains  about  half  of  Jackson  County  northwestward  through  south- 
eastern Ross  County,  and  includes  a  few  square  miles  of  eastern  Pike  County. 

That  the  North  Fork  of  Salt  Creek  has  been  greatly  enlarged  by 
headwater  accessions  is  so  evident  that  several  residents  of  the  region  who 
have  no  knowledge  of  geology  have  made  a  clear  interpretation  of  the 
changes  of  di-ainage.  They  have  noted  a  troughlike  depression  leading-  from 
near  the  head  of  the  North  Fork,  in  Pickaway  County,  westward  up  Plum 
Run,  and  thence  onward  across  a  marshy  divide  to  Scipio  Creek,  and  down 
that  creek  to  the  Scioto.     This  depression  is  a  mile  or  more  in  width,  and 


SALT  CREEK  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  179 

is  filled  for  a  great  depth  with  drift.  They  have  also  correctly  placed  the  old 
divide  at  "the  narrows,"  just  above  the  line  of  Hocking  and  Vinton  counties. 
The  stream  follows  the  broad  valley  southeastward  past  Adelphi  and  Hayues 
to  the  mouth  of  Queer  Creek.  It  there  turns  southward  into  a  much  nar- 
rower valley  which  soon  contracts  to  a  width  but  little  greater  than  the 
stream,  showing  clearly  the  position  of.  the  old  divide.  After  passing  the 
old  divide  the  valley  gradually  widens  as  the  old  southward-flowing  drainage 
is  entered. 

An  oil  boring  recently  made  in  the  middle  of  this  valley  near  the 
mouth  of  Queer  Creek  shows  the  rock  floor  to  be  only  35  feet  below  the 
present  stream.  The  stream  is  estimated  to  be  not  far  from  650  feet  above 
tide  at  that  point,  making  the  rock  floor  fully  600  feet.  This  is  sufficiently 
low  to  fit  in  well  with  the  altitudes  of  the  valley  floors  in  the  midst  of  the 
Scioto  Basin,  which  are  found  to  be  not  far  from  550  feet  above  tide. 

Probably  the  drainage  along  the  line  of  the  old  channel  from  Adelphi  to 
the  Scioto  was  somewhat  different  from  the  present,  for  the  tributary  valleys 
have  usually  been  completely  concealed  by  drift.  Laurel  Creek,  which 
enters  at  Adelphi,  cuts  off  a  rock  point  near  its  mouth.  As  a  result  of  this 
filling  it  enters  the  stream  a  short  distance  east  of  the  old  mouth.  At  this 
place  its  valley  is  narrowed  to  scarcely  one- eighth  the  width  of  the  old 
valley. 

The  portion  of  the  North  Fork  sbuth  of  the  old  divide  lies  outside 
the  glacial  boundary,  and  it  seems  to  have  suffered  no  change  aside  from 
that  of  the  accession  above  described. 

The  Middle  Fork  of  Salt  Creek  hes  outside  the  glacial  boundarj^  and 
apparently  drains  all  of  its  old  drainage  basin.  OiU}^  the  lower  course  was 
examined  by  the  writer,  and  this  has  a  valley  but  60  to  100  rods  wide, 
which  seems  a  natural  width  for  a  drainage  basin  of  this  size. 

The  South  Fork  of  Salt  Creek  has  suffered  some  reduction  in  the  size 
of  its  drainage  basin.  It  formerly  received  the  headwater  portion  of 
Symmes  Creek,  as  indicated  in  the  discussion  of  that  stream.  The  present 
divide  at  Camba  is  in  a  valley  which  opens  northward  and  carries  a  silt  fill- 
ing of  considerable  depth.  This  silt  is  calcareous,  a  feature  which  indicates 
that  it  was  derived  from  the  glacial  waters,  for  this  is  a  sandstone  region. 
The  valley  seems  to  have  been  ponded  with  water  to  such  a  height  that  an 
outlet  was  found  across  a  low  divide  at  its  head.     The  amount  of  glacial 


180  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

water  passing  through  this  valley  was  apparently  very  great,  for  it  left  a 
silt  deposit  nearly  100  feet  in  depth. 

This  stream  has  a  valley  80  to  120  rods  in  width  from  a  point  near  the 
present  divide  at  Camba  northward  to  the  junction  with  Buckeye  Creek,  2 
miles  below  Jackson.  It  there  enters  the  Logan  conglomerate  and  becomes 
narrowed  abruptly  to  a  width  of  less  than  200  yards.  It  continues  narrow 
nearly  to  its  junction  with  Middle  and  North  forks.  This  constriction  does 
not  appear  to  mark  an  old  divide,  but  on  the  contrary  seems  to  be  due 
entirely  to  the  great  resistance  of  the  conglomerate  to  erosion. 

LITTLE   MIAMI    RIVER. 

Little  Miami  River,  which  enters  the  Ohio  just  above  Cincinnati,  as  the 
first  large  northern  tributary  below  the  Scioto,  yet  the  distance  between 
the  mouths  of  the  two  streams  is  more  than  100  miles.  The  source  of  the 
stream  is  a  few  miles  southeast  of  Springfield,  Ohio,  and  the  course  is  west 
of  south  to  the  Ohio.  The  length  of  the  stream  is  about  100  miles  and 
the  drainage  area  probably  1,850  square  miles.  The  East  Fork,  which  is  a 
nearl}^  independent  drainag-e  basin,  rises  in  southeastern  Clinton  County, 
a  few  miles  east  of  Wilmington,  and  enters  the  main  stream  about  10  miles 
above  its  mouth.  Two  other  important  eastern  tributaries  are  Todds  Fork, 
entering  at  Morrow,  and  Csesars  Creek,  entering  near  Waynesville.  There 
are  no  large  western  tributaries. 

RATE    OF   FALL. 

The  source  of  the  main  stream  and  also  that  of  East  Fork  are  at  an 
altitude  of  about  1,150  feet  above  tide,  while  the  mouth  is  less  than  450  feet. 
The  fall  is  therefore  rapid,  that  of  the  main  stream  averaging  about  7  feet 
per  mile,  while  that  of  the  East  Fork  is  fully  twice  as  rapid.  In  the  35 
miles  from  its  source  to  a  point  opposite  Xenia  the  fall  of  the  main  stream 
is  nearly  400  feet,  but  in  the  next  35  miles,  to  Morrow,  it  is  about  130  feet, 
or  only  one-third  as  rapid  as  the  headwater  portion.  In  the  lower  30  miles 
the  fall  is  about  180  feet,  it  being  more  rapid  than  in  the  middle  portion. 

CHANGES    IN    DRAINAGE. 

The  headwater  portions,  both  of  the  main  stream  and  of  its  tributaries, 
flow  in  shallow  valleys  50  to  60  feet  or  less  in  depth,  but  from  a  few  miles 
below  Xenia  to  the  mouth  the  valley  is  200  to  300  feet  or  more  in  depth. 


LITTLE  MIAMI  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  181 

This  deep  portion  apparently  unites  at  least  three  old  valleys  which  formerly 
discharged  westward  into  the  Great  Miami  Basin,  as  indicated  below.  In 
the  headwater  portion  the  streams  are  in  places  entirely  independent  of  the 
old  drainage  lines,  and  there  is  e^^dently  but  little  harmony  between  the 
present  drainage  system  and  the  old  one. 

A  hint  concerning  the  old  discharge  of  a  part  of  the  Little  Miami  Basin 
into  the  Grreat  Miami  is  given  by  Orton  in  his  map  of  Warren  County,  Ohio, 
though  his  description  leaves  the  direction  of  discharge  uncertain.^  A  drift- 
filled  lowland  departs  from  the  Little  Miami  at  Deerfield  (South  Lebanon) 
and  passes  northwestward  to  the  Great  Miami  just  below  Middletown.  It 
appears  to  have  been  a  line  of  discharge  for  the  middle  part  of  the  Little 
Miami  into  the  Great  Miami  drainage  basin.  The  only  element  of  uncer- 
tainty is  the  report  that  wells  in  the  lowland  near  the  present  divide  have 
in  some  instances  entered  rock  at  higher  levels  than  those  in  parts  of  the 
lowland  nearer  Little  Miami  and  Great  Miami  rivers.  These,  however,  do 
not  rule  out  the  presence  of  a  channel  at  a  little  distance  from  the  wells.^ 

In  the  Little  Miami  near  Fort  Ancient,  a  few  miles  above  Deerfield, 
there  is  a  notable  constiiction,  which  was  apparently  the  site  of  an  old 
divide.  Another  divide  was  probably  situated  below  Deerfeld,  near  the 
soiith  line  of  Warren  County.  Between  these  divides  there  appears  to  have 
been  a  drainage  system  which  embraced  most  of  the  area  now  drained  by 
Todds  Fork,  as  well  as  a  small  section  of  the  Little  Miami  which  led  north- 
westward through  the  lowland  above  mentioned  to  the  Great  Miami. 

The  headwater  portion  of  the  Little  Miami,  down  at  least  to  the  vicinity 
of  Xenia,  appears  to  have  connected  with  the  Great  Miami  through  the 
lower  course  of  Mad  River.  There  is  an  open  channel  between  the  two 
rivers  that  is  now  drained  to  the  Little  Miami  by  Beaver  Creek.  This  evi- 
dently was  used  as  a  southward  discharge  for  glacial  waters,  but  it  seems 
probable  that  earlier  it  may  have  constituted  a  line  of  northward  discharge 
from  the  headwater  portion  of  the  Little  Miami  into  Mad  River.  Possibly 
the  course  was  not  coincident  with  the  open  channel,  for  on  the  border  of 
the  channel  there  is  a  morainic  belt  that  greatly  disguises  the  old  features. 
The  East  Fork  is  in  an  old  valley  in  its  lower  course,  but  the  headwater 
portions  are  largely  independent  of  the  old  di-ainage  lines.  It  seems  prob- 
able that  a  part  of  the  region  now  drained  southward  to  the  Ohio  by  Brush 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  1878,  p.  382. 

^Compare  Bownocker:  Ohio  Acad.  Sci.,  Special  Paper  No.  3,  1900,  pp.  32-45. 


182  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Creek  once  discharged  westward  throug-h  the  lower  course  of  the  East  Fork 
of  Little  Miami.  This  may  have  embraced  the  entire  portion  between  the 
old  divide  crossed  b}^  Brush  Creek  near  Fort  Hill  and  another  supposed 
divide  located  b)^  Tight  east  of  West  Union.-'  The  amount  of  drift  is  so 
great  in  the  region  between  Brush  Creek  and  the  East  Fork  that  few  surface 
indications  of  the  courses  of  the  old  drainage  lines  can  be  found. 

GREAT    MIAMI    RIVER. 
THE    PRESENT    SYSTEM. 

The  Great  Miami  is  the  main  drainage  system  of  western  Ohio.  Near 
its  mouth  it  receives  Whitewater  River,  which  drains  an  area  of  about  1 ,500 
square  miles  in  southeastern  Indiana.  The  Whitewater,  however,  is  here 
treated  as  a  separate  system.  Exclusive  of  the  Whitewater,  the  Great  ■ 
Miami  has  a  drainage  area  of  nearh^  4,000  square  miles,  or  about  one-tenth 
of  the  State  of  Ohio.  Its  headwaters  are  in  the  divide  which  separates 
the  Mississippi  from  the  St.  Lawrence  drainage.  It  di-ains  the  greater  part 
of  the  Cincinnati  arch  from  that  divide  south  to  the  Ohio  River. 

The  main  stream  has  its  headwaters  about  1,000  feet  above  tide.  Its 
main  eastern  tributary.  Mad  River,  heads  in  a  more  elevated  tract  in  Logan 
Count}^  whose  highest  points  exceed  1,500  feet.  The  source  of  Mad  River, 
however,  is  in  a  valley-like  depression,  standing  about  1,300  feet  above 
tide,  which  also  constitutes  the  source  of  Rush  Creek,  a  western  tributary  of 
the  Scioto.  Whitewater  River,  the  main  western  tributary,  heads  in  the 
most  elevated  part  of  Indiana,  at  an  altit^^de  of  nearly  1,200  feet. 

The  main  stream  and  its  headwater  tributaries,  as  far  down  as  the 
vicinit}^  of  Dayton,  flow  in  comparatively  shallow  postglacial  valleys, 
with  courses  largely  independent  of  the  old  drainage  lines,  the  amount  of 
drift  being  so  great  as  to  completely  fill  the  old  valleys.  Mad  River,  it  is 
true,  occupies  a  broad  trough-like  valle}^  throughout  much  of  its  course, 
but  on  its  borders  there  are  moraines  which  cause  most  of  the  relief,  the 
immediate  blufFs  being  generally  but  20  to  30  feet  in  height.  Furthermore, 
its  course  seems  to  be  independent  of  the  old  drainage 

Below  Dayton  the  Miami  and  some  of  its  tributaries  occupy  old  val- 
leys which  were  only  partially  filled  with  glacial  deposits.  The  work  of 
the  present  streams  is  mainly  the  reexcavation   of  the  valleys.     In  this 

'  Communicated  to  the  writer. 


GREAT  MIAMI  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  183 

work  they  have  fallen  far  short  of  reaching  the  old  rock  floors,  which  lie 
100  to  200  feet  below  their  beds.  The  depth  of  this  reexcavation  is  but 
50  to  100  feet,  and  the  width  but  a  small  fraction  of  that  of  the  old  valleys, 
seldom  so  much  as  one-fourth  as  great.  The  contrast  between  the  southern 
and  northern  portions  of  this  drainage  basin,  therefore,  is  not  found  in 
the  work  of  the  present  streams,  but  is  due  to  the  less  complete  conceal- 
ment of  the  old  drainage  lines  by  glacial  deposits. 

CHANGES   IN    DRAINAGE. 

J.  A.  Bownocker  has  recently  presented  a  partial  restoration  of  the 
old  drainage  in  the  headwater  portion  of  this  drainage  basin.^  The  course 
of  the  old  drainage  line  has  been  made  known  by  borings  for  oil  and  gas, 
which  are  numerous  in  that  region.  It  is  not  perceptible  on  the  surface 
except  for  a  few  miles  in  eastern  Indiana,  where  a  sag  or  shallow  valley 
marks  its  course.  The  present  systems  of  di-ainage  show  a  nearly  complete 
disregard  of  the  old  drainage  lines.  The  course  of  the  old  line,  as  noted  by 
Bownocker,  is  northwestward  from  near  the  Great  Miami,  in  Shelby  County, 
Ohio,  past  Anna  and  the  Grrand  reservoir,  to  Rockford,  Ohio,  on  the  St.  Marys 
River.  It  there  turns  southwestward,  crosses  the  Wabash  River  at  Geneva, 
Ind.,  and  continues  past  Pennville  into  Blackford  County,  Ind.,  where  the 
tracing  was  discontinued.  The  length  of  the  line  thus  traced  is  about  90 
miles.  This  old  hue  received  a  southern  tributary  at  the  Grand  reservoir, 
with  a  head  probably  near  Xenia,  but  no  other  well-defined  tributary  was 
recognized  between  that  point  and  Blackford  County.  Two  channels  were 
there  found,  one  of  which  leads  northward  and  the  other  westward,  but 
the  data  are  insufficient  to  show  which  was  the  main  channel. 

The  width  of  this  old  valley  appears  to  be  about  1  mile,  with  a  possible 
range  from  three-fourths  of  a  mile  to  1^  miles.  The  filling  of  drift  is  found 
to  range  from  320  feet  up  to  514  feet,  the  variation  being  principally  due 
to  the  different  altitudes  of  the  present  surface.  The  rock  floor  is  not  far 
from  500  feet  above  tide  in  the  eastern  portion,  but  falls  to  scarcely  more 
than  400  feet  in  eastern  Indiana.  It  is  markedly  higher  than  the  Ohio 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami,  whose  rock  floor  is  less  than  400  feet 
above  tide.     The  course   seems   to   show  that  it  was  a  tributary  of   the 


'A  deep  preglacial  channel  in  western  Ohio  and  eastern  Indiana,  by  J.  A.  Bownocker:  Am. 
Geologist,  Vol.  XXIII,  1899,  pp.  178-182.  Also  Ohio  Acad.  Sci.,  Special  Papers  No.  3,  pp.  32-45, 
with  map. 


184  GLACIAL  FOKMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

old  Wabash  system.  The  size  of  the  valley  indicates  that  it  drained  at 
most  only  a  few  counties  of  western  Ohio.  The  old  drainage  of  a  consider- 
able part  of  the  region  now  drained  by  the  Great  Miami  appears  to  ha^'e  been 
independent  of  this  line.  It  is  probable  that  the  old  di-ainage  south  from 
the  latitude  of  Dayton  followed  nearly  the  course  of  the  present  lines  to  the 
Ohio.  As  already  indicated,  the  old  Ohio  was  entered  by  the  Great  Miami 
near  Hamilton.  The  latter  stream  makes  slight  departures  from  the  line  of 
the  old  Ohio  below  Hamilton,  the  old  Ohio  channel  being  in  part  farther 
west  than  the  Great  Miami. 

WHITEWATER   RIVER. 
OUTLINE    OF   THE    PRESENT    SYSTEM. 

Several  streams  which  have  their  sources  in  a  moraine  in  southern 
Eandolph  County,  Ind.,  and  southwestern  Darke  County,  Ohio,  converge 
southward  to  form  the  Whitewater  River.  These  are  known  as  West  Fork, 
Martindale  Fork,  Greens  Fork,  Nolands  Fork,  and  East  Fork.  The  first 
four  become  united  between  Cambridge  and  Connersville  to  form  the  West 
Whitewater;  the  fiftli.  (East  Fork)  unites  with  the  West  Whitewater  at 
Brookville.  The  area  of  the  entire  Whitewater  drainage  basin  is  about 
1,500  square  miles. 

The  headwater  portions  for  1.5  to  20  miles  are  flowing  in  channels  cut 
in  the  drift.  The  East  Fork  then,  near  Richmond,  enters  the  rock,  and  has 
carved  its  course  partly  in  rock  from  that  point  to  Brookville.  The  West 
Fork  encounters  rock  at  only  a  few  points.  Below  Connersville  it  is  in  a 
partially  filled  preglacial  valley,  with  broad  bottom  and  elevated  uplands 
on  either  side. 

The  West  Fork,  with  its  headwaters,  constituted  an  important  line  of 
drainage  for  the  waters  from  the  ice  sheet  at  the  time  the  moraine  above 
referred  to  was  forming,  and  probably  also  at  earlier  stages  in  the  Glacial 
epoch.  It  is  in  consequence  a  gravel-filled  valley,  and  the  work  of  the 
present  stream  has  been  merely  a  removal  of  a  small  portion  of  these  gravel 
deposits.  Above  Cambridge  it  has  cut  scarcely  20  feet  into  these  deposits. 
The  depth  gradually  increases  southward  to  Brookville.  At  Brookville  and 
below  that  citj^  it  has  formed  a  channel  60  to  75  feet  in  depth.  The  surface 
of  the  gravel  deposits  in  the  headwater  portion  above  Cambridge  has  a 
southward  descent  of  nearly  10  feet  per  mile.     From  Cambridge  to  the 


TRIBUTARIES  OF  THE  OHIO  IN  INDIANA.  185 

State  line  at  Harrison,  Ohio,  a  distance  of  scarcely  70  miles,  the  gravel 
deposits  have  a  descent  of  350  feet,  or  fully  5  feet  per  mile.  The  present 
stream,  having  cut  about  50  feet  deeper  into  the  gravel  deposits  at  Harrison 
than  at  Cambridge,  has  a  fall  of  nearly  6  feet  per  mile. 

CHANGES   IN    DRAINAGE. 

Possibly  the  northern  part  of  this  drainage  basin,  like  that  of  the  Great 
Miami,  was  formerly  drained  westward  toward  the  Wabash,  for  channels  of 
great  depth  are  occasionally  encountered  by  oil  and  gas  borings  in  the  dis- 
trict to  the  west.  There  is,  however,  some  doubt  as  to  such  a  drainage 
course,  for  the  size  of  the  lower  end  of  the  Whitewater  Valley  seems  to 
require  a  drainage  area  nearly  as  large  as  the  present,  the  width  of  the 
valley  being  about  a  mile  and  the  depth  500  feet.  Furthermore,  the  large 
valley  occupied  by  the  southern  part  apparently  dramed,  as  now,  to  the 
Ohio.  The  rock  floor  at  Brookville  is  shown  by  gas  borings  to  be  about 
490  feet  above  tide.  At  a  boring  5  miles  below  Brookville  it  is  only  450 
feet;  while  at  the  mouth  of  the  stream,  ]  8  miles  farther  down,  it  is  less  than 
400  feet. 

TRIBUTARIES   OF  THE  OHIO   IN   INDIANA. 

Between  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami  at  the  east  line  and  the  mouth 
of  the  Wabash  at  the  west  line  of  Indiana  there  are  no  large  northern 
tributaries  of  the  Ohio.  This  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  drainage  of  the 
greater  part  of  Indiana  is  toward  the  Wabash,  instead  of  directly  to  the 
Ohio.  A  tributary  of  the  Muscatatuck  heads  within  2  miles  of  the  Ohio 
near  Madison,  Ind ,  and  yet  leads  westward  to  the  East  White  and  thence 
across  the  State  to  the  Wabash.  Nearly  all  of  the  tributaries  in  southern 
Indiana  head  within  the  limits  of  the  counties  that  border  the  river,  and 
consequently  liave  a  length  of  less  than  30  miles.  Only  two.  Blue  River 
and  Laughery  Creek,  have  greater  length. 

In  southwestern  Indiana,  where  the  altitude  is  low,  the  streams  have 
very  little  fall,  and  are  occupying  broad,  shallow  valleys,  which  are  not 
infrequently  filled  to  depths  of  50  feet  or  more  with  marshy  alluvium.  In  the 
more  elevated  tracts,  whose  western  border  is  crossed  by  the  Ohio  between 
Cannelton  and  Rockport,  Ind.,  the  streams  present  valleys  cut  to  a  corre- 
spondingly greater  depth.     Their  bottoms  are  narrow  and  well  drained,  the 


186  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

fall  of  the  streams  being-  adequate  to  give  rapid  escape  for  the  surplus  rainfall. 
The  streams  make  a  descent  of  300  to  500  feet,  in  some  cases,  within  a  dis- 
tance of  10  to  20  miles.  Notwithstanding  this  descent  there  are  very  few 
waterfalls.  The  only  notable  ones  occur  in  southeastern  Indiana,  where 
the  drift  deposits  have  obstructed  the  old  valleys  and  led  to  the  development 
of  new  lines  of  drainage.  In  the  unglaciated  portion  of  southern  Indiana 
there  are  but  few  rock  rapids,  and,  so  far  as  the  writer  is  aware,  no  waterfalls. 
The  gradients  of  streams,  though  steep,  show  a  gradual  lessening  in  rate  of 
descent  in  passing  from  source  to  mouth  and  a  general  disregard  for  hardness 
of  strata,  such  as  results  only  from  maturing  of  a  drainage  system.  The 
rapid  rate  of  descent  is  not  favorable  to  the  development  of  broad  flood 
plains,  yet  there  is  usually  a  flood  plain  having  several  times  the  breadth  of 
the  stream  bed.  In  this  respect  the  tributaries,  as  noted  above,  have  accom- 
plished more  work  in  proportion  to  their  size  than  the  Ohio.  It  is  difficult 
to  realize  that  the  broad  valleys  of  small  streams  in  southwestern  Indiana 
were  begun  at  no  earlier  date  than  the  narrow  valleys  of  the  higher  district, 
yet  such  was  probably  the  case. 

WABASH    RIVER   SYSTEM. 

The  drainage  basin  of  the  Wabash  embraces  an  area  of  about  33,000 
square  miles,  distributed  as  follows:  In  Ohio,  400  square  miles;  in  Indiana, 
24,350  square  miles;  in  Illinois,  8,250  square  miles.  It  drains,  therefore, 
slightly  more  than  two-thirds  of  Indiana,  tlie  area  of  the  State  being  35,910 
square  miles.  Of  the  portion  in  Indiana,  about  one-half  is  embraced  in  the 
drainage  area  of  the  East  White  and  West  White  rivers.  By  including 
these  drainage  areas  with  the  Wabash  the  entire  watershed  has  a  nearly 
symmetrical,  broadly  ovate  form.  Not  including  the  White  River  system, 
the  Wabash  watershed  is  an  unsymmetrical,  elongated  tract,  curving  around 
White  River. 

Only  a  small  part  of  the  Wabash  watershed  lies  outside  the  glacial 
boundary.  The  Wabash  and  West  White  rivers  he  within  that  boundary 
for  their  entire  length.  The  East  White  flows  within  the  glacial  boundary 
to  western  Jackson  County,  but  from  that  point  to  western  Martin  County 
it  is  outside  the  drift.  It  enters  the  drift-covered  district  in  its  lower  course 
near  the  corners  of  Martin,  Davis,  and  Dubois  counties,  and  remains  within 
the  glacial  boundary  from  that  point  to  its  mouth.     The  greater  part  of 


WABASH  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  187 

this  system  being  within  the  Hmits  of  glaciation,  and  in  a  i-eg'ion  where  the 
drift  coating  is  sufficiently  thick  to  conceal  more  or  less  completely  the  pre- 
glacial  valleys,  it  has  been  largely  developed  in  interglacial  and  post- 
glacial time.  The  lower  courses  of  the  Wabash,  West  White,  and  East 
White  are,  however,  following  nearly  the  preglacial  lines. 

WABASH    RIVER. 

The  valley  occupied  by  the  Wabash  River  has  not  had  a  uniform 
development  from  source  to  mouth.  In  its  vipper  part,  from  the  source 
to  Huntington,  Ind.,  the  valley  has  been  formed  chiefly  by  the  present 
stream,  and  is  a  shallow  and  narrow  trench.  At  Huntington  the  river  enters 
the  old  outlet  of  Lake  Maumee,  a  glacial  lake  that  occupied  part  of  the 
basin  of  Lake  Erie.  This  outlet  has  a  valley  several  times  as  large  as  that 
occupied  by  the  Wabash  above  this  point.  It  opened  a  new  or  postglacial 
line  of  drainage  in  its  westward  course  across  Indiana,  except  for  a  few 
miles  in  the  vicinity  of  Lafayette,  where  it  crosses  or  follows  a  preglacial 
valley  for  a  few  miles.  It  has  been  compelled  to  do  coiisiderable  excava- 
tion in  rock  from  Huntington  down  as  far  as  Covington,  and  still  carries 
rapids  at  several  points.  Below  Covington  the  stream  follows  very  neai'ly 
the  line  of  a  partially  filled  preglacial  valley,  and  its  work  has  been  largely 
the  removal  of  a  portion  of  the  giacial  deposits  left  in  that  valley.  It 
makes,,  however,  some  deflections  into  the  edge  of  the  uplands,  cutting  off 
points  of  the  bluff's.  At  such  places  the  channel  is  occasionally  in  process 
of  excavating  rock.  The  cause  for  these  deflections  is  not  in  all  cases  clear, 
but  it  is  probable  that  in  the  majority  of  cases  the  filling  was  such  that  the 
stream  was  free  to  j^ass  across  these  points  and  thus  take  a  more  du-ect 
course  than  that  of  the  old  line  around  them.  In  some  cases  it  is  possible 
that  the  ice  sheet  may  have  had  an  influence  in  guiding  the  stream  across 
projecting  points  beneath  it  or  on  its  border. 

The  length  of  the  valley  occupied  by  the  Wabash  is  about  450  miles; 
but  the  lengtli  of  the  stream  is  much  greater,  for  the  river  in  its  lower 
course  makes  several  oxbow  curves  within  the  valley.  The  source  of  the 
river  is  about  1,000  feet  above  tide,  while  its  mouth  at  low  water  is  but 
311  feet.  The  average  fall,  if  we  estimate  the  stream  to  have  a  length  of 
500  miles,  is  therefore  about  16  J  inches  per  mile.  The  rate  of  descent  is 
far  from  uniform,  being  much  more  rapid  in  the  upper  portion  than  in  the 


188         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

lower.  There  are  also  many  rapids,  separated  by  pools  or  sluggish  portions 
of  the  stream.  The  elevation  of  the  stream  has  been  determined  at  many 
points,  but  in  the  absence  of  a  careful  measurement  of  its  length  the  rate 
of  fall  is  only  approximately  known.  The  portion  of  the  river  above  the 
point  where  it  enters  the  old  lake  outlet,  estimated  to  have  a  length  of  100 
miles,  has  a  fall  of  about  300  feet,  or  3  feet  per  mile.  Railway  levels  and 
canal  surveys  at  the  point  where  the  river  joins  the  old  lake  outlet  show  its 
elevation  to  be  very  nearly  700  feet  above  tide,  the  altitudes  reported 
varying  between  696  and  699  feet.  The  canal  survey  below  Huntington 
shows  a  fall  of  32  feet  to  the  mouth  of  the  Salamonie,  a  distance  of  about 
15  miles,  and  a  fall  of  34  feet  between  the  mouth  of  the  Salamonie  and  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississinawa,  a  distance  of  perhaps  20  miles.  In  the  next 
20  miles,  to  Logansport,  there  is  a  fall  of  50  feet.  From  Logansport  to 
Lafayette,  a  distance  of  about  50  miles,  there  is  a  fall  of  77  feet.  From 
Lafayette  to  Attica,  a  distance  of  25  miles,  the  fall  is  but  19  feet,  and  from 
Attica  to  Covington,  a  distance  of  20  miles,  but  17  feet.  From  Covington 
to  Terre  Haute,  a  distance  of  about  55  miles,  there  is  a  fall  of  only  22 
feet,  this  being  the  lowest  gradient  for  so  long  a  section  found  on  the  river. 
From  Terre  Haute  to  the  mouth  of  White  JRiver  an  accurate  survey  by  the 
United  States  Ai-my  engineers  shows  a  fall  of  71.18  feet  in  a  distance  of 
122.55  miles,  or  about  8  inches  per  mile.  In  this  distance  there  are  13 
riffles,  each  but  a  fraction  of  a  mile  in  length,  which  have  a  combined  fall 
of  17.86  feet.  These  reduce  the  fall  of  the  120  miles  not  embraced  in  the 
riffles  to  53.32  feet,  or  5.33  inches  per  raile.  The  greatest  fall  at  a  riffle  in 
this  section  of  the  Wabash  is  at  Grand  Rapids,  just  above  the  mouth  of 
White  River,  where  it  amounts  to  4.5  feet.'  The  fall  from  the  mouth  of 
the  White  is  65  feet  in  a  distance  of  perhaps  90  miles  by  the  windings 
of  the  stream. 

'  Thirteenth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Surv.  Indiana,  1883,  pp.  69,  70. 


WABASH  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM. 


189 


The  following  table   includes  the  data  upon  which  the  above  statements 
are  made: 

Table  of  altitudes  and  distances  along  Wabash  River. 


Source  

Huntington 

Mouth  of  Salamonie  River. . . 
Mouth  of  Miasissinawa  River 

Logansport 

Lafayette ^ 

Attica 

Covington 

Terre  Haute 

State  line 

Hutsonville,  111 

Vincennes - 

Mouth  of  White  River 

Gray ville,  111 ■ 

Mouth  of  Little  Wabash 

Mouth  of  river 


Miles. 
0. 
100. 
15. 
20. 
20. 
50. 
25. 
20. 
55. 
14. 
29. 
46. 
32. 
28. 
46. 
16. 


Altitude 
(above  tide). 


1. 000.  0 
699.0 
667.0 
633.0 
583. 0 
506.0 
487.0 
470.0 
447.7 
440.6 
424.6 
398. » 
376. 5 
365.0 
323.0 

sn.o 


Inches. 

0.00 

36.00 

25.56 

20.40 

30.00 

18.48 

9.12 

10.20 

4.80 

5.80 

6.60 

6.60 

8.30 

5.00 

11.00 

9.00 


SALAMONIE    RIVER. 


Salamonie  River  enters  the  Wabash  from  the  southeast  a  few  miles 
above  the  city  of  Wabash.  It  has  a  length  of  about  75  miles.  Its  source  is 
on  the  northern  slope  of  the  elevated  limestone  district  of  eastern  Indiana, 
at  an  altitude  of  about  1,000  feet  above  tide.  Throughout  the  greater  part 
of  its  course  the  river  follows  a  plain  on  the  south  border  of  the  Salamonie 
moraine.  Its  descent  is  measured  by  the  descent  of  the  plain,  except  in 
the  lower  40  miles,  where  it  has  deepened  its  channel  to  enter  the  old  lake 
outlet.  Sufficient  time  has  not  elapsed  since  the  river  began  flowing  for  it 
to  form  a  regular  gradient.  It  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  developed  a 
valley  except  in  the  lower  40  miles,  the  bed  of  the  stream  in  its  upper 
course  being  seldom  more  than  20  to  25  feet  below  the  bordering  plain. 
The  descent  from  Portland  to  Montpelier  is  less  than  3  feet  per  mile,  but 
in  the  40  miles  from  Montpelier  to  the  mouth  the  average  descent  is  about 
4  feet  per  mile. 


190 


GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


MISSISSINAWA    RIVER. 


Mississinawa  River,  a  southeastern  tributary  entering  the  Wabash 
near  Peru,  has  a  length  of  about  100  miles.  Its  source  is  in  western  Ohio, 
10  or  12  miles  beyond  the  State  line,  on  the  north  slope  of  the  elevated 
limestone  district  which  occupies  eastern  Indiana  and  western  Ohio.  At  its 
source  the  altitude  is  probably  1,100  feet  above  tide.  In  the  25  miles  from 
its  source  to  Ridge ville,  Ind.,  the  stream  has  a  fall  of  about  5.5  feet  per  mile, 
descending  with  the  plain  which  it  follows  on  the  south  border  of  the 
Mississinawa  moraine,  and  cutting  but  15  to  30  feet  into  the  plain.  From 
Ridgeville  to  Marion,  a  distance  of  50  miles,  the  rate  of  fall  is  but  little 
more  than  3  feet  per  mile.  The  stream  in  this  distance  has  deepened  its 
channel  slightly,  but  at  Marion  is  scarcely  50  feet  below  the  bordering 
plain.  Most  of  the  work  accomplished  by  the  stream  is  in  the  section 
between  Marion  and  the  mouth,  a  distance  of  only  30  miles.  Its  fall  in  this 
section  is  about  5.5  feet  per  mile,  or  fully  as  great  as  in  the  headwaters. 
The  depth  of  the  channel  increases  fl-om  about  50  feet  at  Marion  to  fully 
100  feet  in  the  vicinity  of  its  mouth.  It  is  excavated  mainly  in  drift,  but  at 
some  points  has  extended  a  few  feet  into  the  underlying  rock  strata. 


EEL    RIVER. 


Eel  River,  a  northeastern  tributary  of  the  Wabash,  entering  at  Logans- 
port,  has  a  length  of  about  85  miles.  Its  source  is  on  the  inner  border  of 
the  great  Erie-Saginaw  interlobate  moraine,  a  few  miles  north  of  Fort 
Wayne,  at  an  elevation  of  about  850  feet  above  tide.  The  average  fall  of 
the  stream  is  very  nearly  3  feet  per  mile,  the  elevation  of  the  mouth  being 
543  feet.  The  following  table  of'  distances  and  elevations  is  based  upon 
Williams's    list    of   altitudes,    given    in   the  Tenth    report   of  the    Indiana 

geological  survey: 

Altitudes  along  Eel  River. 


Altitude 
(above  tide). 


Source,  about 

Columbia  City 

Collamar 

Liberty  Mills 

North  Manchester 

Eel  River  railroad  bridge,  in  Miami  County . 
Mouth,  at  Logansport 


Mites. 
85 
70 
58 
50 
45 
30 
0 


850 
816 


750 
721 


WABASH  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  191 

The  headwater  portion  of  this  stream,  hke  that  of  the  Mississinawa 
and  Salamonie,  has  a  poorly  developed  channel  and  a  sluggish  current.  It 
is  only  in  the  lower  25  or  30  miles  that  erosion  of  any  consequence  has 
occurred.     Even  here  the  valley  scai-fcely  exceeds  50  feet  in  depth. 

TIPPECANOE    KIVER. 

Tippecanoe  River  is  the  main  northern  tributary  of  the  Wabash  within 
the  State  of  Indiana.  It  has  a  length  of  about  125  miles,  and  drains  a  belt 
averaging  perhaps  20  miles  in  width.  Its  source  is  in  the  midst  of  the 
great  interlobate  moraine  of  northeastern  Indiana,  at  an  elevation  of  nearly 
1,000  feet  above  tide.  It  descends  the  northwest  face  of  the  moraine  from 
southwestern  Noble  County  into  Kosciusko  County,  reaching  a  level  800 
feet  above  tide  north  of  Warsaw.  It  follows  the  north  border  of  the 
moraine  a  few  miles  southwestward,  to  the  point  where  the  Saginaw  and 
Erie  moraines  become  differentiated.  It  then  passes  through  a  gap  in  the 
Saginaw  moraine  and  enters  a  sandy  plain  formerly  occupied  by  the  waters 
of  ''old  Lake  Kankakee."  After  traversing  this  plain  for  about  60  miles, 
it  leaves  the  old  lake  area  near  Monticello  and  passes  through  an  Erie 
moraine  which  follows  the  northwest  border  of  the  Wabash  River,  and 
enters  the  Wabash  from  a  narrow  plain  on  the  inner  slope  of  this  moraine. 
Although  bordered  in  places  by  elevated  knolls  and  ridges  in  the 
upper  portion  of  its  course,  it  has  no  well-defined  valley,  nor  has  it  exca- 
vated a  valley  of  much  depth  in  the  old  lake  bottom.  The  main  excavation 
occurs  in  the  lower  30  miles  of  its  course,  and  even  here  its  channel  is  nar- 
row and  scarcely  reaches  100  feet  in  depth.  In  this  lower  portion  the  rate 
of  fall  is  about  3  feet  per  mile.  The  fall  is  less  in  the  section  traversing 
the  old  lake  bottom,  being  about  150  feet  between  Rochester  and  Monti- 
cello,  a  distance  of  60  miles.  The  great  fall  of  the  upper  portion  is  chiefly 
made  in  short  sections,  connecting  marshes  whose  levels  become  successively 
lower  in  passing  down  the  slope  of  the  moraine. 

WEST   WHITE    RIVER. 

The  chief  tributary  of  the  Wabash  is  West  White  River,  which  enters 
it  from  the  east  at  a  point  about  90  miles  from  the  mouth.  If  we  include 
with  the  West  White  its  entire  system,  of  drainage,  it  will  embrace  about 
one-third  of  the  State  of  Indiana,  or  an  area  about  as  great  as  that  drained 
by  the  Wabash  and  its  other  tributaries  within  that  State.      The  West 


192  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

White  proper,  however,  drains  only  ahout  one-sixth  of  the  State,  the  drain- 
age basin  of  the  P^ast  Wliite,  its  principal  tributary,  being-  nearly  as  great 
as  that  of  the  main  river. 

The  source  of  the  West  White  is  in  Randolpli  County,  near  the  east 
line  of  the  State.  The  course  of  the  stream  is  westward  to  Hamilton 
County,  a  distance  of  nearly  76  miles,  where  it  turns  abruptly  southward 
and  leads  in  a  course  somewhat  west  of  south  to  the  Wabash  River. 

The  length  of  the  valley  of  this  stream  is  about  "275  miles,  but  this 
does  not  represent  the  length  of  the  stream,  for  in  its  lower  part  it  winds 
greatly  within  its  valley,  adding  perhaps  another  hundred  miles  to  its 
length.  The  estimates  given  below  are,  however,  based  upon  the  length 
of  the  valley  rather  than  that  of  the  stream.  They  indicate  the  condition 
when  the  river  is  out  of  bank,  as  is  occasionally  the  case  in  high-water 
stages. 

At  its  source  the  stream  has  an  elevation  of  not  less  than  1,175  feet, 
while  at  its  mouth  the  elevation  is  but  375  feet  above  tide.  It  has,  there- 
fore, an  average  fall  of  nearly  3  feet  per  mile,  or  more  than  double  the 
average  fall  of  the  Wabash  River.  In  its  upper  15  miles  the  fall  is 
estimated  to  be  about  8  feet  per  mile;  in  the  next  25  miles,  about  6  feet 
per  mile,  and  in  the  succeeding  20  miles,  about  5  feet  per  mile,  making  a 
fall  of  375  feet  in  a  distance  of  60  miles,  or  to  a  point  near  the  city  of 
Anderson.  Below  Anderson  the  fall  for  the  50  miles  to  Indianapolis  is 
nearly  2^  feet  per  mile.  Below  Indianapolis  for  about  30  miles  the  fall 
exceeds  3  feet  per  mile.  In  the  remaining  130  miles  of  its  course  there  is 
a  fall  of  but  1 85  feet,  or  slightly  less  than  1  ^  feet  per  mile. 

Aside  from  its  inain  tributary,  East  White  River,  there  are  but  two 
tributaries  of  White  River  which  exceed  50  miles  in  length,  namely,  Fall 
Creek,  an  eastern  tributary  entering  just  above  Indianapolis,  and  Eel  River, 
a  western  tributary  entering  at  WorthingtoUj  in  northei'n  Greene  County.^ 
Fall  Creek  has  an  elevation  at  its  source  of  at  least  1,000  feet  and  at  its 
mouth  of  about  700  feet.  Full}^  half  of  the  300  feet  of  descent  is  made 
in  the  upper  20  miles,  leaving  a  fall  of  150  feet  for  the  lower  40  miles.  It 
derives  its  name  from  a  cascade  about  10  feet  in  height  in  the  sandstone  at 
Pendleton.     Eel  River  has  a  length  of  nearly  100  miles.     Its  east  fork, 

'  This  river  should  be  distinguished  from  a  stream  of  tlie  same  name  entering  the  Wabasii  at 
Logansport. 


WABASH  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  '  193 

known  as  Mill  Creek,  is  about  40  miles  in  length,  and  its  west  fork,  known 
as  Walnut  Creek,  full}^  50  miles.  Below  the  junction  of  these  forks  the 
stream  has  a  length  of  about  45  miles,  if  the  minor  windings  of  the  channel 
are  disregarded. 

EAST    WHITE    RIVEK. 

This  large  tributary  enters  the  West  or  main  White  River  about  40 
miles  above  its  mouth.  It  drains  the  district  immediately  east  of  that 
drained  by  the  main  river  and  has  an  area  nearly  as  great,  there  being 
about  one-sixth  of  the  State  of  Indiana  tributary  to  it. 

The  headwater  portion  above  Columbus,  Ind.,  is  usually  known  by 
the  name  of  Blue  River,  the  name  East  White  being  applied  to  the  stream 
below  its  junction  with  Flat  Rock  Creek  at  that  city.  The  name  Di'iftwood 
is  also  applied  to  the  lower  portion  of  the  river.  Inasmuch  as  there  is 
another  stream  within  the  State  called  Blue  River,  it  is  unfortunate  that  this 
name  is  applied  to  the  headwater  portion  of  East  White  River. 

The  upper  half  of  the  di-ainage  basin  of  East  White  River  lies  within 
the  glaciated  districts  of  eastern  and  southeastern  Indiana.  The  streams 
find  their  sources  in  the  elevated  Upper  Silurian  limestone  belt,  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  State,  and  descend  rapidly  westward  to  the  Devonian 
shale  area.  The  main  stream  leads  through  the  western  part  of  the  drainage 
basin,  and  hence  receives  nearly  all  its  tributaries  from  the  east.  The 
drainage  system  is,  therefore,  very  unsymmetrical. 

Although  these  headwater  tributaries  make  a  great  descent  in  passing 
down  to  the  basin' of  Devonian  shale,  they  have  carved  very  insignificant 
channels.  The  valleys  are  usually  so  shallow  that  their  bridges  may  be 
seen  for  miles  back  from  the  borders  of  the  streams.  A  portion  of  the 
Muscatatuck  drainage  system  is,  however,  characterized  by  deeper  channels, 
a  feature  which  is  probably  attributable  to  the  greater  age  of  that  system. 
It  lies  outside  the  limits  of  the  newer,  or  Wisconsin,  drift,  while  the  principal 
tributaries  of  the  East  White  farther  north  flow  throughout  most  of  their 
course  within  the  limits  of  the  newer  drift  sheet. 

The  northern  tributaries,  Blue  River  and  Flat  Rock  Creek,  have  their 
sources  in  northeastern  Henry  County  at  an  elevation  of  about  1,100  feet 
above  tide.  They  make  a  descent  of  about  500  feet  in  the  100  miles  from 
their  source  to  the  junction  at  Columbus,  or  an  average  fall  of  about  5  feet 
per  mile.     In  the  lower  35  miles  of  its  course,  from  Shelbyville  to  Columbus, 

MON    XLI 13 


194  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Blue  River  lias  a  fall  of  about  4J  feet  per  mile,  nearly  as  great  as  the 
fall  of  the  headwater  portion  above  Shelbyville.  From  Columbus  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Muscatatuck,  a  distance  of  55  miles,  the  average  fall  is  very 
nearly  20  inches  per  mile.  In  the  remaining  125  miles,  where  the  stream 
is  tlowing  in  a  preglacial  valley,  the  fall  is  about  10  inches  per  mile. 
In  this  portion  there  are,  however,  occasional  riffles  and  rapids  in  which 
a  descent  of  several  feet  is  made  within  a  mile.  The  most  conspicuous  of 
these  rapids  is  at  Hindostan,  where  a  fall  of  about  6  feet  occurs.  At  this 
point  the  stream  has  cut  off  an  old  oxbow  and  is  excavating  the  rock  in  the 
ridge  encircled  by  the  oxbow. 

The  Muscatatuck  River  in  its  lower  25  miles  has  very  little  fall  com- 
pared with  the  neighboring  portion  of  East  White  River.  At  the  railway 
crossing  south  of  Seymour  the  bed  of  the  Muscatatuck  is  40  feet  lower 
than  at  the  crossing  on  the  East  White  immediately  north  of  Seymour. 
The  difference  in  gradient  is  due  to  a  filling  of  the  East  White  Valley  by 
deposits  of  gravel  at  the  Wisconsin  ice  invasion.  As  the  Muscatatuck 
drainage  system  lies  outside  the  limits  of  this  later  ice  invasion  or  the  reach 
of  its  waters,  its  valley  remains  unfilled.  The  fall  on  the  lower  25  miles 
of  the  Muscatatuck  is  apparently  not  more  than  10  feet,  while  on  East 
White  River,  in  the  25  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Muscatatuck,  there 
is  a  fall  of  about  50  feet. 

The  portion  of  the  East  White  River  Valley  lying  within  the  ungda- 
ciated  districts  of  southern  Indiana  is  cut  to  a  comparatively  low  gradient, 
notwithstanding  the  hardness  of  the  rock  formations  tlu'oug-h  which  its 
course  is  channeled.  The  valley  at  present  is  silted  up  to  a  height  of  per- 
haps 100  feet  above  the  rock  floor.  The  bluffs  rise  200  to  300  feet  or 
more  above  the  present  valley  bottom,  thus  gi^dng  the  preglacial  valley  a 
depth  of  300  to  400  feet.  If  we  consider  this  great  depth  and  the  hardness 
of  the  formation,  the  width  of  the  valley,  which  is  seldom  less  than  one- 
third  mile  and  probably  averages  more  than  one-half  mile,  is  not  surpris- 
ingly small.  The  valley  of  this  stream,  like  that  of  the  Ohio  in  the 
corresponding  section,  presents  a  series  of  oxbow  curves,  with  very  little 
straight  channeling. 

Within  this  unglaciated  portion  the  East  White  receives  one  important 
northern  tributary.  Salt  Creek.  This  stream  has  a  length  of  about  60  miles 
from  its  headwaters,  in  Brown  County,  to  its  mouth,  near  Bedford,  in  Law- 


WABASH  DRAINAGE  SYSTEM.  195 

rence  County.  It  drains  the  greater  part  of  the  elevated  district  in  Brown, 
Jackson,  Monroe,  and  Lawrence  counties.  In  its  headwater  portions,  in 
Brown  County,  the  valleys  are  cut  to  a  depth  of  300  and  in  places  500 
feet  below  the  level  of  the  neighboring  hills,  and  a  dendritic  system 
of  di-ainage  has  been  developed,  which  is  strikingly  in  contrast  with  the 
irregular  and  unsymmetrical  drainage  systems  of  the  streams  within  the 
drift-covered  regions  to  the  north  and  east.  At  its  headwaters  the  valleys 
have  been  filled  to  a  marked  degree  by  deposits  of  sand  and  gravel  made 
by  streams  issuing  from  the  edge  of  the  ice,  which  for  a  time  overhung 
the  northern  portion  of  Brown  County.  The  valley  is  apparently  filled  to 
nearly  as  great  an  extent  as  the  portion  of  the  East  White  with  which  it 
connects.  Its  rate  of  fall  is  more  rapid  than  that  of  the  East  White,  but 
is  less  rapid  than  that  of  some  of  the  large  streams  of  the  glaciated  district. 
The  fall  of  the  North  Fork  from  Nashville,  a  few  miles  from  its  source,  to 
the  mouth  of  the  stream  is  only  about  150  feet,  or  scarcely  more  than  3 
feet  per  mile. 

Lost  River,  a  tributary  entering  East  White  River  from  the  east  in 
southern  Martin  Cotmty,  has  a  length  of  about  50  miles.  This  stream 
receives  its  name  from  the  fact  that  it  flows  for  a  few  miles  in  a  subterra- 
nean passage  in  the  St.  Louis  limestone.  In  times  of  freshet  the  stream 
can  not  be  entirely  absorbed  by  the  subterranean  channel,  and  it  then  flows 
on  the  surface  in  its  former  bed,  which  is  now  covered  with  a  heavy  forest. 

PATOKA    ErVEH. 

Patoka  River,  a  distinct  tributary  of  the  Wabash,  drains  a  narrow 
belt  along  the  south  border  of  the  drainage  basin  of  East  White  River. 
The  stream  has  a  length  of  over  100  miles,  but  its  drainage  basin  nowhere 
exceeds  20  miles  in  width.  Its  source  is  in  the  hills  of  the  Chester  or  Kas- 
kaskia  sandstone,  in  southern  Orange  County,  at  an  altitude  of  about  800 
feet.  Its  mouth  is  just  below  that  of  White  River,  at  an  elevation  of  375 
feet  above  tide.  This  drainage  system  is  made  up  of  three  small  drainage 
systems,  which  were  formerly  distinct  and  discharged  northwestward  into 
the  White  and  East  White  rivers.  The  upper  system  embraced  the  por- 
tion above  Jasper,  Ind.,  the  old  divide  being  at  the  northeast  border  of 
that  village.  The  middle  system  embraced  the  portion  between  Jasper  and 
Velpen,  Ind.,  and  the  lower  the  part  from  Velpen  down  to  the  vicinity  of 
Princeton.     The  old  drainageway  there  turned  north  to  White  River,  near 


196         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Hazelton,  but  the  present  stream  continues  westward  across  a  rock  point 
into  the  Wabash  Valley.  A  map  showing  the  changes  which  this  di-ainage 
system  has  experienced,  and  also  changes  in  smaller  ti'ibutaries  of  the 
Wabash  in  southwestern  Indiana,  appears  in  the  monograph  on  the  Illinois 
Glacial  Lobe.^     The  changes  are  there  discussed  in  considerable  detail. 

WESTERN    TRIBUTARIES    OF   THE    WABASH    IN   ILLINOIS. 

The  western  tributaries  of  the  Wabash  are  all  comparatively  small. 
Those  whose  courses  lie  within  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin  di-ift  are  not  gov- 
erned by  the  preglacial  drainage,  for  the  dritt  has  filled  the  region  to  a 
higher  level  than  the  old  divides.  But  south  from  the  border  of  the  Wis- 
consin drift  the  courses  of  streams  are  governed  to  a  large  extent  by  the 
preglacial  drainage  lines.  The  few  changes  or  departures  from  the  old 
drainage  are  discussed  in  Monog'raph  XXXVIII,  as  are  also  the  influence 
of  morainic  ridges  of  Wisconsin  age  upon  the  course  of  the  streams. 

CAUSES   FOR  CHANGES   IN   DRAINAGE. 

Of  the  several  factors  which  are  influential  in  causing  changes  of 
drainage,  glaciation  is  known  to  have  been  widely  operative  in  this  region. 
Piracy  seems  to  have  been  operative,  at  least  to  a  limited  extent,  and  possibly 
lias  had  wide  influence.  In  addition  to  these  the  influence  of  uplift  or  earth 
movements  should  perhaps  be  considered. 

GLACIATION. 

With  the  extension  of  the  earliest  glaciation  into  the  lower  courses  of 
a  northward-flowing  stream  there  would  have  been  a  ponding  of  water  in 
front  of  the  ice  field.  This  ponding'  would  eventually  reach  a  height  at 
which  discharge  could  take  place  over  the  rim  of  the  drainage  basin,  and  a 
new  system  of  drainage  would  be  inaugurated.  With  the  advance  of  the  ice 
field  many  streams  would  be  thus  afi'ected,  and  in  some  cases  the  influence 
of  the  ponding  might  be  felt  at  points  many  miles  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
ice  field.  In  the  region  under  consideration  streams  which  had  been  flow- 
ing from  the  Appalachian  region  northward  into  the  basins  now  occupied 
by  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario  are  likely  to  have  ex^jerienced  ponding  in  their 
lower  courses  before  the  ice  field  had  encroached  greatly  on  the  basins  of 

I  Mon.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  Vol.  XXXVIII,  PI.  VIII. 


CAUSES  OF  CHANGES  IN  DRAINAGE.  197 

these  lakes.  This  would  perhaps  at  first  result  in  lakes  that  drained  south- 
westward  throug'h  the  Maumee  Basin  to  the  Wabash.  But  with  the  advance 
of  the  ice  field  the  lake  basins  would  become  filled,  and  ponding  would 
extend  southward  toward  the  present  Ohio.  New  lines  of  discharge  would 
then  be  opened.  This  process  of  shifting  to  new  lines  might  continue  in 
parts  of  the  region  down  to  the  culmination  of  the  glaciation,  but  in  other 
parts  the  final  shifting  may  have  taken  place  long  before  the  ice  field 
reached  its  extreme  limits.  A  stream  which  suff'ered  a  late  diversion  should 
accomplish  correspondingly  less  work  than  one  that  suffered  an  older  diver- 
sion, so  that  by  the  amount  of  work  the  relative  dates  of  diversion  may  be 
estimated. 

The  effect  of  glaciation  in  diverting  streams  would  in  some  cases  be 
restricted  to  the  time  when  the  ice  field  was  present,  there  being  a  return 
to  earlier  courses  upon  the  withdrawal  of  the  ice.  But  in  other  cases  the 
first  ice  invasion  produced  a  permanent  diversion  of  drainage.  In  each 
succeeding  stage  of  glaciation  the  streams  would  be  subject  to  disturbances 
similar  to  those  produced  by  the  earliest  glaciation.  This  field  is  liable, 
therefore,  to  contain  examples  of  diversion  of  various  dates,  from  the  first 
obstruction  of  the  northward  drainage  by  the  encroachment  of  the  ice  field 
on  the  basins  of  the  lower  Great  Lakes  down  to  the  close  of  the  last  glacial 
stage  and  the  final  disappearance  of  the  ice  from  these  basins.  Instances  of 
diversion  and  of  control  by  glaciation  or  glacial  features,  illustrating  the 
wide  differences  in  date,  will  appear  in  the  course  of  the  discussion  of  the 
glacial  features. 

Turning  to  the  Ohio,  it  will  be  found  that  the  old  Upper  Ohio  or 
Monongahela  system  was  diverted  to  the  present  course  at  a  date  at  least 
as  early  as  the  culmination  of  the  earliest  glaciation  in  the  Upper  Ohio 
region,  a  glaciation  that  was  probably  Kansan  if  not  pre-Kansan.  While 
a  part  of  the  change  (in  the  portion  between  New  Martinsville  and  Mounds- 
ville,  W.  Va.)  appears  to  have  been  produced  through  piracy  at  an  earlier 
date  than  the  first  glaciation,  there  seem  to  be  no  grounds  for  inferring  that 
the  great  diversion  of  the  old  Monongahela  from  the  northward  to  the 
southwestward  line  of  discharge  took  place  through  piracy.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  slope  of  the  old  gradation  plain  toward  the  Lake  Erie  Basin  is  so 
great  that  it  seems  scarcely  possible  for  it  to  have  been  disturbed  thi'ough 
piracy  by  the  southwest  system  of  drainage.     It  may  be  suggested  that  a 


198  GLACIAL  FOEMATIONS  OF  EKIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

difference  in  the  relative  elevation  of  the  Lake  Erie  Basin  and  the  Ohio 
Basin  has  been  produced,  by  which  the  slopes  toward  the  Erie  Basin  have 
been  greatly  increased;  but  of  this  there  is  no  specific  evidence  so  far  as 
the  writer  is  aware.  The  available  evidence  seems  to  support  the  view 
that  this  diversion  of  the  old  Monongahela  system  to  the  Middle  Ohio 
system  took  place  as  a  result  of  the  first  glaciation,  though  it  may  have  been 
brought  about  some  time  before  the  ice  sheet  had  reached  its  farthest  limits. 
This  diversion  seems  to  have  been  a  permanent  one;  at  least  no  evidence 
of  a  return  to  the  Erie  Basin  after  the  earliest  glaciation  has  been  noted. 

This  earliest  glaciation  appears  also  to  have  thrown  the  several  pre- 
glacial  components  of  the  Allegheny  into  their  present  course,  and  so  far  as 
evidence  is  forthcoming  the  diversions  were  permanent  ones. 

The  diversion  of  the  Middle  Ohio  or  old  Kanawha  system  into  the 
Lower  Ohio  can  not  be  referred  so  confidently  to  glaciation  as  the  diver- 
sions just  mentioned,  nor  is  the  available  evidence  such  that  any  other 
factors  can  be  cited  to  have  caused  the  diversion.  Further  attention  is 
given  this  matter  under  the  subjects  of  "Piracy"  and  "Earth  movements." 

The  diversions  near  Cincinnati  are  probably  in  large  part  due  to  gla- 
ciation. It  is,  however,  possible  that  the  diversion  past  the  south  side  of 
the  Walnut  Hills  resulted  from  stream  piracy  prior  to  the  earliest  glaciation 
of  the  region.  Whether  the  diversion  from  the  old  channel  past  Hamilton 
to  the  present  direct  channel  from  Cincinnati  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  took 
place  as  late  as  the  Illiuoian  stage  of  glaciation  or  at  an  earlier  stage  has 
not  been  determined. 

The  changes  along  the  old  Kanawha  system  by  which  Teays  Valley 
and  the  valley  south  of  Ashland,  Ky.,  became  abandoned  are  perhaps 
indirectly  due  to  glaciation.  The  ponding  of  waters  probably  extended 
into  these  valleys  at  each  glacial  stage  down  to  the  lowan.  The  amount 
of  erosion  accomplished  after  the  diversions  took  place  is,  however,  so  great 
that  the  diversions  seem  likely  to  have  occurred  as  early  as  the  earliest  stage 
of  glaciation. 

PIEACr. 

Where  one  drainage  system  has  an  advantage  over  an  adjoining  one, 
shiftings  of  the  divides  and  even  important  changes  in  drainage  courses  may 
result.  It  is  probable  that  such  shiftings  and  changes  have  been  common 
in  eai'ly  stages  of  development  of  drainage  systems.  They  appear  also  to 
have  taken  place  to  some  extent  in  drainage  systems  that  are  somewhat 


CAUSES  OF  CHANGES  IN  DRAINAGE.  199 

mature.  In  the  discussion  of  features  on  the  portion  of  the  Ohio  between 
Moundsville  and  New  Martinsville  attention  was  called  to  evidence  that  the 
divide  had  shifted  toward  Moundsville  because  of  an  advantage  held  by  a 
drainage  line  that  led  southwestward  from  New  Martinsville  over  one  that 
led  northward.  It  is  probable  also  that  the  channel  which  connects  Big 
Bone  and  Eagle  creeks  with  the  Ohio  near  Warsaw,  Ky.,  became  abandoned 
through  piracy,  though  the  precise  mode  of  capture  is  not  yet  understood. 
/  The  changes  in  drainage  just  mentioned  are  of  minor  consequence 
compared  with  changes  which  were  effected  by  glaciation;  but  there  is  a 
chance  that  piracy  will  prove  to  have  been  influential  in  causing  changes 
of  great  consequence  in  this  region.  The  diversion  of  the  Middle  Ohio  or 
old  Kanawha  system  into  the  Lower  Ohio  system  seems  so  remote  an  event, 
if  we  may  judge  by  the  work  accomplished  since  it  took  its  present  course, 
that  one  hesitates  to  refer  it  even  to  the  earliest  of  the  several  stages  of 
glaciation.  But  the  difficulties  of  accomplishing  this  diversion  by  piracy 
a]-e  perhaps  not  less  than  in  extending  the  glaciation  far  enough  back  to 
give  time  for  the  work  to  be  done.  In  discussing  this  matter,  Chamberlin 
writes:  "It  would  seem  to  be  a  rather  extraordinary  feat  of  pu-acy  that  a 
river  should  be  able  to  eat  its  course  back  across  the  Cincinnati  arch  and 
drain  country  in  a  synclinal  beyond,  when  there  were  courses  of  drainage 
which  essentially  avoided  the  arch."  The  applicability  of  piracy  to  this 
and  also  to  other  places  in  the  Ohio  drainage  system  can  hardly  be  decided 
in  the  present  stage  of  investigation. 

EARTH    MOVEMENTS. 

Earth  movement  or  crust  warping  may  prove  to  have  had  influence  in 
causing  diversions  in  the  old  systems  of  drainage  either  by  itself  or  in  com- 
bination with  stream  piracy.  As  already  suggested,  it  may  have  been 
through  these  agencies  that  the  old  Kanawha  was  diverted  from  the  Scioto 
Basin  to  the  Lower  Ohio  prior  to  the  earliest  glaciation.  But  it  is  perhaps 
idle  to  speculate  on  this  question,  since  the  date  of  the  flexure  at  the  north 
end  of  the  Scioto  Basin  is  unknown  and  various  other  conditions  are  uncer- 
tain. Not  only  here,  but  elsewhere  in  the  region  under  discussion,  the 
influence  of  earth  movements  upon  drainage  embraces  a  broad  range  of 
problems  which  can  scarcely  be  dealt  with  at  present.  The  possible  varia- 
tions in  influence  are  forcibly  illustrated  in  districts  adjoining  the  one  under 
discussion,  and  with  these  illustrations  the  writer  will  leave  this  question. 


200  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Recent  investigations  by  Grilbert,  Spencer,  Taylor,  and  others  have 
brought  to  light  evidence  that  earth  movements  have  produced  marked 
changes  in  the  di-ainage  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  their  expanded  prede- 
cessors. Because  of  northward  differential  uplift  the  drainage  of  the  tliree 
upper  lakes  (Superior,  Michigan,  and  Huron)  has  been  thrown  into  a  course 
farther  south  than  it  formerly  took,  the  old  course  being  eastward  from 
Georgian  Bay  to  the  Ottawa  River  instead  of  past  Niagara  Falls.  The 
limits  of  change  may  not  yet  have  been  reached,  for  the  movement  appears 
to  still  be  in  progress,  and  if  it  continues  to  the  amount  of  only  a  few  feet 
the  discharge  of  the  upper  lakes  will  be  diverted  from  Niagara  to  Chicago, 
and  they  will  then  be  connected  with  the  Mississippi  instead  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  system.  Changes  of  this  class  and  magnitude  illustrate  the  great 
influence  which  earth  movements  may  have  upon  drainage  under  favorable 
conditions.  On  the  other  hand,  very  great  earth  movements  have  taken 
place  in  some  localities  which  apparently  have  had  but  little  influence  upon 
the  di-ainage.  The  Susquehanna  River  crosses  the  entire  Appalachian  sys- 
tem, and  yet  seems  to  have  maintained  its  course  faithfully,  notwithstanding 
it  was  antagonized  by  the  maximum  flexure  of  the  mountain  system.  The 
Delaware,  the  Juniata,  the  Potomac,  and  even  the  upper  waters  of  the 
Kanawha  furnish  illustrations  of  similar  persistence. 

From  these  illustrations  it  appears  that  the  rate  of  movement  nuist  be 
sufficiently  slow  for  a  stream  to  cut  down  its  passage  across  the  rising  arch 
if  there  is  to  be  no  diversion.  It  may  also  be  inferred  that  a  stream  flowing 
at  a  low  gradient  might  be  diverted,  as  well  as  a  lake,  by  such  a  movement 
as  that  which  has  produced  the  changes  in  the  drainage  of  the  Great  Lakes. 
Indeed,  the  South  Fork  of  Chicago  River  will  be  changed  to  a  lake  and 
finally  made  to  reverse  its  present  course  if  the  change  in  the  discharge  of 
the  Great  Lakes  from  Niagara  to  Chicago  Is  effected. 

SECTION  II.     ST.  LAWKEN^CE  SYSTEM. 

In  the  present  discussion  only  that  portion  of  the  St.  Lawrence  system 
is  considered  that  lies  within  the  territory  covered  by  this  report.  It 
includes  the  southern  tributaries  of  Lake  Ontario  from  the  Genesee  west- 
ward to  the  Niagara  River,  Tonawanda  Creek,  an  eastern  tributary  of 
Niagara  River,  and  the  southern  and  western  tributaries  of  Lake  Erie  in  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Olilo.  The  discussion  begins  with  the  Genesee 
River  and  proceeds  westward  to  the  western  end  of  the  Lake  Erie  Basin. 


ST.  LAWRENCE  SYSTEM. 


201 


GENESEE  DRAINAGE  BASIN. 


GENESEE    RIVER. 

Genesee  River,  which  forms  the  east  boundary  of  the  region  under  dis- 
cussion, rises  in  the  Allegheny 
Mountains  in  northern  Pennsyl- 
vania and  flows  northward  across 
western  New  York,  entering  Lake 
Ontario  a  few  miles  north  of  the 
city  of  Rochester.  The  accom- 
panying- map  (fig.  8),  prepared  by 
Fairchild,  shows  the  leading  fea- 
tures. The  drainage  basin  is  about 
100  miles  long  and  perhaps  40 
miles  wide.  It  is  broadest  in  the 
northern  half,  the  southern  end  for 
a  distance  of  about  35  miles  from 
the  head  of  the  basin  being  but  10 
to  20  miles  wide.  The  area  of  the 
drainage  basin  is  estimated  by  Raf- 
ter to  be  2,445  square  miles.-' 

The  upland  surface  at  the  head 
of  this  drainage  system  attains  an 
altitude  of  about  2,500  feet,  biU 
there  are  passes  connecting  the 
headwaters  of  the  Genesee  with  the 
headwaters  of  the  Allegheny  and 
with  branches  of  the  Susquehanna 
that  are  250  to  400  feet  lower  than 
the  high  uplands.  One  of  these 
near  Bingham,  Pa.,  is  2,174  feet; 
another  near  Ulysses  is  2,252  feet; 
and  one  near  Gold  is  2,228  feet 
(Fairchild).  There  is  a  still  lower 
pass  (2,068  feet)  connecting  the 
West  Branch  of  Genesee  River  with  the  head  of  Oswayo  Creek,  a  tributary 


Fig.  S.— Hydrography  of  the  Genesee  Valley,  by  H.  L.  Fairchild. 
This  map  is  reproduced  from  Fairchild's  paper  in  the  Bulletin 
of  the  Geological  Society  of  America,  Vol.  VII,  1895,  PI.  XIX, 
Water  partings'are  shown  by  heavy  broken  lines.  Glacial  lake 
outlets  are  indicated  by  bars  transverse  to  the  water  parting. 
Figures  indicate  altitude  above  mean  tide, 


'  Water-Supply  Paper  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  24,  1899,  p.  26. 


202  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

of  the  Allegheny  River.  There  are  other  passes  at  the  lieads  of  tributaries 
which  are  markedly  lower  than  the  passes  at  the  head  of  the  drainage  basin. 
The  lowest  connecting  with  the  Allegheny  drainage  is  near  Cuba,  New  York, 
1,496  feet  above  tide ;  but  one  near  the  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  State 
line,  connecting  with  Honeoye  Creek,  a  tributary  of  Oswayo  Creek,  is  only 
1,600  feet.  The  lowest  pass  connecting  with  the  Susquehanna  is  at  Biu-us, 
N.  Y,  1,210  feet. 

In  the  southern  half  of  the  basin  the  tributaries  are  all  small.  The 
longest  eastern  one  is  Angelica  Creek,  with  a  length  of  25  miles,  and  the 
longest  western  one  is  East  Coy  Creek,  with  a  length  of  25  to  30  miles.  In 
the  northern  half  there  are  four  tributaries  whose  length  is  about  60  miles — 
Canaseraga  and  Honeoye  creeks  from  the  east  and  Oatka  or  Aliens  and 
Black  Creek  from  the  west.^ 

The  Genesee  River  follows,  in  the  main,  the  line  of  a  preglacial  valley; 
but,  as  pointed  out  by  Hall  many  years  ago,  it  makes  slight  incursions  into 
the  west  bluff  of  the  old  valley  at  places  where  the  preglacial  valley  was 
greatly  filled  with  drift.  It  was  also  thought  by  Hall  that  the  mouth  of  the 
preglacial  valley  was  at  Irondequoit  Bay.^  The  principal  deflections  of 
the  stream  are  between  Portage  and  Mount  Morris  and  in  the  vicinity  of 
Rochester.  The  following  concise  description  of  the  deflection  at  Portage 
was  presented  by  Hall  at  the  meeting-  of  the  Association  of  American 
Geologists  and  Naturalists  in  1843,  and  reported  in  the  American  Journal 
of  Science  for  tliat  year.  A  similar  description  appears  in  his  report  of  the 
Fourth  District,  also  published  in  1843: 

The  river  to  the  south  of  Portage  flows  in  the  bottom  of  a  broad  valley'  extending 
toward  the  north.  At  Portageville  the  stream  bends  around  to  the  left,  and,  after 
flowing  a  short  distance  nearly  south,  turns  to  the  north  and  northeast,  cutting  its 
channel  through  the  rock}'  slate  in  some  places  to  the  depth  of  350  feet,  and  forming 
in  its  passage  three  falls  of  66, 100,  and  96  feet,  respectively.  This  channel  is  narrow, 
with  mural  banks;  but  a  short  distance  below  the  lower  falls  it  emerges  into  a  broader 
valley  in  a  line  with  the  channel  to  the  south  of  Portage  before  it  is  deflected  from  its 
course.  The  space  between  these  two  points  is  a  deep,  broad  gorge,  filled  to  a  great 
height  with  clay,  sand,  and  gravel.  This  is  evidently  the  ancient  channel  of  the  river, 
and  3'et,  after  it  had  become  filled  with  this  drift,  the  stream  found  an  easier  passage 
by  excavating  the  solid  rock  for  3  miles  than  by  removing  these  loose  materials. 

Still  below  this  point  the  river  leaves  the  broad  channel  and  excavates  a  gorge 
through  the  shales,  emerging  into  the  broad  vallej'  at  Mount  Morris. 

^  It  should  be  noted  that  the  Genesee  River  has  two  western  tributaries  called  Black  Creek. 
The  name  Honeoye  is  also  applied  to  two  streams  here  discussed. 

2  Geology  Fourth  Dist.  of  New  York,  by  James  Hall,  1843,  pp.  344,  422. 


.1       MIDDLE    FALLS   OF   GENESEE   RIVER   AT    I  tjRTAuE,    N 


Ji.     GENESEE  R 


GENESEE  DRAINAGE  BASIN.  203 

It  has  been  pointed  out  by  Fairchild  that  the  valley  followed  by  the 
Genesee  between  Portage  Falls  and  the  deflection  at  Mount  Morris  is  the 
prelacial  valley  of  some  tributary  of  the  old  river.'  The  preglacial 
course  from  Portage  was  apparently  eastward,  past  Nunda,  into  the  valley 
now  occupied  by  Kishawa  Creek,  and  thence  north  to  the  present  Genesee 
just  below  Mount  Morris.  Grabau  has  suggested  a  westward  course,  past 
Castile,  to  the  valley  of  Oatka  Creek  near  Warsaw,  and  thence  northward 
down  that  valley  to  the  lowlands  near  Leroy,  beyond  which  its  course  is  not 
given.^  In  suggesting  this  course  he  apparently  overlooked  the  broader 
and  more  direct  line  past  Nunda.  It  is  also  a  mere  conjecture  that  a  buried 
valley  connects  the  Genesee  past  Castile  with  Oatka  Valley.  The  present 
divide,  it  is  true,  carries  a  larger  deposit  of  drift  there  than  at  points  farther 
north  and  south,  but  it  seems  likely  to  be  the  site  of  one  of  the  low  passes 
or  cols  that  characterize  this  region. 

At  Rochester  the  Genesee  enters  another  gorge,  which  extends  to  Lake 
Ontario,  a  distance  of  7  miles.  In  this  gorge  there  are  three  falls  made  in 
passing  over  the  Niagara,  the  Clinton,  and  the  Medina  formations,  with 
heights  of  90,  20,  and  94  feet,  respectively.  Concerning  these  falls,  Hall 
has  given  the  following  interpretation:^ 

The  different  rates  of  recession  in  waterfalls  is  shown  when  the  successive  rocks 
are  of  different  degrees  of  hardness,  producing  a  series  of  falls.  This  happens  when 
the  highest  are  more  destructible  than  the  lower,  and  by  this  means  the  upper  fall 
outruns  the  others.  The  Genesee  River  at  Rochester  presents  an  example  of  this 
kind,  where  the  Medina  sandstone,  the  rocks  of  the  Clinton  group,  and  the  Niagara 
group  have  each  produced  a  distinct  fall.  This,  at  one  period,  was  doubtless  a  single 
cascade;  but  the  upper  shale  wearing  away  faster  than  the  rocks  below,  allowed  the 
fall  to  travel  rapidly  southward  till  it  came  to  the  limestone  surmounting  the  shale, 
where  its  progress  was  somewhat  arrested.  At  the  present  time  it  seems  probable 
that  the  lower  fall  is  receding  faster  than  the  upper,  which  is  thus  protected. 

The  upper  fall  is  now  upon  the  northern  edge  of  the  limestone,  which  increases 
in  thickness  for  2  miles  south,  being  a  medium  of  constantlj^  augmenting  resistance, 
while  the  Medina  sandstone  and  the  limestone  of  the  Clinton  group  are  no  thicker 
and  no  more  ditEcult  to  wear  away  than  they  have  been  for  centuries  past.  Thus  it 
is  plain  that,  under  otherwise  equal  circumstances,  the  lower  falls  will  advance  upon 
the  upper  until  the  whole  will  become  one.     It  will  not  then,  however,  be  of  the 

'Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  427-429. 

^The  preglacial  channel  of  Genesee  Biver,  by  A.  W.  Grabau:  Proc.  Boston  Soc.  Nat.  Hist., 
Vol.  XXVI,  1894,  pp.  359-369. 

^  New  York  Geol.  Survey,  Fourth  District,  1843,  pp.  381-382,  fig.  184. 


204  GLACIAL  FOEMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

height  of  all  these;  for  the  long  rapid  between  the  upper  fall  and  the  present  place 
of  the  lower  one  will  be  nearly  as  much  descent  as  the  fall  at  present. 

These  speculations  are  offered  not  with  a  view  to  an}^  practical  bearing,  but  to 
correct  an  erroneous  impression  which  arises  from  the  first  view  of  these  falls.  Since 
there  are  now  three  falls,  and  since  we  suppose  there  was  a  period  when  onlj'  one 
existed,  it  is  natural  to  infer  that  the  same  cause  that  first  produced  a  separation 
would  continue  to  operate  to  perpetuate  the  same  condition.  This  would  doubtless 
be  true  so  long  as  the  nature  of  the  strata  remained  the  same;  but  it  is  equally 
evident  that  any  change  in  these  will  change  all  the  other  conditions. 

In  Pis.  X  and  XI  views  of  the  falls  and  gorge  near  Portage,  and  of 
the  middle  and  lower  falls  near  Rochester,  are  presented. 

GENESEE    GLACIAL   LAKES. 

It  was  Hall's  opinion  that  subsequent  to  the  deposition  of  the  drift 
the  portion  of  the  Genesee  north  from  Mount  Mon-is  was  occupied  by  a 
lake.  The  lake  is  supposed  to  have  been  held  by  a  "barrier  on  the  north," 
but  the  nature  of  the  barrier  is  not  stated.^  Later  investigations  point 
strongly  to  the  ice  sheet  as  the  barrier. 

A  special  study  of  the  evidence  that  lake  waters  occupied  the  Genesee 
Valley  in  the  Glacial  epoch  has  been  made  by  Fairchild,  whose  results  are 
given  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  Geological  Society  of  America.^  Attention  is 
called  to  the  peculiarly  favorable  conditions  for  the  formation  of  glacial 
lakes  during  both  the  advance  and  the  retreat  of  the  ice  sheet.  The  traces 
of  the  former  have  been  obliterated,  for  at  its  culmination  the  ice  sheet 
extended  southward  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Genesee  Basin.  The  paper 
is  therefore  devoted  chiefly  to  a  description  of  the  features  produced  by 
the  waters  held  in  by  the  ice  barrier  during  the  northward  retreat  and 
later  by  barriers  of  drift  that  were  formed  by  the  ice  sheet. 

Beaches  or  other  shore-line  features  are  necessarily  weak,  as  the  expanse 
of  water  was  not  sufficient  to  give  rise  to  strong  waves  and  as  the  waters 
were  not  long  stationary  at  any  particular  plane,  the  height  varpng  with 
the  season  and  the  downcutting  of  the  outlets.  Deltas  formed  by  land 
streams  and  also  glacial  stream  deltas  were  well  developed.  Wave-built 
and  wave-cut  terraces  also  are  prominent  features.  It  was  found  that 
these  deltas  and  terraces  harmonize  in  level  with  neighboring  outlets  on 
the  borders  of  the  drainage  basin,  and  that  in  passing  from  the  southern 

iNew  York  Geo).  Survey,  Fourth  District,  1843,  p.  344. 

■^Glacial  Genesee  lakes,  by  H.  L.  Fairchild;  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  VII,  1896,  pp.  423-152. 


MIDDLE   AND    LOWER    FALLS   OF   GENESEE    RIVER   AT    ROCHESTER,    N. 


GENESEE  DRAINAGE  BASIN.  205 

toward  the  northern  end  of  the  drainage  basin  one  can  recognize  several 
water  plains,  each  of  which  is  in  harmony  with  an  outlet.  The  following 
summary  of  these  stages  is  given  by  Fairchild: 

The  first  stage  in  the  glacial  drainage  of  the  valley  was  from  the  headwaters  to 
both  the  Susquehanna  and  the  Ohio-Mississippi,  with  altitudes  of  water  surfaces  over 
2,200  feet. 

The  second,  third,  and  fourth  stages  drained  to  the  Ohio-Mississippi,  with 
altitudes  respectivelj-  2,068,  1,600,  and  l,i96  feet.. 

The  fifth  and  sixth  stages  drained  to  the  Susquehanna,  with  altitudes  of  1,320 
and  1,210  feet. 

The  seventh  and  eighth  stages  drained  to  the  Illinois-Mississippi,  with  altitudes 
from  1,200  down  to  880  feet. 

The  ninth  stage  drained  to  the  Hudson,  with  an  altitude  of  435  to  440  feet.^ 

The  tenth  stage  is  the  nonglacial  St.  Lawrence  drainage,  with  present 
altitude  of  247  feet. 

The  several  outlets  utilized  by  these  lakes  show  marked  differences  in 
the  amount  of  cutting,  suggesting  great  differences  in  the  duration  of  the 
lake  levels.  The  first  outlet  that  shows  evidence  of  long  operation  is  the 
one  at  1,600  feet,  which  discharged  westward  through  Honeoye  and  Oswayo 
creeks  to  the  Allegheny  River.  The  amount  of  downcutting  here,  as  esti- 
mated by  a  delta  at  the  mouth  of  a  gully  at  the  east  border  of  the  col,  is  60 
to  70  feet,  and  the  width  of  the  rock  gorge  1,000  feet.  The  excavation  is 
m  soft  shales.  The  next  lower  outlet,  1,496  feet,  which  leads  past  Cuba, 
seems  to  have  encountered  no  rock,  but  simply  leveled  the  drift  filling  at 
the  summit,  the  channel  being  spacious  and  near  to  grade.  In  the  next 
stage  the  waters  in  the  Greuesee  Valley  apparently  dro^aped  to  about  1,320 
feet  and  discharged  through  a  channel  at  the  head  of  Canaseraga  Creek 
into  Dansville  Lake,  and  thence  by  a  channel  past  Burns  to  the  Chemung- 
Susquehanna.  But  in  course  of  the  retreat  of  the  ice  sheet  a  passage  was 
opened  to  Dansville  Lake  at  a  level  sufficiently  low  to  cause  the  Genesee 
Lake  to  drop  to  the  level  of  the  outlet  past  Burns,  1,210  feet.  This  outlet 
is  reported  by  Fairchild  to  be  the  grandest  of  the  abandoned  water  courses. 
Its  width  is  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  and  its  length  12  miles.  It  has  a  fall 
of  but  10  feet  in  the  first  6  miles  and  of  but  40  feet  in  the  second.  Flood 
plains  are  seen  all  the  way  from  Burns  to  Hornellsville  at  a  height  of  15  to 
30  feet  over  the  channel.     It  is  thought  that  the  effective  life  may  have  been 

'  Since  writing  tbe  above  Professor  Fairchild  has  recognized  a  stage  of  eastward  discharge  higher 
than  this,  which  is  marked  by  the  Geneva  Beach  and  which  he  calls  the  Lake  Dana  stage.  The  Geneva 
beach:  Bull.  Geol.  See.  America,  Vol.  VIII,  1897,  pp.  281-284;  Lake  Dana:  Vol.  X,  pp.  56-57. 


206  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

shorter  than  that  of  some  of  the  higher  outlets,  but  it  carried  a  much  greater 
volume  of  water.  The  next  stage  marks  the  close  of  the  Genesee  Lake  as  a 
local  body  of  water.  It  then  became  merged  with  the  great  body  known  as 
Lake  Warren,  and  discharged  westward  to  the  Mississippi.  At  the  Lake 
Warren  and  later  stages  definite  beaches  were  formed,  which  are  considered 
in  Chapter  XVL 

MORAINAL   LAKES. 

Passing  over  minor  pondings  of  the  river  occurring  as  a  result  of 
irregularities  in  the  drift  filling,  only  the  three  most  conspicuous  cases  of 
damming  are  considered;  one  of  these  is  at  Portageville,  another  at  Mount 
Morris,  and  the  third  above  Rochester.  These  have  all  received  the 
attention  of  Fairchild,^  whose  descriptions  are  here  given: 

At  Portageville  the  broad,  deep  valley  was  completely  dammed  with  drift,  and 
the  river  found  its  outlet  over  the  east  rock  wall  of  the  buried  vallej'.  After  cutting 
through  perhaps  75  feet  of  drift  the  river  had  to  cut  through  about  125  feet  of 
Portage  shales  before  the  lake  was  drained.  This  probably  required  a  length  of 
time  comparable  to  the  life  of  one  of  the  stages  of  glacial  waters. 

The  top  of  the  rock  cut  is  about  1,250  feet  bj^  estimate,  and  it  seems  probable 
that  all  the  numerous  and  strong  terraces  found  in  the  valle}'  from  Portage  up  to 
Caneadea  and  below  about  1,275  feet  altitude  belong  to  the  morainal  lake.  At 
Portageville  there  are  good  terraces  at  1,157  and  1,185  feet,  and  others  by  aneroid 
at  1,220,  1,255,  and  1,265  feet.  At  Rossburg  are  conspicuous  plateaus,  the  lower 
ones  possibly  detrital  river  plains,  but  higher  ones  at  about  1,200  feet  and  over.  At 
Fillmore  the  terraces  are  1,218,  1,233,  and  1,252  feet,  and  at  Houghton  is  a  good 
terrace,  estimated  at  about  1,250  feet.  At  Caneadea  the  terraces  are  well  developed 
and  have  altitudes  of  1,243  and  1,273  feet. 

The  St.  Helena  morainal  lake,  which  existed  in  the  postglacial  part  of  the 
Genesee  Valley  above  Mount  Morris,  has  not  been  studied.  The  top  of  the  rock 
gorge,  locally  known  as  the  "high  banks,"  is  not  far  over  900  feet.  The  cut,  about 
300  feet  deep,  is  in  dark  Hamilton  shales  and  was  made  during  the  Warren  and 
Iroquois  stages.  On  account  of  the  narrowness  of  the  valley  and  the  steepness  of 
the  slopes,  the  water  planes  of  the  morainal  lake  are  not  well  preserved,  but  can 
undoubtedly  be  found  bj^  searching. 

A  shallow  morainal  lake  probably  existed  southwest  of  Rochester,  due  to  the 
morainic  dam  which  the  I'iver  has  cut  through  at  the  "rapids."  This  lake  could  not 
have  been  over  560  feet  in  altitude,  the  height  of  the  drumloid  barrier  on  the  east, 
and  was  probably  onlj^  540  to  550  feet,  the  present  altitude  of  the  moraine.  It  could, 
therefore,  not  have  been  deep,  but  it  extended  up  the  valley  several  miles,  and  had  a 
broad  expanse  east  and  west,  with  very  irregular  form.  For  the  brief  episode  of  its 
existence'  this  lake  received  from  the  river  a  large  amount  of  detritus,  which  was 
deposited  as  a  smooth  floor,  with  an  altitude  of  525  feet,  making  the  largest  level 
tract  in  the  region  of  Rochester. 

1  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  449-450. 


GENESEE  DRAINAGE  BASIN.  207 

CHANGES    OF   DRAINAGE    ON    THE    TRIBUTARIES. 

The  changes  of  drainage  in  the  southern  portion  oi  the  basin  are  of 
minor  importance,  and  consist  chiefly  of  shght  incursions  of  the  present 
streams  into  the  edges  of  the  old  valleys.  These  deflections  are  due  to  a 
higher  drift  filling  in  the  middle  of  these  valleys  than  on  the  borders.  In 
some  eases  the  lower  ends  of  valleys  were  filled  to  a  greater  height  than 
the  middle  portions,  thus  forming  morainal  lakes  in  the  middle  portions. 
In  opening'  a  passage  to  the  Genesee  these  have  in  some  cases  cut  down 
into  the  old  valley  slope  instead  of  into  the  deep  part,  and  thus  opened  rock 
ravines  near  the  mouth.  One  of  the  most  impressive  of  this  class  is  found 
on  the  lower  course  of  Caneadea  Creek  below  the  village  of  Rushford, 
where  the  morainal  dam  rises  nearly  200  feet  higher  than  the  part  of  the 
valley  above  it. 

In  this  headwater  portion  of  the  Genesee  drainage  basin  the  writer 
has  had  opportunity  to  visit  only  a  few  of  the  passes  that  connect  the 
Genesee  with  streams  discharging  westward,  and  none  of  those  discharging 
eastward,  and  can  not  speak  positively  concerning  shiftings  of  the  divide. 
The  pass  at  Cuba  appears  to  have  its  present  divide  several  miles  nearer  the 
Genesee  than  the  old  divide,  there  being  a  marked  constriction  in  the  valley 
of  Oil  Creek  several  miles  below  Cuba  which  may  mark  the  old  divide. 
The  amount  of  drift  is  so  great  as  completely  to  cover  the  old  col  if  it  stands 
in  this  constriction.  A  stream  entering  Oil  Creek  from  the  south  at  Cuba 
seems  to  have  formerly  discharged  northeastward  to  the  Genesee  at  Belfast. 
(See  PI.  V.) 

Fairchild  has  expressed  the  opinion  that  the  headwater  portions  of 
several  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Susquehanna  in  western  New  York  formerly 
discharged  northward  into  the  Lake  Ontario  Basin.^  Possibly  the  headwater 
portion  of  Canesteo  River  discharged  from  Arkport  northward  past  the  low 
divide  at  Burns  into  the  Canaseraga  Valley  and  thence  to  the  Genesee. 

In  the  northern  portion  of  the  Genesee  drainage  basin  the  old  lines  of 
discharge  for  tributaries  evidently  are  not  followed  by  the  present  lines. 
The  latter  not  infrequently  are  cutting  trenches  in  the  rocks,  and  in  a  few 
cases  have  waterfalls.  The  filling  with  drift  has  completely  concealed  the 
old  drainage  lines  over  much  of  the  area  drained  by  Black  Creek  and  the 
lower  courses  of  Oatka  and  Honeoye  creeks. 

'Bull.  Geol.  Soo.  America,  Vol.  X,  1899,  p.  30. 


208  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  headwater  portion  of  Oatka  Creek  is  in  the  midst  of  morainic 
knolls  and  ridges  which  conceal  the  preglacial  features  as  far  north  as  the 
vicinity  of  Warsaw.  Here  is  entered  an  old  valley,  one-half  to  three-fourths 
mile  in  width,  which  leads  northward  through  elevated  uplands  into  the 
Icjwer  tract  lying  between  the  Corniferous  and  Niagara  escarpments.  The 
stream  now  turns  eastward  near  Leroy  and  joins  the  Genesee,  but  the 
preglacial  channel  probably  continued  northward.  The  course  of  the  pre- 
glacial channel  is  certainly  not  coincident  with  that  of  the  present  stream 
even  above  the  deflection  near  Leroy,  for  the  latter  flows  on  rock  ledges 
and  has  an  important  waterfall,  known  as  "Buttermilk  Falls,"  just  north 
of  that  village.  Because  of  the  great  filling  of  drift  north  of  Leroy,  it  will 
be  difiicult  to  determine  the  course  of  the  preglacial  line. 

It  is  thought  by  Fairchild  that  several  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Genesee 
held  small  glacial  lakes  at  higher  levels  than  the  lakes  in  the  neighboring 
portions  of  the  Genesee  Valley.  One  in  the  valley  of  Knight  Creek  had 
an  outlet  from  its  head  westward  past  Bolivar.  The  evidence  of  a  discharge 
across  the  col  at  the  head  of  this  valley  is  clear.  The  altitude  is  so  great 
that  it  can  not  have  been  the  discharge  for  the  Genesee  glacial  lake. 
There  is  equally  clear  evidence  of  the  westward  discharge  of  a  small  gla- 
cial lake  in  Van  Campens  Creek  Valley  along  a  line  utilized  by  the  Erie 
Railroad.  There  is  a  well-defined  scourway  across  the  present  divide  at  an 
altitude  of  1,692  feet,  which  is  nearly  100  feet  higher  than  the  westward 
outlet  of  the  Genesee  Lake  into  Honeoye  Creek,  a  few  miles  to  the  south. 
This  valley  carries  terraces  at  different  levels,  which  are  thought  by  Fair- 
child  to  harmonize  in  some  cases  with  the  local  glacial  lake  outlet  and  in 
others  with  the  outlets  for  the  Genesee  waters  at  1,600  and  1,496  feet 
The  raorainal  lake  in  Caneadea  Creek  Valley  was  probably  preceded  by  a 
glacial  lake,  though  the  outlet  of  the  latter  was  not  determined.  A  glacial 
lake  in  Oatka  Creek  Valley  is  found  by  Fairchild  to  have  first  discharged 
southeastward,  past  the  sites  of  Silver  Springs  and  Castile,  to  the  Genesee 
Lake,  the  altitude  of  the  head  of  the  channel  being  about  1,400  feet.  With 
the  retreat  of  the  ice  baiTier  this  lake  eventually  found  a  line  of  northwest- 
ward discharge  at  an  altitude  about  100  feet  lower,  through  a  valley  in  which 
the  villages  of  Dale  and  Linden  stand,  and  thence  across  a  pass  to  Tonawanda 
Valley.  With  the  change  of  outlet  the  discharge  of  the  lake  passed  froni  the 
Susquehanna  drainage  to  the  Mississippi.     These  lakes  are  called  by  Faircliild 


MINOR  TRIBUTARIES  OF  LAKE  ONTARIO.  209 

the  First  Warsaw  and  the  Second  Warsaw  g-lacial  lakes.  At  the  seventh 
stage  of  the  glacial  Genesee  waters  the  ice  barrier  became  removed  suffi- 
ciently to  lower  this  lake  to  the  level  of  the  Genesee  waters  and  thus  bring 
its  distinct  history  to  a  close.^ 

Fairchild  has  also  found  evidence  of  the  existence  of  small  glacial 
lakes  in  the  headwaters  of  eastern  tributaries  of  the  Genesee  that  discharged 
to  the  Susquehanna  at  higher  levels  than  the  outlet  past  Burns.  These  and 
the  glacial  lakes  held  in  the  valleys  of  the  Finger  Lakes  to  the  east  of  the 
Genesee  have  furnished  him  the  material  for  a  verj^  interesting  chapter  of 
glacial  history,  but  they  lie  outside  the  district  covered  by  the  present 
report.  The  four  papers  already  published  by  Fairchild  in  the  Bulletin  of 
the  Geological  Societ}^  of  America^  describe  in  detail  much  that  can  be 
only  briefly  summarized  here. 

MINOR   TRIBUTARIES   OF   LAKE   ONTARIO    IN   WESTERN    NEW   YORK. 

Oak  Orchard  Creek  is  the  most  important  southern  tributary  of  Lake 
Ontario  between  the  Genesee  and  Niagara  rivers.  Its  headwater  portion 
lies  on  the  plain  between  the  Niagara  and  Corniferous  limestone  escarp- 
ments immediately  west  of  the  headwaters  of  Black  Creek  and  drains 
portions  of  Genesee  and  Orleans  counties.  In  southwestern  Orleans  County 
it  turns  northward  through  the  Niagara  escarpment,  near  Medina,  where  it 
has  a  series  of  falls,  and  then  takes  a  northeastward  course  into  Lake  Ontario. 
The  falls,  three  in  number,  a  section  of  which  appears  in  Hall's  report  on 
the  Fourth  district,  occur  in  the  passage  over  the  Medina  sandstone  and 
Clinton  limestone,  as  well  as  at  the  Lockport  (Niagara)  limestone.  It  is 
doubtful  if  the  stream  in  any  part  of  its  course  follows  a  preglacial  drainage 
line,  for  the  portions  in  which  it  is  free  from  rapids  and  cascades  are  in 
plains  heavily  covered  with  drift.  The  headwater  portion  is  exceedingly 
sluggish  and  is  bordered  by  swamps,  which  have  required  a  large  amount 
of  artificial  drainage. 

The  remaining  tributaries  of  Lake  Ontario  in  western  New  York  head 
in  the  Niagara  escarpment  and  flow  usually  more  or  less  directly  across  the 
plain  between  that  escarpment  and  the  lake.     Johnsons  Creek,  however, 

1  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  X,  1899,  pp.  33-34. 

''  Glacial  lakes  of  western  New  York,  Vol.  VI,  1895,  pp.  353-374.     Glacial  Genesee  lakes,  Vol.  VII, 

1896,  pp.  423-452.     Lake  Warren  shore  lines  in  western  New  York  and  the  Geneva  beach,  Vol.  VIII, 

1897,  pp.  269-286.     Glacial  waters  in  the  Finger  lakes  region  of  New  York,  Vol.  X,  1899,  pp.  27-68. 

MOX    XLI 14- 


210  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

takes  a  northeastward  eoui'se  from  eastern  Niagara  County  across  north- 
western Orleans  County,  thus  greatly  increasuag  the  distance  to  the  lake. 
Eighteenmile  Creek  flows  for  several  miles  in  a  southwestward  course 
before  turning  northward  into  the  lake,  its  course  being  governed  to  some 
extent  by  the  Iroquois  beach. 

TONAWANDA   CREEK. 

Tonawanda  Creek  consists  of  two  quite  distinct  portions:  First,  a 
north-flowing  portion,  leading  from  Wethersfield  Township,  Wyoming 
County,  northward  in  a  deep  valley  through  elevated  uplands  to  Batavia, 
near  which  it  enters  the  lowlands  that  lie  south  of  Lake  Ontario;  second, 
a  west-flowing  portion,  leading  from  Batavia  to  the  Niagara  River  at  Tona- 
wanda. Between  Batavia  and  Indian  Falls  the  stream  flows  on  the  plain 
back  of  the  Corniferous  escarpment.  It  descends  in  a  cascade  at  Indian 
Falls  to  the  plain  lying  between  the  Corniferous  and  Niagara  escarpments, 
and  flows  in  that  plain  to  its  mouth.  This  lower  portion  of  Tonawanda 
Creek,  the  headwater  portion  of  Oak  Orchard  Creek,  and  the  entire  basin 
of  Black  Creek  are  thus  controlled  by  the  geologic  structure.  They  follow 
the  lowest  parts  of  the  plains  between  the  two  escarpments  and  traverse  a 
region  coated  to  considerable  depth  with  drift.  Whether  the  lower  course 
of  the  Tonawanda  follows  that  of  a  preglacial  line  is  not  fully  determined, 
though  it  seems  probable  that  a  preglacial  line  had  approximately  the 
same  position  as  the  present  stream.  The  course  from  near  Batavia  to 
Indian  Falls  is  independent  of  preglacial  lines  and  is  determined  apparently 
by  the  accidents  of  drift  filling.  The  north-flowing  portion  above  Bata^^a 
appears  to  correspond  closely  with  that  of  a  preglacial  line,  but  the  latter, 
instead  of  turning  westward  near  Batavia,  is  thought  to  have  continued  in 
a  course  east  of  north  into  the  Lake  Ontario  Basin,  traversing  a  district 
now  drained  in  large  part  by  Black  Creek. 

The  headwater  portion  of  Tonawanda  Creek  was  occupied  by  a  gla- 
cial lake,  which,  as  found  by  Fairchild,  discharged  at  first  westward  to 
Buffalo  Creek,  a  tributary  of  Lake  Erie,  from  a  point  about  2  miles  south 
of  Johnsonburg,  and  at  an  estimated  altitude  of  1,410  feet.^  A  study  of 
stream  deltas  leads  Fairchild  to  think  that  there  are  two  water  levels  lower 
than  the  one  that  discharged  through  the  outlet,  one  being  at  about  1,300 


'Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  X,  1899,  p.  33. 


TRIBUTARIES  OF  LAKE  ERIE.  2 1 1 

feet  and  the  other  still  lower.  He  has  not  traced  out  the  lines  of  discharo-e 
for  these  lower  water  levels,  but  supposes  them  to  be  on  the  western  border 
of  the  valley.  As  indicated  above,  the  lake  in  this  valley  received  for  a 
time  tlie  outflow  from  the  Second  Warsaw  Lake  in  the  Oatka  Valley. 


TRIBUTARIES  OF  LAKE  ERIE. 


The  present  southern  and  western  tributaries  of  Lake  Erie  drain  about 
12,000  square  miles  in  northern  Ohio,  about  1,000  square  miles  in  north- 
eastern Indiana,  about  600  square  miles  in  northwestern  Pennsylvania,  and 
about  1,500  square  miles  in  southwestern  New  York.  This  embraces  but  a 
small  part  of  the  area  that  was  tributary  to  the  Lake  Erie  Basin  in  pre- 
glacial  times.  As  ij\dicated  above  (pp.  127-148),  the  present  Allegheny 
system  of  drainage  is  made  up  of  independent  preglacial  hues  which 
entered  the  Lake  Erie  Basin  by  three  or  more  distinct  lines  of  discharge. 
Indeed,  the  entire  drainage  of  the  present  Ohio  in  western  Pennsylvania 
and  eastern  Ohio,  with  adjacent  parts  of  West  Virginia,  appears  to  have  dis- 
charged into  the  Lake  Erie  Basin.  Possibly  the  old  Kanawha,  with  much 
of  the  Muskingum  drainage  basin,  was  formerly  tributary  to  the  Lake  Erie 
Basin,  though,  as  already  indicated,  the  evidence  is  somewhat  in  question. 
In  the  present  discussion  the  several  southern  tributaries  of  Lake  Erie 
are  taken  up  in  order,  beginning  at  the  east  and  passing  westward  to  the 
western  end  of  the  lake. 


BUFFALO    CREEK. 


Buffalo  Creek,  which  enters  Lake  Erie  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city 
of  Buffalo,  constitutes  a  line  of  discharge  for  several  small  streams  which 
head  in  the  elevated  uplands  of  southeastern  Erie  and  western  Wyoming 
counties,  N.  Y.  These  small  streams  lead  northward  through  preglacial 
valleys  into  the  lowlands  that  lie  south  of  the  Corniferous  escarpment,  but 
on  the  lowlands  their  courses  appear  to  be  largely  independent  of  preglacial 
lines.  Borings  in  the  vicinity  of  Buffalo  have  brought  to  light  a  preglacial 
channel  occupied  for  a  few  miles  by  Buffalo  Creek,  whose  rock  bottom  is 
about  80  feet  below  the  surface  of  Lake  Erie.^  What  proportion  of  the 
present  drainage  basin  of  Buffalo  Creek  discharged  through  this  preglacial 
line  has  not  been  determined.     It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  eastern 

^See  Pohlman:  Proc.  Am.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  Vol.  XXXII,  1883;  also  Trans.  Am.  Inst.  Min  Ens 
Vol.  XVII,  1889.  ^■' 


212  GLACIAL  FOEMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

portion  of  the  drainage  basin  had  a  northward  discharge  to  a  valley  draining 
the  lower  course  of  Tonawanda  Creek  The  deflections  of  tributaries  of 
Buffalo  Creek  in  passing  the  Crittenden  or  Forest  beach  are  notable,  as 
shown  in  the  discussion  of  that  beach  on  a  subsequent  page. 

EIGHTEENMILE    CREEK. 

This  tributary  of  Lake  Erie  enters  the  lake  about  18  miles  southwest 
of  Buffalo,  and  this  fact  is  probably  responsible  for  the  name  applied  to 
the  creek.  It  is  formed  by  the  union  of  two  streams  which  have  their 
headwaters  in  the  elevated  uplands  of  southern  Erie  County  and  which  flow 
northwestward  through  deep  preglacial  valleys  into  the  plain  bordering  the 
lake.  Their  junction  is  only  about  5  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  stream. 
It  is  probable  that  the  preglacial  continuation  of  the  East  Fork  was 
northward  from  near  Hamburg  into  Lake  Erie,  though  the  precise  line  of 
continuation  is  not  known.  The  West  Fork  probably  entered  the  Lake  Erie 
Basin  along  a  different  line  from  the  present  course  of  the  creek,  for  the 
stream  is  now  excavating  a  rock  g'orge  near  its  mouth  but  little  wider  than 
the  stream  bed.  It  is  possible  that  the  East  and  West  forks  had  a  common 
line  of  discharge  farther  north  than  the  present  mouth  of  the  creek.  There 
is,  however,  a  belt  of  thick  drift  immediately  south  of  the  mouth  of  the 
present  stream,  as  shown  by  wells  in  the  vicinity  of  Derby,  and  this  may 
prove  to  have  been  the  line  of  discharge  for  the  West  Branch. 

CATTARAUGUS    CREEK. 

Cattaraugus  Creek  enters  Lake  Erie  at  the  village  of  Irving,  about  12 
miles  east  of  Dunkirk,  N.  Y.  It  drains  a  large  area  in  Cattaraugus  County, 
N.  Y.,  but  has  only  small  tributaries  from  Erie  and  Chautauqua  counties, 
while  its  headwaters  drain  a  small  portion  of  Wyoming  County  and  the 
extrenae  northwest  corner  of  Alleg'any  County.,  Its  source,  like  that  of 
Tonawanda  Creek,  is  in  Wethersfield  Township,  Wj^oming  County,  in  the 
midst  of  a  great  interlobate  morainic  belt.  It  has  a  general  westerly  course 
from  source  to  mouth.  The  northern  tributaries  are  very  small,  but  the 
southern  tributaries  reach,  in  several  cases,  a  length  of  12  to  15  miles, 
while  the  length  of  South  Fork  is  fully  25  miles.  The  present  limits  of 
the  drainage  basin  are  largely  determined  by  drift  obstructions. 

In  a  paper  prepared  in  1894  by  Chamberlin  and  the  writer,  evidence 
was  set  forth  that  the  lower  course  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  constituted  the 


TRIBUTARIES  OF  LAKE  ERIE.  213 

line  of  discharg'e  for  the  preglacial  Upper  Allegheny/  The  greater  part 
of  the  present  basin  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  appears  to  have  been  tributary 
to  the  old  Upper  Allegheny  from  the  east  and  to  have  joined  that  valley 
near  the  mouth  of  Clear  Creek,  opposite  Versailles.  The  old  basin  of 
Cattaraugus  Creek  included  the  headwater  portions  of  Ischua  Creek  and 
probably  of  Great  Valley  Creek,  now  tributary  to  the  Allegheny.  The  old 
divide  on  Ischua  Creek  appears  to  have  been  just  south  of  the  village  of 
Ischua,  fully  15  miles  from  the  present  divide  near  Machias.  The  present 
drainage  departs  considerably  from  the  preglacial  line  near  the  junction  of 
the  South  Fork  with  the  main  stream.  The  South  Fork  appears  to  have 
formerly  taken  a  course  east  of  north  from  the  village  of  Cattaraugus,  past 
Waverly,  to  join  the  east  or  main  fork  about  5  miles  above  the  present  point 
of  junction.  The  united  stream  then  took  a  northwestward  course,  passing 
just  south  of  Collins  Center  and  Lawton  to  the  lower  course  of  Clear  Creek. 
Between  the  old  junction  and  the  present  one  Cattaraugus  Creek  is  flowing 
through  a  rock  gorge  no  widei'  in  places  than  the  bed  of  the  stream.  South 
Fork  also  eiiters  a  similar  gorge  about  5  miles  northwest  of  Cattaraugus, 
which  continues  to  the  junction  with  the  main  creek.  A  short  distance 
below  the  present  junction  with  the  main  creek  the  old  valley  of  the  Upper 
Allegheny  is  entered.  The  present  creek  does  not  traverse  the  deepest 
portion  of  that  old  valley,  but  follows  its  west  bluff,  and  for  a  few  miles  in 
the  vicinity  of  Versailles  it  is  cutting'  a  rock  gorge  in  tlie  face  of  that  bluff. 

The  drainage  basin  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  is  limited  on  the  north  and 
e^-st  by  morainic  belts.  It  is  scarcely  probable  that  these  follow  a  preglacial 
divide,  though  the  position  of  the  preglacial  divide  has  not  been  fully  deter- 
mined. Possibly  the  headwater  portion  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  discharged 
northwestward  through  valleys  now  tributary  to  Buffalo  Creek. 

The  old  drainage  basin  of  which  Cattaraugus  Creek  formed  a  jjart  is 
discussed  in  connection  with  the  Upper  Allegheny  River  (pp.  129-132). 

SMALL    TRIBUTARIES   BETWEEN    CATTARAUGUS   AND    CONNEAUT    CREEKS. 

The  tributaries  of  Lake  Erie  between  Cattaraugus  and  Conneaut  creeks 
find  their  sources  in  the  prominent  escarpment  which  borders  the  lake  in 
southwestern  New  York  and  northwestern  Pennsylvania.  Their  sources  are 
seldom  more  than  15  miles  distant  from  the  lake,  and  the  longest  streams  are 

1  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series,  Vol.  XLVII,  1894. 


214  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

scarcely  25  miles  in  length.  The  lower  courses  of  these  streams  appear  to 
be  largely  independent  of  pregla  ^ial  lines.  The  headwater  portions  often 
occupy  depressions  in  the  escarpment  nearly  in  line  with  streams  which  lead 
southward  from  the  escarpment.  The  present  divide  in  these  low  places  on 
the  escarpment  is  in  several  cases  a  morainic  ridge,  and  this  apparently  lies 
north  of  the  preglacial  divide. 

CONNEAUT    CREEK. 

Conneaut  Creek  has  its  source  in  a  moraine  near  Conneaut  Lake 
in  western  Crawford  County,  Pa.  The  headwaters  lead  down  into  a 
broad  valley  which  is  continuous  with  the  valley  that  contains  Conneaut 
Lake  and  Conneaut  outlet,  which  are  tributary  to  the  Allegheny  River 
through  French  Creek.  The  course  of  Conneaut  Creek  is  northward  for 
about  20  miles  to  a  point  not  more  than  10  miles  from  the  border  of  Lake 
Erie.  It  there  turns  abruptly  westward  and  flows  between  morainic  ndges 
for  a  distance  of  perhaps  15  miles  to  the  village  of  Kingsville,  Ohio,  where 
it  breaks  through  the  north  morainic  ridge  and  takes  a  northeastward  course 
to  Lake  Erie. 

The  valley  occupied  by  the  north-flowing  portion  of  Conneaut  Creek 
evidently  drained  a  basin  which  was  very  difi^erent  from  that  of  the  present 
creek  and  which  discharged  directly  northward  into  the  Lake  Erie  Basin 
across  the  northwestern  part  of  Erie  County,  Pa.  The  jarobable  extent  of 
the  old  basin  is  discussed  in  connection  with  the  Middle  Allegheny.  It 
was  thought  by  Carll  that  Conneaut  Creek  constituted  the  former  line  of 
discharge  for  much  of  the  present  drainag-e  basin  of  French  Creek  and  the 
headwater  portion  of  Oil  Creek.  It  is  found,  however,  that  French  Creek 
crosses  two  cols  in  passing  southward  from  Cambridge  to  Meadville,  which 
necessitates  an  interpretation  difiPereut  from  that  given  by  Carll.  Instead  of 
turning  southward  from  Cambridge  the  old  line  of  discharge  for  the  head- 
water portion  of  Oil  Creek  and  much  of  French  Creek  apparently  was  north- 
westward across  Erie  County  to  the  Lake  Erie  Basin,  as  indicated  in  the 
discussion  of  FrenchtCreek  drainage  (pp.  138-143). 

The  west-flowing  portion  of  Conneaut  Creek,  being  determined  by 
morainic  ridges,  shows  little,  if  any,  dependence  upon  preglacial  lines. 
It  is  mainly  in  a  rock  gorge,  though  in  places  the  drift  extends  below  the 
level  of  the  stream  bed      After  passing  through  the  moraine  near  Kings- 


TRIBUTARIES  OF  LAKE  ERIE.  215 

ville,  the  stream  is  given  an  easterly  course  for  a  few  miles  by  a  beach  line 
which  lies  on  its  north  side.  Upon  breaking  through  this  line  it  passes 
directly  toward  the  lake. 

ASHTABULA    CKEEK. 

Ashtabula  Creek  is  a  small  stream  which  enters  Lake  Erie  near  the 
city  of  Ashtabula,  in  northeastern  Ohio.  Its  source  is  in  a  morainic  belt  or 
elevated  uplands  near  Andover,  Ohio,  from  which  it  flows  northward 
through  a  preglacial  valley  or  drift-filled  depression  to  lowlands  bordering 
Lake  Erie.  It  there  is  deflected  westward  a  few  miles  by  a  morainic 
ridge,  but  breaks  through  this  ridge  near  Ashtabula  and  takes  a  direct 
course  into  Lake  Erie.  Its  lower  course  is  through  a  narrow  valley  cut  in 
shale  to  a  depth  of  75  to  100  feet,  and  is  evidently  independent  of  pre- 
glacial drainage  lines.  The  drift-filled  depression  which  it  follows  in  its 
upper  course  was  probably  occupied  by  a  preglacial  stream  that  headed 
farther  south  than  the  present  divide,  but  the  precise  position  of  the  old 
divide  has  not  been  determined. 

GRAND   RIVER. 

Grand  River  is  a  small  stream  draining  the  basin  from  which  it  receives 
its  name  (see  p.  74).  Its  northerly  course  is  through  the  former  outlet 
of  the  old  Monongahela  drainage  system,  and,  like  Conneaut  and  Ashtabula 
creeks,  it  is  diverted  westward  near  the  border  of  Lake  Erie  by  a  morainic 
ridge  running  pa,rallel  with  the  lake  shore.  This  morainic  ridge  holds 
the  stream  in  a  westerly  course  nearly  to  its  mouth  at  Painesville  The 
preglacial  stream  which  discharged  through  the  Grand  River  Basin  came  to 
the  present  shore  of  Lake  Erie  a  few  miles  west  of  Ashtabula,  near  the 
village  of  Geneva.  Grand  River,  like  Conneaut  Creek,  encounters  rock 
strata  throughout  much  of  its  westward  course,  and  there  flows  in  a  narrow 
gorge,  strikingly  in  contrast  with  the  bi-oad,  shallow  valley  of  the  Grand 
River  Basin. 

CHAGRIN    RIVER. 

Chagrin  River  has  two  headwater  forks,  each  of  which  finds  its  source 
in  marshes  among  the  knolls  of  an  interlobate  moraine,  on  the  elevated 
upland  east  of  the  Grand  River  Basin.  The  two  streams  unite  near  Chagrin 
Falls,  above  which  point  the  valleys  are  inconspicuous.  At  the  falls  there 
is  a  descent  of  a  few  feet  over  sandstone  ledges.     The  stream  then  soon 


216  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

enters  a  preglacial  channel  which  has  been  filled  to  a  depth  of  about  200 
feet  with  drift.  This  old  vallej^  can  scarcely  have  drained  a  large  area, 
since  the  larger  systems  discharging  through  the  Grand  River  Basin  and 
the  Cuyahoga  would  have  absorbed  nearly  all  the  di'ainage  except  a  narrow 
strip  lying  between  their  trunk  streams. 

CUYAHOGA    RIVER. 

The  present  Cuyahoga  River  has  its  head  near  the  source  of  the  East 
Fork  of  Chagrin  River,  on  the  uplands  east  of  the  Grand  River  Basin,  only 
a  few  miles  from  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie.  It  leads  southwestward  for  nearly 
50  miles,  away  from  the  lake,  occupying  a  shallow  valley  bordered  by 
marshes  throughout  much  of  its  course,  and  having  an  averag-e  fall  of  but 
4.5  feet  per  mile.  At  the  village  of  Cuyahoga  Falls  it  makes  a  fall  of  220 
feet  within  a  distance  of  3  miles  and  enters  a  preglacial  valley,  whicli  it 
follows  northward  to  Lake  Erie  at  Cleveland. 

In  this  preglacial  valley  there  is  a  heavy  drift  filling,  both  beneath  the 
stream  and  on  the  borders  of  the  valley  Wells  in  Cleveland  indicate  that 
the  valley  floor  is  about  400  feet  below  the  mouth  of  the  present  stream,  or 
less  than  200  feet  above  tide.  Silt  deposits  on  the  borders  of  the  valley 
indicate  that  it  was  filled  to  a  height  of  fully  200  feet  above  the  present 
stream,  or  to  within  100  feet  of  the  level  of  the  bordering-  uplands.  From 
these  data  it  appears  that  the  preglacial  valley  was  about  700  feet  in 
depth.  Its  width  is  scarcely  2  miles  at  the  level  of  the  present  stream,  and 
is  probably  much  narrower  at  the  level  of  the  rock  floor.  Being  bordered 
at  the  brow  of  the  blufi"s  by  ledges  of  resistant  sandstone,  it  has  preserved 
a  somewhat  narrow  channel. 

The  preglacial  valley  occupied  by  the  Cuyahoga  in  its  lower  course 
may  have  constituted  the  line  of  discliarge  for  much  of  the  region  now 
tributary  to  Tuscarawas  River,  as  indicated  in  the  discussion  of  that  drain- 
age system  (pp.  165-168). 

ROCKY    RIVER. 

Rocky  River  has  two  forks,  which  unite  near  the  town  of  Berea,  Ohio. 
These  tributaries  are  mainly  in  drift-filled  preglacial  valleys,  but  the 
united  stream  northward  from  Berea  is  largely  in  a  new  course.  It  crosses 
the  preglacial  valley  from  west  to  east  a  short  distance  north  of  this  city, 
as  pointed  out  by  Dr.  D.  T.  Gould,^  who  has  traced  a  preglacial  valley 

iThe  Berea  Advertiser,  April  16, 1886. 


TRIBUTARIES  OF  LAKE  ERIE.  217 

from  a  point  a  short  distance  above  Berea  northward  on  the  east  side  of 
that  city  to  Lake  Erie,  which  it  enters  a  short  distance  west  of  the  present 
month  of  the  stream.  Each  of  the  forks  has  falls  and  rapids  in  passing- 
over  the  Berea  grit,  those  on  the  east  fork  being  at  the  city  of  Berea  and 
those  on  the  west  fork  at  the  village  of  Olmsted  Falls.  The  present  chan- 
nels of  the  streams  are  shallow  above  these  falls  and  rapids,  being  bnt  25 
to  40  feet  in  depth,  but  upon  passing  the  outcrop  of  Berea  grit  the  soft 
Cuyahoga  shale  is  entered  and  a  narrow  canyon-like  gorge  100  feet  or  more 
in  average  depth  is  excavated. 

BLACK    RIVER. 

Two  streams  with  this  name  unite  at  the  city  of  Elyria  and  pass 
thence  northward  to  the  lake  at  Loraine.  The  eastern  or  main  fork  has  its 
source  on  the  borders  of  an  extensive  marsh  near  Lodi,  in  which  a  boring 
210  feet  in  depth  failed  to  reach  rock,  and  flows  thence  northward  mainly 
through  a  drift-filled  valley,  though  not  strictly  coincident  with  it.  This 
old  valley  apparently  drained  the  headwaters  of  Killbuck  Creek,  as  indi- 
cated in  the  discussion  of  that  stream.  At  the  city  of  Elyria  occur  falls 
neai'ly  40  feet  in  height,  and  the  power  which  they  furnish  has  recently  been 
utilized.  The  west  fork  heads  in  a  moraine  near  the  village  of  Nova  and 
takes  a  course  east  of  north,  channeling  a  passage  much  of  the  way  through 
rock,  its  course  not  being  so  nearly  in  harmony  with  the  preglacial  drainage 
line  as  that  of  the  east  fork.  The  united  stream  is  mainly  in  a  new  course 
from  Elyria  to  its  mouth. 

VERMILION   RIVER. 

This  stream  heads  in  the  midst  of  morainic  ridges  near  Greenwich, 
and  flows  east  of  north,  mainly  through  a  rock-bound  postglacial  valley. 
It  drains  a  somewhat  elevated  sandstone  district.  The  valley  is  narrow 
throughout  its  course,  being  usually  but  15  to  20  rods  wide.  It  is  scarcely 
50  feet  in  average  de23th,  except  for  a  few  miles  near  the  mouth,  where  it  is 
100  to  150  feet  deep. 

HURON    RIVER. 

Huron  River  has  its  source  in  extensive  marshes  between  moraines 
near  New  Haven.  It  drains  a  low  district  underlain  by  shale  along  the 
western  border  of  the  outcrop  of  Berea  grit.  Its  valley  is  shallower  than 
that  of  the  Vermilion,  seldom  reaching  50  feet  in  depth. 


218  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


SANDUSKY    RIVER. 


Sandusky  River  is  a  larger  and  more  widely  branching-  stream  than  any 
of  the  tributaries  of  Lake  Erie  thus  far  discussed.  It  consists  of  a  westerly 
and  a  northerly  flowing  portion.  The  westerly  flowing  portion  leads  from 
the  escarpment  of  Eocarboniferous  sandstone  near  (Crestline  westward  down 
tbe  slope  to  the  axis  of  the  Scioto  Basin.  Instead  of  turning  southward,  as 
the  neighboring  streams  do,  to  enter  the  Scioto  River,  it  turns  northward 
and  flows  down  a  gradual  slope  to  Lake  Erie.  It  enters  Sandusky  Bay  at 
the  western  end.  The  valley  of  this  river  is  small,  being  only  20  to  50  feet 
in  depth  and  one-fourth  mile  or  less  in  average  width.  It  is  in  places  cut 
into  rock  a  few  feet,  and  appears  to  be  largely  independent  of  preglacial 
drainage  lines. 

MAUMEE    RIVER. 

The  Maumee  River  system  has  the  greater  portion  of  its  drainage  area 
within  the  State  of  Ohio,  but  small  portions  are  found  in  Indiana  and  Michi- 
gan. The  drainage  of  the  two  headwater  forks  of  this  system  was  formerh^ 
southwestward  from  Fort  Wayne  to  the  Wabash.  At  that  time  Lake 
Maumee  occupied  the  district  through  which  the  Maumee  flows,  the  mouth 
of  the  old  lake  being  near  the  point  where  the  St.  Marys  and  St.  Joseph 
rivers  had  their  discharge.  As  this  mouth  stood  higher  than  the  portion  of 
the  basin  toward  the  east  and  tlie  portion  of  the  outlet  toward  the  west,  there 
was  a  natural  summit  formed  upon  the  withdrawal  of  the  lake,  from  which 
the  waters  of  the  St.  Joseph  and  St.  Marys  rivers  were  free  to  flow  either  to 
the  east  or  to  the  west.  By  some  accident  of  deposition  or  of  slope  the 
stream  found  it  easier  to  turn  eastward  than  to  maintain  its  original  course 
westward,  and  thus  the  Lake  Erie  drainage  basin  embraces  these  streams 
as  well  as  those  which  have  been  formed  in  the  old  lake  bottom  or  were 
tributary  to  the  old  lake. 

The  Maumee  River  has  a  length  of  about  150  miles  and  a  fall  of  164 
feet,  the  source  being  735  feet  and  the  mouth  573  feet  above  tide.  It  has 
a  shallow  channel,  perhaps  50  feet  in  average  depth,  excavated  mainly  in 
the  drift.  It  is  not  itself  a  navigable  stream,  but  is  followed  closely  by  the 
Wabash  and  Erie  Canal,  which  for  many  years  afforded  a  means  of  water 
transportation. 

The  St.  Marys  River  has  its  source  in  Shelby  County,  Ohio,  at  an 


TRIBUTARIES  OF  LAKE  ERIE.  219 

elevation  of  about  976  feet  above  tide,  or  238  feet  above  the  level  of  its 
mouth.  The  length  of  the  stream  being  about  100  miles,  the  average  fall  is 
scarcely  2J  feet  per  mile.  The  portion  within  the  State  of  Indiana  has  a 
fall  of  but  18  feet  in  a  distance  of  35  or  40  miles,  or  about  6  inches  per 
mile,  and  is,  therefore,  very  sluggish.  The  course  of  the  river,  in  both  Ohio 
and  Indiana,  is  largely  determined  by  a  moraine  which  lies  on  its  north 
border.  The  descent  of  the  river  corresponds  closely  to  that  of  the  plain 
in  which  it  flows,  and  the  stream  has  formed  but  a  shallow  channel,  seldom 
more  than  25  feet  in  depth. 

The  St.  Joseph-of-the-Maiunee  has  its  source  in  southern  Michigan 
and  flows  southwestward  across  the  northwestern  corner  of  Ohio,  entering 
Indiana  about  35  miles  above  its  mouth.  Its  length,  like  that  of  the  St. 
Marys  River,  is  about  100  miles-  It  has  a  more  rapid  fall,  since  its  source 
is  in  a  more  elevated  district,  standing  about  1,050  feet  above  tide.  The 
portion  in  Indiana  has  a  fall  of  nearly  2  feet  per  mile.  Throughout  much 
of  its  course  the  river  flows  in  a  narrow  plain  lying  between  two  morainic 
ridges,  and  its  descent  is  determined  by  that  of  the  plain.  Its  valley  cuts 
only  25  to  50  feet  into  the  plain  and  has  a  very  narrow  bottom. 

The  principal  southern  tributary  of  the  Maumee  River  in  Ohio  is 
Auglaize  River,  which  enters  it  at  Defiance.  The  relation  of  the  course  of 
this  stream  and  of  its  principal  tributaries  to  the  morainic  ridges  may  be 
seen  by  reference  to  PI.  XL  It  will  be  observed  that  the  main  stream  and 
also  two  of  its  eastern  tributaries.  Hog  Creek  and  Blanchard  River,  have 
their  westerly  courses  along  the  outer  border  of  morainic  ridges,  while  their 
northerly  courses  and  the  courses  of  the  smaller  tributaries  are  directly 
awa}"  from  the  St.  Marys  moraine. 

It  should  be  noted  also  that  Tiffin  River,  a  northern  tributary  entering 
the  Maumee  at  Defiance,  follows  the  outer  border  of  the  Blanchard  or 
Defiance  moraine,  while  its  tributaries,  like  those  of  the  Auglaiztj,  lead 
away  from  the  St.  Marys  moraine. 

The  drainage  of  the  district  lying  between  the  Defiance  moraine  and 
Lake  Erie,  in  northwestern  Ohio,  is  in  lines  flowing  directly  away  from  the 
moraine.  A  large  part  of  the  drainage  is  into  the  Maumee,  but  Portage 
Creek  carries  the  drainage  of  a  narrow  belt  directly  to  Lake  Erie. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  DRIFT  BORDER  OR  GLACIAL  BOUNDARY 

It  would  be  misleading  to  treat  the  drift  border  as  a  unit,  for  it  is  really 
a  combination  of  the  margins  of  several  drift  sheets  which  differ  widely  in 
age.  A  portion  of  the  border  in  noi-th western  Pennsjdvania  seeins  to  mark 
the  limits  of  a  drift  sheet  as  old  as  the  Kansau  and  possibly  of  pre-Kansan 
age.  Immediately  adjacent  to  this  portion  of  the  border  the  Wisconsin 
drift  extends  to  the  limits  of  glaciation.  But  upon  passing  to  central  Ohio 
the  Illinoian  drift  is  the  one  to  mark  the  glacial  limits.  The  lowan  is  not 
exposed  to  view  outside  the  Wisconsin  within  the  region  under  discussion, 
though  a  silt  apparently  of  lowan  age  extends  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
Wisconsin  and  the  Illinoian  in  the  western  part  of  this  region. 

SECTION  I.    THE  BORDER   OF   THE   OLDEST  DRIFT   (KANSAN   OR 
PRE-KANSAN) . 

So  far  as  this  region  is  concerned,  the  oldest  sheet  of  drift  found  as  an 
outlying  deposit  is  restricted  mainly  to  the  northwestern  part  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, though  there  may  be  limited  exposures  of  it  in  southwestern  New 
York  and  in  eastern  Ohio.  In  the  central  and  eastern  parts  of  the  region  it 
seems  to  fall  short  of  the  limits  of  the  later  drift  sheets. 

So  far  as  exposed,  this  old  drift  has  a  very  meager  development  on  the 
uplands,  though  it  is  heavy  in  the  valleys.  The  general  thickness  on  the 
uplands  probably  averages  less  than  5  feet,  while  in  the  valleys  it  reaches 
depths  of  200  to  300  feet.  Because  of  the  meager  deposition  on  the  uplands 
it  becomes  difficult  to  determine  the  precise  limits  of  glaciation.  Search  is 
often  necessary  to  discover  even  a  bowlder  or  a  pebble  of  glacial  origin  in 
a  trip  across  the  uplands,  while  valleys  on  either  side  may  contain  heavy 
deposits  of  drift.  Until,  therefore,  very  detailed  study  has  been  made 
the  limits  of  the  drift  can  be  stated  only  approximately.  As  yet  it  is  not 
known  whether  the  border  passes  somewhat  directly  across  the  uplands  and 


BORDER  OF  THE  OLDEST  DRIFT.  221 

valleys  or  is  disposed  in  loops  with  protrusions  down  or  into  the  valleys 
and  with  reentrants  on  the  iiplands.  It  is  to  be  expected,  however,  that 
such  disposition  in  loops  would  result  from  the  topographic  conditions. 

An  occasional  bowlder  has  been  found  so  far  beyond  the  well-defined 
glacial  deposits  as  to  arouse  suspicion  of  transportation  through  human 
agencies,  though  the  object  of  such  an  expenditure  of  labor  is  not  always 
clear.  For  example,  a  single  bowlder  is  reported  by  W.  S.  Grresley  to  lie 
in  a  ravine  on  the  south  side  of  the  Ohio  River  near  Pittsburg  in  such 
situation  that  it  can  not  be  referred  to  stream  transportation  down  the 
Allegheny  and  Ohio  valleys.'  The  writer  observed  a  small  bowlder  on  an 
upland  south  of  the  Ohio,  near  the  Pennsylvania  and  West  Virginia  line, 
that  was  evidently  be3^ond  the  reach  of  the  Ohio.  Other  bowlders  that 
seem  referable  to  stream  action  have  been  found  on  high  terraces  along 
the  Ohio  near  Pittsburg  and  near  Beaver,  Pa.  In  the  present  state  of 
knowledge  the  writer  is  not  prepared  to  decide  whether  or  not  glaciation 
reached  the  Ohio  at  Pittsburg  and  Beaver.  These  scattering  bowlders  seem 
to  be  only  strays  that  have  been  carried  beyond  the  limits  of  glaciation, 
but  there  is  a  chance  that  they  are  a  part  of  a  very  attenuated  glacial 
deposit.  The  limit  of  this  old  drift,  as  given  on  the  glacial  majJ  (PI.  II), 
represents  merely  the  approximate  margin  of  a  well-defined,  easily  traced 
deposit. 

The  border  of  this  old  drift  sheet  appears  to  emerge  from  beneath  the 
Wisconsin  drift  near  the  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  line  on  high  uplands 
east  of  the  Conewango  River.  It  passes  southward  across  the  Allegheny 
River  nearly  to  the  bend  of  the  Tionesta  River  at  Barnesville,  Pa.,  while 
the  Wisconsin  border  passes  westward  across  northern  Warren  County  at  a 
distance  of  several  miles  north  of  the  Allegheny  River.  There  was  appar-, 
eiitly  a  small  lobe  of  the  earlier  ice  field  extending  from  the  Allegheny 
Valley  southward  toward  the  bend  of  the  Tionesta,  for  westward  the  limits 
of  glaciation  appear  to  be  along  or  near  the  Allegheny  Valley  from  near 
Warren  down  to  Tidioute.  From  Tidioute  to  the  vicinity  of  Oil  City  the 
border  appears  to  lie  a  short  distance  north  of  the  Allegheny,  though 
probably  nowhere  over  5  miles  from  the  river.  In  that  part  of  its  course 
it  is  15  to  20  miles  outside  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin  drift.  .  Near  Oil 
City  the  border  crosses  to  the  south  side  of  the  Allegheny  River,  but  may 

'Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  XVIII,  1896,  pp.  331-332. 


222  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

return  to  the  north  side  just  below  Frankhn.  A  few  miles  farther  dowu.  in 
the  vicinity  of  Brandon  and  Kennerdell,  it  is  again  on  the  south  side,  but 
apparently  crosses  to  the  north  side  in  the  vicinity  of  Kennerdell,  and 
passes  southwestward  through  the  southwestern  part  of  Venango  County. 
Near  the  common  corners  of  Venango,  Butler,  and  Mercer  counties  this 
drift  border  seems  to  approacli  closely  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin  drift. 
From  this  point  southwestward  into  Ohio  there  are  but  few  places  where  it 
appears  to  extend  beyond  the  Wisconsin.  Bowlders  and  thin  deposits  of 
drift  occur  on  uplands  for  a  short  distance  outside  the  limits  of  the  heavy 
deposits  of  the  Wisconsin  drift  in  Beaver  County,  but  the  writer's  examin- 
ations in  that  region  have  not  been  sufficientl}^  thorough  to  wan-ant  an 
opinion  as  to  their  relation  to  the  Wisconsin  drift. 

Since  this  drift  and  the  evidences  of  its  great  age  are  discussed  in  a 
subsequent  chapter,  we  may  pass  now  to  the  portion  of  the  border  occupied 
by  the  Illinoian  drift  sheet. 

SECTIOK  ir.     THE  BORDER  OF  THE  IliLISTOIAN  DRIEST. 

The  border  of  the  Illinoian  drift  seldom  reaches  the  degree  of  attenuation 
that  characterizes  much  of  the  Kansan  drift  border.  Indeed,  one  usually 
passes  within  a  space  of  less  than  a  mile,  and  often  in  a  space  of  a  few 
yards,  from  a  district  that  seems  to  be  driftless  to  one  in  which  the  di-ift  is 
a  well-defined  deposit  several  feet  in  depth.  Yet  there  is  seldom  a  marginal 
drift  ridge  or  moraine.  The  Illinoian  deposits  are  much  heavier  in  valleys 
than  on  uplands,  and  there  is  a  marked  sinuosity  of  margin  to  conform  to 
the  topographic  conditions.  But  notwithstanding  these  irregularities  the 
border  is  easily  mapped  with  a  fair  degree  of  precision ;  at  least  this  is  true 
wherever  the  writer  has  followed  it. 

The  reentrant  angle  in  south-central  Indiana  forms  a  natural  line  of 
separation  between  the  Illinois  glacial  lobe  and  the  part  of  the  ice  sheet  to 
the  east.  For  this  reason,  and  also  because  the  border  of  the  Illinoian  drift 
of  the  Illinois  lobe  has  already  been  discussed  (see  Monograph  XXXVIII), 
the  discussion  of  its  border  is  taken  up  at  this  reentrant  angle. 

The  northernmost  point  of  the  reentrant  angle  in  the  Illinoian  drift 
border  in  southern  Indiana  is  on  the  north  side  of  Beanblossom  Creek,  in 
northern  Monroe  County,  a  few  miles  north  of  Bloomington.  From  this 
point   the  border   takes  a  course    slightly  south  of   east,  entering   Brown 


BORDER  OF  THE  ILLINOIAN  DRIFT.  223 

County  near  Needmore,  at  which  village,  as  noted  by  Wright  in  Bulletin 
58  of  this  Survey,  it  crosses  to  the  south  side  of  Beanblossoru  Creek  and 
soon  rises  to  an  elevated  divide  between  Beanblossom  and  Salt  creeks. 
The  border  lies  along  the  south  slope  of  this  dividing  ridge  for  several  miles, 
furnishing  bowlders  which  have  been  rolled  down  the  ravines  to  the  valley 
of  Salt  Creek.  A  short  distance  east  of  Nashville,  the  county  seat  of  Brown 
County,  the  border  crosses  Salt  Creek,  and,  swinging  southward,  passes 
thi-ough  the  elcA^ated  eastern  range  of  townships  occupied  by  the  Knobstone 
escarpment  to  the  extreme  southeast  corner  of  the  county. 

Upon  passing  from  Brown  into  Jackson  County,  Ind.,  the  drift  border 
descends  from  the  Knobstone  escarpment  to  the  low  country  on  the  east, 
and  follows  nearly  the  base  of  the  escarpment  southward  throug'h  Jack- 
son, northeastern  Washington,  and  southwestern  Scott  counties  into  Clark 
Count}^.  It  continues  southward  in  Clark  County  to  the  Ohio  River  at 
Jefifersonville,  Ind.,  and  there  makes  an  abrupt  turn  to  the  east,  as  indicated 
in  PL"  II. 

The  border  apparently  follows  up  the  Ohio  Valley  about  to  Bethlehem, 
Ind.,  25  miles  above  Jeffersonville,  before  rising  to  the  uplands  south  of 
the  river,  thus  making  a  pronounced  loop  in  the  Devonian  shale  basin. 
Thence  it  passes  in  a  northeast  course  near  Bedford,  the  county  seat  of 
Trimble  County,  Ky.,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  River,  at  CarroUton, 
Ky.  East  of  the  Kentucky  River  it  follows  nearly  the  divide  between 
Eagle  Creek  and  the  Ohio  River  as  far  as  the  bend  of  Eagle  Creek  near 
Glencoe,  though  the  ice  sheet  in  places  extended  a  little  beyond  the  divide 
and  deposited  a  small  amount  of  drift  in  the  headwaters  of  tributaries  of 
Eagle  Creek.  From  Grlencoe  the  border  leads  northeastward  past  Rich- 
wood  to  the  Licking  River.  It  extends  beyond  the  divide  which  separates 
Gunpowder  Creek  from  Mud  Lick  and  Big  Bone  creeks  far  enough  to 
include  the  headwaters  of  the  two  last-named  creeks.  From  near  Rich- 
wood  to  the  Licking  River,  Bank  Lick  Creek  flows  near  the  glacial  bound- 
ar}^  On  the  ridge  between  the  Licking  and  Ohio  rivers  there  is  but  little 
drift,  }'et  a  few  pebbles  occur  as  far  south  as  Fort  Thomas.  From  Fort 
Thomas  the  drift  border  follows  up  the  Ohio  Valley  to  the  vicinity  of 
Ripley,  Ohio,  as  long  since  noted  by  Wright. 

Upon  passing  into  Ohio,  the  border,  as  traced  by  Wright,  crosses 
southeastern  Brown,  northwestern  Adams,  southeastern  Highland,  and 
northwestern  Pike  counties  -  in  a  southwest-northeast  course,  and  comes  to 


224  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Paint  Creek  Valley  near  Bainbridge,  in  southwestern  Ross  County.  It  then 
follows  this  valley  down  to  the  Scioto  near  Chillicothe. 

Having-  found  that  Wright's  tracing  of  the  glacial  boundary  east  from 
the  Scioto  marks  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin  drift,  and  not  the  limits  of 
glaciation,  the  writer  has  made  a  somewhat  detailed  tracing  of  the  earlier, 
or  lUinoian,  drift  border  in  that  region.  From  the  northern  part  of  Chilli- 
cothe the  Wisconsin  drift  border  passes  northeastward  to  Adelphi,  as  indi- 
cated by  Wright,  but  the  Illinoian  border  lies  several  miles  farther  south. 
Drift  is  well  displayed  directly  east  from  Chillicothe  as  far  as  Mooresville, 
a  distance  of  6  miles.  The  border  there  swings  northeastward  and  follows 
Walnut  Creek  Valley  to  Charleston,  beyond  which  place  it  continues  over 
high  hills  to  the  valley  of  Salt  Creek  at  Haynes,  passing  about  3  miles 
south  of  Adelphi.  The  occurrence  of  till  on  the  elevated  land  south  of 
Adelphi  was  noted  by  Wright, '  but  was  not  recognized  as  a  sheet  distinct 
from  the  Wisconsin  di-ift. 

From  Haynes  tlie  Illinoian  border  leads  northward  to  South  Perry, 
whef e  it  apparently  passes  beneath  the  Wisconsin  border.  From  South 
Perry  northeastward  to  Clear  Creek,  a  western  tributary  of  the  Hocking 
River  entering  about  8  miles  below  Lancaster,  the  Wisconsin  drift  seems  to 
fdrm  the  border,  though  it  should  be  noted  that  in  places  in  this  part  of 
its  course  its  limits  are  a  short  distance  beyond  Wright's  boundary  line. 
On  the  lower  course  of  Clear  Creek  a  glacial  terrace  which  seems  to  be  of 
Illinoian  age  appears  outside  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin.  This  terrace 
stands  50  feet  or  more  above  the  level  of  the  terraces  of  Wisconsin  age 
found  in  that  valley  and  the  Hocking  Valley,  or  about  100  feet  above  the 
creek.  It  carries  pebbles  of  granite  and  greenstone  as  well  as  local  rocks, 
and  the}'  are  much  more  weathered  than  is  the  gravel  of  Wisconsin  age. 

Near  Revenge,  on  the  north  side  of  Clear  Creek,  the  Illinoian  drift 
emerges  from  beneath  the  Wisconsin  and  passes  eastward  across  the  Hock- 
ing Valley  into  aiorthern  Hocking  County,  its  border  being  along  the  valley 
of  Rush  Creek  to  the  bend  of  the  creek  4  miles  south  of  Bremen.  The 
border  there  takes  a  northeast  course  past  Junction  City.  From  Junction 
City  the  course  is  north-northeast  to  Jonathan  Creek,  passing  about  4  miles 
east  of  Somerset,  and  coming  to  Jonatlian  Creek  near  the  line  of  Pen-y  and 
Muskingum  counties. 

^  Glacial  Boundary  in  Ohio,  p.  61. 


BORDER  OF  THE  ILLINOJAN  DRIFT.  225 

From  Jonathan  Creek  the  course  is  northward  across  a  projecting  part 
of  Muskingum  County  to  the  "National  road,"  about  2  miles  west  of  Mount 
Sterling.  It  then  changes  to  a  course  west  of  north  and  comes  to  the 
Licking  Valley  at  Hanover,  8  miles  east  of  the  city  of  Newark.  The  great 
filling  produced  in  the  Licking  Valley  at  the  drift  border  is  discussed  below. 

From  the  Licking  Valley  the  border  bears  east  of  north  past  Fallsburg 
and  comes  to  Wahatomaka  Creek  at  Frampton,  in  the  extreme  southeast 
corner  of  Knox  County.  It  continues  with  the  same  course  to  the  Wal- 
honding  River,  passing  about  2  miles  east  of  New  Guilford,  in  Coshocton 
County,  and  coming  to  the  river  about  2  miles  east  of  Walhonding.  From 
this  river  the  course  is  slightly  west  of  north,  following  nearly  the  divide 
between  the  tributaries  of  Killbuck  and  Mohican  creeks  to  the  Wisconsin 
drift  border  a  short  distance  west  of  Nashville,  Holmes  County.  The  Wis- 
consin drift  apparently  conceals  its  further  course  in  northeastern  Ohio. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  drift  border  just  outlined  forms  a  great  loop 
with  a  length  of  about  400  miles,  embracing  an  area  whose  width  is  nearly 
250  miles.  The  border  at  its  southernmost  point,  near  Louisville,  Ky., 
reaches  latitude  38°  20',  which  is  nearly  one  degree  farther  north  than  the 
extreme  limit  reached  by  the  lUinoian  drift  of  the  Illinois  glacial  lobe,  the 
Hmits  of  that  lobe  being  about  37°  35'.  The  reentrant  in  northern  Monroe 
County,  Tnd.,  extends  up  to  39°  20',  giving  the  lobe  on  the  east  a  protrusion 
of  about  70  miles  at  its  extreme  point.  The  terminal  portion  of  the  loop 
has  an  indentation  near  Cincinnati  of  15  or  20  miles,  producing  an  incipient 
double  lobation.  The  drift  border  on  the  east  side  of  this  area  has  a 
remarkable  retreat  to  the  north,  the  point  where  the  lllinoian  border 
disappears  beneath  the  Wisconsin  in  western  Holmes  County,  Ohio,  being 
about  latitude  40°  40',  or  more  than  two  degrees  north  of  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  lobe. 

To  one  examining  into  the  causes  of  this  irregularity  of  outline  in  the 
drift  border,  several  topographic  features  at  once  present  themselves.  The 
reentrant  angle  in  south-central  Indiana  lies  between  the  great  lobes,  one 
of  which  moved  southward  through  the  Lake  Michigan  Basin,  and  the  other 
through  the  Huron-Erie  Basin.  This,  it  is  thought,  will  in  large  part 
account  for  its  remaining  unglaciated.  The  Lake  Michigan  Basin  and  the 
country  to  the  southwest  being  an  exceptionally  low  area,  the  ice  sheet 
extended  farther  south  than  in  the  somewhat  elevated  area  between  Lakes 

MON    XLI 15 


226  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Huron  and  Micliig-an.  In  tlie  district  south  of  Lake  Huron  it  extended 
much  farther  south  than  in  the  more  elevated  and  broken  district  on  its 
borders. 

The  notcli  in  the  drift  border  near  Cincinnati  appears  to  be  about  in 
the  lee  of  the  elevated  tract  in  Logan  County,  Ohio,  standing  between  the 
Scioto  and  Miami  basins,  and  this  relation  suggests  the  cause  for  the  notch 
or  slight  indentation  displayed. 

The  reentrant  in  southern  Indiana  was  no  doubt  made  more  prominent 
by  reason  of  the  elevated  and  broken  country  which  the  ice  sheet  there 
encountered,  while  the  southward  protrusion  on  its  east  border  was  aided 
by  the  low,  smooth  country  in  the  path  of  that  part  of  the  ice  sheet.  It 
seems  probable  that  these  local  conditions  may  have  been  responsible  for  a 
difference  of  several  miles  in  the  irregularity  of  the  drift  border,  but  they 
can  hardly  be  held  responsible  for  the  lobation  or  protrusion  of  70  miles 
which  the  border  displays.  The  great  basins  encountered  by  the  ice  sheet 
before  reaching  its  extreme  limits  appear  to  have  been  the  chief  factors  in 
causing  the  lobation. 

How  far  within  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin  drift  the  border  of  the 
Illinoian  di'ift  lies  in  northeastern  Ohio,  and  districts  farther  east,  has  not 
been  determined.     It  will  perhaps  be  made  known  by  well  sections. 

SECTION  III.     THE  BORDER  OF  THE  WISCON'SIlSr  DRIFT. 

The  Wisconsin  di'ift  extends  nearly  or  quite  to  the  glacial  boundary 
in  the  reentrant  angle  in  southwestern  New  York.  It  also  reaches  or  closely 
approaches  the  limits  of  glaciation  in  eastern  Ohio  and  the  western  edge 
of  Pennsylvania.  But  elsewhere  in  the  region  inider  discussion  the  border 
of  the  Wisconsin  drift  lies  some  distance  back  from  the  glacial  boundary. 
In  southeastern  Indiana  it  falls  short  50  to  60  miles,  and  in  southwestern 
Ohio  10  to  40  miles,  as  may  be  seen  by  reference  to  PI.  II. 

The  late  Wisconsin  di-ift  seems  to  reach  about  to  the  border  of  the 
eai"ly  Wisconsin,  and  possibly  in  places  beyond  it,  in  central  and  eastern 
Ohio  and  in  northwestern  Pennsylvania.  But  in  southwestern  Ohio  and 
southeastern  Indiana,  as  indicated  in  PL  II,  the  early  Wisconsin  drift  has 
a  marked  extension  beyond  the  late  Wisconsin.  The  time  relations  of  the 
Wisconsin  di'ift  in  the  district  east  from  the  reentrant  angle  in  southwestern 
New  York  have  not  been  fully  settled.     It  remains  to  be  deteiinined  whether 


BORDER  OF  THE  WISCONSIN  DRIFT.  227 

the  border  of  the  late  Wisconsin  swings  southeastward  with  the  glacial 
boundary  or  takes  an  eastward  course  toward  the  southern  ends  of  the 
Finger  Lakes,  leaving  a  strip  of  early  Wisconsin  drift  exposed  in  northern 
Pennsylvania  and  the  adjacent  portion  of  New  York. 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  reentrant  angle  in  southwestern  New  York  the 
border  of  the  Wisconsin  drift  is  very  attenuated  on  the  uplands  and  some- 
what difficult  to  locate,  but  in  the  valleys  it  is  marked  by  morainic  ridges 
and  knolls  of  considerable  strength.  The  influence  of  topography  has 
been  very  marked,  there  being  pronounced  lobation  in  the  valleys  and  low- 
lands, and  a  falling  back  or  northward  recession  of  the  border  on  the 
uplands.  This  is  well  shown  in  the  map  of  the  Olean  quadrangle  (PL  IV). 
How  far  eastward  these  characteristics  of  the  Wisconsin  drift  border  extend 
has  not  been  determined.  They  are  known  to  prevail  at  least  to  the  point 
where  the  glacial  boundary  passes  into  Pennsylvania,  and  they  may  be 
prevalent  over  the  crest  of  the  Allegheny  Mountains. 

From  the  reentrant  angle  in  New  York  south  westward  the  Wisconsin 
drift  presents  a  definite  terminal  moraine  on  high  uplands  as  well  as  in 
valleys.  The  sinuosities  of  its  border  are  also  far  less  striking  than  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  reentrant  angle.  It  exhibits  pronounced  lobation  in  the 
broad  lowlands,  such  as  the  Grand  River,  Scioto,  and  Miami  basins,  but 
the  ordinary  valleys  of  the  hilly  country  were  occupied  only  a  very  short 
distance  beyond  the  position  of  the  border  on  neighboring  ridges. 

There  is  a  well-defined  terminal  ridge  or  moraine  marking  the  border 
of  the  early  Wisconsin  drift  in  Ohio  and  Indiana  as  well  as  that  of  the  late 
Wisconsin  drift.  It  is  therefore  only  on  elevated  uplands  in  the  hilly  coun- 
try of  southwestern  New  York  and  northern  Pennsylvania  that  the  border 
of  the  Wisconsin  drift  is  not  marked  by  a  definite  ridge.  The  terminal 
ridge  or  moraine  is  a  far  more  conspicuous  feature  of  the  Wisconsin  glacia- 
tion  than  of  any  earlier  glaciations,  not  only  in  the  region  under  discussion 
but  throughout  the  glaciated  portion  of  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE  OLDEST  DRIFT  (KANSAN  OR  PRE-KANSAN). 

GENERAL  STATEMEN^T. 

It  was  noted  by  Lewis  and  Wright,  while  tracing  the  drift  border 
across  Pennsylvania,  that  a  deposit  of  drift  is  present  in  northwestern  Penn- 
sylvania outside  the  bulky  moraine  that  they  were  tracing,  a  moraine  which 
has  proved  to  be  of  Wisconsin  age.  They  called  this  outlying  drift  a 
"fringe,"  and  supposed  it  to  be  a  dependency  of  the  moraine/  It  was  also 
noted  by  Wright  that  in  eastern  Ohio  there  is  an  outlying  sheet  of  drift, 
and  this,  too,  was  called  a  fringe."  This  peculiarity  of  the  drift  margin 
in  eastern  Ohio  had  previously  been  noted  by  Chamberlin,  who  raised 
the  question  whether  the  border  drift  was  contemporaneous  with  or  older 
than  the  moraine.^  A  few  years  later  he  investigated  the  outlying  di'ift  of 
western  Pennsylvania  and  reached  the  conclusion  that  it  is  much  older 
than  the  moraine  back  of  it.*  The  writer's  studies  have  served  to  bring 
into  clearer  recognition  the  evidence  that  the  outlying  drift  of  western 
Pennsylvania  is  far  older  than  the  Wisconsin  drift.  The  extent  or  limits 
of  this  di'ift  sheet  having  been  considered  in  the  preceding  chapter,  we  may 
pass  at  once  to  the  description  of  the  deposit. 

DESCRIPTION^   OF   THE    DRIFT. 

This  old  drift  generally  contains  a  large  number  of  waterworn  peb- 
bles, with  which  so  little  clay  is  found  that  well  di'illers  commonly  call  the 
deposit  gravel.  The  bedding,  however,  is  very  indistinct  and  the  assorting 
imperfect,  so  that  it  seems  appropriate  to  call  it  a  very  stony  till  rather  than 

1  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Report  Z,  1884,  pp.  45, 170, 171, 177, 179-181, 186, 195,  200-202. 
^Op.  cit.,  pp.  206-207;  see  also  Glacial  Boundary  in  Ohio,  p.  35. 
='Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series.  Vol.  XXIV,  1882,  p.  96. 

*  Bull.  TJ.  S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  58, 1890,  pp.  14-15;  see  also  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series.  Vol.  XLVII, 
1894,  pp.  272-273. 

228 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  OLDEST  DRIFT.  229 

a  gravel.  In  valleys  which  discharged  toward  the  ice  margin  and  had  their 
lower  courses  obstructed  bj^the  ice  sheet  a  large  amount  of  silt  or  fine  sand 
is  found  under  drift  which  was  deposited  directly  by  the  ice  sheet.  This 
is  notably  the  case  in  the  old  valley  that  leads  northward  from  the  bend  of 
the  Tionesta  to  the  Allegheny.  Carll  reports  that  the  filling  to  a  depth  of 
over  200  feet  is  chiefly  clay,  and  that  only  the  surface  carries  large  stones 
of  northern  derivation.^  Several  valleys  lying  within  the  limits  of  the  Wis- 
consin drift  show  a  great  amount  of  fine  material  under  the  stony  drift,  and 
this,  as  in  valleys  outside  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin,  was  probably 
deposited  before  the  first  ice  invasion  or  contemporaneously  with  it. 

In  the  portion  of  the  Allegheny  Valley  which  was  either  covered  or 
closely  bordered  by  the  ice  sheet,  viz,  that  from  Warren  down  to  Kenner- 
dell,  stream  action  was  probably  interrupted  or  more  or  less  intermittent. 
As  a  result  there  is  on  the  whole  a  less  uniform  and  less  clearly  assorted 
deposit  than  in  the  portion  below  Kennerdell,  which  was  not  obstructed 
by  the  ice  sheet.  Portions  of  it,  hoM^ever,  are  as  well  assorted  as  in  the 
terraces  outside  the  limits  of  glaciation. 

The  bowlders  found  in  this  old  drift  are  remarkably  small,  it  being 
rare  to  find  one  that  exceeds  2  feet  in  diameter,  Avhile  the  great  majority 
are  less  than  1  foot.  Many  of  them  are  of  a  red  granite  which  has  become 
so  decayed  that  a  single  blow  with  a  hammer  will  knock  the  rock  to  pieces. 
Both  in  size  and  in  state  of  decay  they  are  strikingly  in  contrast  with  the 
bowlders  found  on  the  Wisconsin  drift,  there  being  many  large  and  fresh- 
looking  bowlders  in  that  drift.  The  rocks  contained  in  this  old  drift,  and  also 
those  in  the  Wisconsin  drift  of  northwestern  Pennsylvania,  are  very  largely 
derived  from  the  Devonian  and  Carboniferous  rocks  of  that  region.  Appar- 
ently less  than  1  per  cent  of  the  coarse  rock  ingredients  has  been  derived 
from  the  region  beyond  Lake  Erie. 

The  state  of  decay  of  the  local  as  well  as  of  the  foreign  stones  in  this 
old  drift,  and  also  the  great  amount  of  erosion  it  has  sustained,  j)ut  it 
in  striking  contrast  with  the  fresh-looking  and  but  slightly  eroded  Wis- 
consin drift.  Nearly  all  the  pebbles  found  on  the  surface  of  the  old  di-ift 
have  become  so  deeply  weathered  that  it  is  often  necessary  to  break  them 
in  order  to  obtain  a  sufiiciently  fresh  surface  to  warrant  classification.  On 
the  surface  of  the  Wisconsin  drift  the  same  classes  of  pebbles  are  still  so 

^  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Eept.  I*,  p.  353. 


230  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

fresh  that  only  a  glance  is  necessary  to  determine  their  class.  As  the 
upland  portion  of  this  old  drift  is  a  thin  deposit,  it  is  usually  deeply 
weathered  from  top  to  bottom.  In  the  valley  portion  weathering  is  very 
pronounced  to  a  depth  of  20  feet  or  more.  Usually  the  weathering  extends 
to  the  bottom  of  the  coarse  surface  portion. 

Sti-iated  stones  are  common  in  the  upland  drift,  and  a  few  have  been 
found  in  the  drift  along  the  valleys.  The  markings  are  rather  indistinct 
because  of  weathering,  and  contrast  strongly  with  the  fresh  lines  to  be  seen 
on  rocks  belonging  to  the  Wisconsin  drift. 

The  records  of  a  few  well  borings  and  some  detailed  observations  are 
here  given,  which  throw  light  upon  the  thickness  and  strvicture  of  drift  in  a 
few  of  the  valleys. 

At  Clarendon,  near  the  present  divide  in  the  lowland  that  connects  the 
headwater  portion  of  the  Tionesta  with  the  Allegheny,  one  well  is  reported 
to  have  reached  a  depth  of  240  feet  below  the  level  of  the  railway  station 
before  entering  rock.  There  were  thin  beds  of  stony  clay  and  gravelly 
material  intei'bedded  with  heavy  deposits  of  blue  silt.  Some  wells  in  the 
village  enter  rock  at  much  less  depth,  but  they  are  near  the  border  of  the 
old  valley.  On  the  borders  of  the  valley,  in  the  vicinity  of  Clarendon, 
glacial  deposits  occur  up  to  a  level  fully  1 00  feet  above  the  railway  station, 
or  1,500  feet  above  tide.  These  deposits  on  the  border  of  the  valley  are 
coarser  than  those  below  the  level  of  the  railway  station;  they  include  con- 
siderable cobble  and  coarse  gravel,  but  they  contain  only  small  bowlders, 
none  being  observed  which  exceed  7  inches  in  diameter.  The  Canadian 
I'ocks  are  so  rare  that  search  is  often  necessary  to  discover  them. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  Conewango  Eiver,  opposite  Warren,  very  stony 
or  gravelly  drift  abounds  up  to  fully  1,400  feet  above  tide,  or  to  about  250 
feet  above  the  river.  Wells  indicate  that  the  depth  near  the  valley  border 
is  often  more  than  100  feet,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  middle  of  the  valley 
received  a  filling  of  nearly  300  feet.  Only  narrow  remnants  are  preserved 
on  the  valley  borders,  and  these  consist  largely  of  gravel  oi-  very  stony  drift. 

In  the  valley  bottoms  near  Warren  there  is  a  gravel  deposit  of  Wis- 
consin age,  connecting  with  the  moraine  a  few  miles  north  of  Warren, 
which  is  composed  of  markedly  fresher  material  than  that  at  high  levels  on 
the  valley  borders.  The  old  gravel  appears  also  to  underlie  the  Wisconsin. 
About  li  miles  below  Warren,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Allegheny,  there  is 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  OLDEST  DRIFT.  231 

an   exposure   showing  the  fresh  Wisconsin  gravel  resting  on  the  deeply 
stained  and  weathered  gravel  of  the  old  drift. 

Between  Warren  and  Tidioute  there  is  but  a  small  amount  of  old  di-ift 
preserved  on  the  valley  borders,  and  wells  in  the  bottoms  indicate  that  the 
rock  floor  is  but  25  to  40  feet  below  the  stream.  The  gravel  in  the  valley 
bottoms  is  largely  of  Wisconsin  age. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  remarked  tliat  from  Warren  down  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Allegheny  the  rock  floor  is  usually  within  25  feet  of  the 
present  stream,  and  it  is  not  known  to  lie  more  than  50  feet  below  the 
stream  at  any  point.  It  thus  contrasts  strongly  with  the  part  of  the  valley 
in  New  York  whose  rock  floor  slopes  toward  the  Lake  Erie  Basin  and  lies 
200  to  300  feet  or  more  below  the  stream.  The  chief  northern  tributaries 
of  the  Allegheny  also  have  a  large  amount  of  drift  in  their  headwater 
portions  and  rock  floors  sloping  toward  the  Lake  Erie  Basin.  These  features 
are  discussed  in  Chapter  III. 

At  Tidioute  there  are  rock  shelves  on  each  side  of  the  Allegheny 
that  carry  80  to  100  feet  of  old  drift,  giving  the  appearance  of  terraces 
with  an  elevation  of  about  150  feet  above  the  river.  The  drift  appears  to 
be  largely  gravel.  A  stony  drift  is  found  on  the  slopes  of  the  valley  above 
and  also  opposite  Tidioute  up  to  a  height  of  about  330  feet  above  the  stream, 
or  1,420  feet  above  tide,  but  none  was  noted  at  higher  levels.  Whether  the 
valley  was  once  filled  to  the  upper  Hmit  of  this  drift  is  not  clear.  The 
glacial  boundary  may  extend  to  the  Allegheny  at  Tidioute.  Three  miles 
west  of  Tidioute,  near  McGraw  post-office,  on  uplands  standing  500  feet  or 
more  above  the  Allegheny,  thin  deposits  of  drift  occur,  and  notable  deposits 
occur  at  about  the  same  distance  northwest  of  Tidioute  on  the  headwaters 
of  East  Pine  Creek  and  on  Gordon  Run. 

At  Trunkeyville,  on  the  Allegheny,  a  few  miles  below  Tidioute,  a 
granite  bowlder  a  foot  in  diameter  was  noted  on  a  rock  shelf  at  about  150 
feet  above  river  level,  but  no  other  evidences  of  glaciation  were  noted  at 
that  place.  Possibly  it  was  transported  down  the  valley  by  the  stream,  as 
there  are  occasional  remnants  of  gravel  at  levels  even  higher  than  the 
bowlder  in  that  part  of  the  valley.  At  Hickory,  the  next  village  below 
Trunkeyville,  waterworn  pebbles  abound  on  a  rock  shelf  standing  about 
200  feet  above  the  river. 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  bend  near  President  the  Allegheny  Valley  is 


232  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

again  bordered  by  drift  deposits  at  hig-h  altitudes.  The  rock  shelves  np  to 
a  height  of  150  feet  above  the  river  carry  gravel  deposits  containing 
Canadian  rocks,  which  in  places  have  a  known  depth  of  30  to  40  feet. 
The  slopes  and  shelves  up  to  a  height  of  fully  300  feet  above  the  river 
carry  scattering  pebbles,  among  which  an  occasional  Canadian  rock  is  found. 
It  is  not  certain  that  the  glacial  boundary  lies  as  far  southeast  as  President, 
no  drift  having  been  observed  by  the  writer  on  the  uplands  in  that  Aacinity, 
but  the  high  altitude  of  these  glacial  pebbles  suggest  ice  occupancy. 
Undoubted  glacial  deposits  are  found  about  5  miles  west  of  President,  on 
uplands  bordering  the  Allegheny,  at  an  altitude  of  more  than  400  feet 
above  the  stream. 

At  Walnut  Bend  a  rock  shelf  or  point  encircled  by  the  Allegheny 
River  has  received  a  heavy  deposit  of  glacial  gravel,  one  well  indicating  a 
depth  of  135  feet.  The  gravel  exposed  on  the  slopes  is  rather  fine,  pebbles 
exceeding  an  inch  in  diameter  being  rare.  The  top  of  this  gravel  deposit 
stands,  by  anei'oid,  about  250  feet  above  the  river. 

Above  Oil  City  gravel  appears  on  the  slope  north  of  the  Allegheny  up 
to  an  altitude  of  fully  250  feet  above  the  stream.  It  seems  to  have  a  depth 
of  100  feet  or  more  as  exposed  in  gullies  which  cut  down  through  it.  South 
of  Oil  City  rounded  pebbles,  including  an  occasional  Canadian  bowlder, 
appear  on  slopes  up  to  a  height  of  more  than  300  feet  above  the  stream. 
It  is  thought,  as  indicated  above,  that  the  ice  sheet  covered  the  Allegheny 
Valley  in  that  vicinity.  A  rock  shelf  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  is 
shown  by  a  well  to  carry  90  feet  of  drift.  The  well  mouth  is  about  220 
feet  (aneroid)  above  river  level. 

At  Reno,  about  3  miles  below  Oil  City,  several  wells  show  a  large 
amount  of  drift  on  high  shelves.  One,  on  g-round  265  feet  above  the  river, 
penetrated  132  feet  of  di'ift;  one,  on  ground  30  feet  lower,  122  feet;  and 
one,  at  an  altitude  of  200  feet  above  the  river,  142  feet.  This  drift  is 
described  as  being  a  sandy  gravel,  and  slight  exposures  indicate  that  it  may 
be  a  stream  deposit.  If  so,  the  valley  may  once  have  been  filled  to  the 
level  of  the  highest  well,  265  feet  above  the  present  river  level. 

An  abandoned  channel  in  the  northeastern  part  of  Franklin,  discussed 
in  Chapter  III  and  shown  in  PL  VIII,  received  a  large  amount  of  di'ift,  which 
from  well  records  appears  to  be  of  finer  texture  than  that  commonly  displayed 
in  the  Allegheny  Valley,  much  of  it  being  sand.     The  surface  portion,  how- 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  OLDEST  DRIFT.  233 

ever,  contains  cobblestones  and  bowlders.  The  thickest  section  of  drift  in 
this  channel  yet  reported  is  in  a  water  well  at  the  residence  of  George 
Mason,  which  reached  a  depth  of  113  feet  without  entering  rock.  The  well 
is  on  groimd  about  1,125  feet  above  tide,  or  165  feet  above  the  Allegheny 
River  at  Franklin. 

Between  Franklin  and  Brandon  very  little  drift  appears  in  the  Alle- 
gheny Valley,  though  uplands  immediately  west  and  south  of  Franklin 
carry  glacial  deposits  at  an  altitude  of  fully  500  feet  above  the  stream.  A 
road  grading  on  the  slope  of  "Bunker  Hill,"  2  miles  west  of  Franklin, 
shows  2  to  5  feet  of  stony  glacial  di-ift,  including  a  few  Canadian  bowlders, 
at  an  altitude  of  500  to  540  feet,  by  aneroid,  above  the  river.  Exjjosures 
of  similar  character  were  noted  on  another  ridge  a  mile  farther  west.  There 
are  also  thin  deposits  at  about  as  high  altitude  near  the  "Twin  Churches," 
2  miles  south  of  Franklin.  An  occasional  bowlder  is  found  at  nearly  as 
high  altitudes  on  the  east  side  of  the  Allegheny  near  Franklin. 

At  Brandon,  11  miles  below  Franklin,  drift  deposits  are  better  dis- 
played on  the  east  side  of  the  valley  than  at  points  near  Franklin,  there 
being  a  nearly  continuous  thin  sheet  of  drift  on  the  slope  for  a  mile  east  of 
Brandon,  extending  up  to  a  level  of  about  500  feet  above  the  stream.  Cana- 
dian rocks  were  noted  at  frequent  intervals  in  the  lower  300  feet,  but  above 
this  level  none  were  found.  The  rocks  farther  up  the  slope  are  chiefly  local 
sandstones,  most  of  which  are  well  rounded.  Two  miles  below  Brandon 
gravellv  drift  appears  on  the  east  bluif  to  a  height  of  fully  300  feet  above 
the  river,  and  it  appears  at  even  higher  altitudes  back  of  Kennerdell,  the 
aneroid  indicating  360  feet  above  the  river.  Near  Rockland,  8  miles  below 
Kennerdell,  gravelly  deposits  cover  the  slope  up  to  an  altitude  of  320  feet 
(aneroid)  aboA'-e  the  river.  It  seems  probable  that  the  valley  in  the  region 
between  Kennerdell  and  Rockland  was  filled  to  the  level  of  the  gravel 
deposits  by  an  outwash  from  the  ice  sheet  rather  than  by  direct  glacial 
deposition.  The  glacial  boundary,  as  indicated  above,  appears  to  lead 
southwestward  from  near  Kennerdell  directly  awaj-  from  the  Allegheny 
Valley.  The  deposits  farther  down  the  Allegheny  are  discussed  below  in 
connection  with  glacial  outwash. 

Returning  up  the  Allegheny  Valley  to  the  mouth  of  Brokenstraw  Creek, 
about  6  miles  below  Warren,  we  find  leading  in  from  the  west  a  A-alley 
which  is  broader  than  the  valley  occupied  b}'  the  Allegheny  below  that  point. 


234  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

As  shown  in  Chapter  III,  it  probably  constituted  the  main  western  tributary 
of  the  old  Upper  Allegheny.  For  a  few  miles  west  of  the  Allegheny  there  is 
an  open  valley  with  low  terraces  of  Wisconsin  gravel  standing  only  a  few  feet 
above  Brokenstraw  Creek.  On  its  borders  there  are  rock  shelves  carrying 
patches  of  gravel  connected  with  the  old  drift,  such  as  appear  along  the  Alle- 
gheny. The  uplands  north  of  Brokenstraw  Creek,  and  also  uplands  farther 
east  along  the  north  side  of  the  Allegheny,  are  covered  with  a  thin  but  nearly 
continuous  sheet  of  very  stony  drift,  including  a  liberal  supply  of  small 
bowlders.  These  deposits  have  been  noted  at  altitudes  600  feet  or  more  above 
the  valleys,  or  fully  1,800  feet  above  tide.  South  of  Brokenstraw  Valley, 
from  its  mouth  up  to  Garland,  there  seems  to  be  very  little  upland  di-ift,  and 
it  is  possible  that  a  small  unglaciated  tract  appears  between  this  valley  and 
the  Allegheny. 

From  Garland  southwestward  to  Titusville  there  is  a  lowland  known  as 
Grand  Valley,  which  is  filled  deeply  with  drift.  It  is  not  certain  that  it 
was  drained  by  a  single  stream.  On  the  whole  it  seems  more  probable,  as 
noted  in  Chapter  III,  that  the  northeastern  end  discharged  eastward  to  the  old 
Upper  Allegheny,  and  the  southwestern  end  westward,  past  Titusville,  to  the 
old  Muddy  Creek.  The  old  divide  may  be  buried  to  a  depth  of  200  feet. 
At  Newton,  which  stands  near  the  present  divide  in  this  lowland,  a  well 
penetrated  2<S3  feet  of  gravelly  drift  and  entered  rock  at  about  1,125  feet 
above  tide,  which  is  slightly  above  the  level  of  the  rock  floor  of  the 
Allegheny  a  few  miles  to  the  east.  At  Grand  Valley  station  a  well  reached 
rock  at  204  feet,  the  altitude  of  the  rock  floor  there  being  about  1,140  feet 
above  tide.  A  well  1  mile  southwest  of  Grand  Valley  penetrated  220  feet  of 
drift,  reaching  rock  at  a  level  scarcely  more  than  1,100  feet  above  tide. 
About  3  miles  east  of  Titusville  drift  deposits  are  heavy  on  the  south  border 
of  this  valley.  One  well  on  ground  about  350  feet  higher  than  Titusville, 
or  1,550  feet  above  tide,  reached  a  depth  of  235  feet  without  entering  rock. 
The  lowland  in  that  vicinity  was  so  nearly  filled  with  drift  that  the  present 
di'ainage  line,  Pine  Creek,  departs  from  the  old  line  and  cuts  across  the 
face  of  the  old  north  bluff'. 

On  the  south  side  of  Grand  Valley  drift  deposits  are  heavy  along  tlie 
line  of  old  valleys  to  their  heads,  but  seem  to  be  light  on  the  intervening 
uplands.  The  wells  in  these  valleys  often  pass  through  100  feet  or  more 
of  drift  within  a  mile  north  of  their  heads,  at  altitudes  of  1,600  to  1,700  feet 


EROSION  OF  THE  OLDEST  DRIFT.  235 

or  more  above  tide.  The  amount  of  drift  is  meager,  both  on  tiplands  and 
in  valleys,  south  of  the  divide  which  limits  the  Grrand  Valley  drainage.  In 
a  few  places  well-defined  channels  underlain  by  gravel  cross  the  divide  and 
afford  evidence  of  the  discharge  of  glacial  waters  across  it. 

Along  Oil  Creek  Valley  from  Titusville  to  Oil  City  there  are  several 
exposures  of  the  old  drift  on  the  face  of  the  bluffs,  but  the  valley  bottom 
appears  to  be  underlain  by  gravel  of  Wisconsin  age  which  connects  with 
the  outer  Wisconsin  moraine  a  short  distance  from  Titusville. 

The  valley  of  Sugar  Creek  is  bordered  in  a  similar  manner  by  deposits 
of  old  drift,  while  the  Wisconsin  drift  covers  the  valley  bottom.  The  trib- 
utaries of  Sugar  Creek  which  lie  outside  of  the  limits  or  influence  of  the 
Wisconsin  glaciation  carry  only  deposits  of  the  old  drift.  These  deposits 
are  shown  by  wells  to  reach  a  depth  of  100  feet  or  more.  The  material  is 
very  stony,  so  that  it  is  commonly  classed,  as  gravel,  but  the  writer  found 
here,  as  well  as  in  many  other  localities,  a  slight  clay  admixture  and  also 
angular  striated  stones  with  the  well-rounded  stones. 

A  heavy  deposit  of  old  drift  is  found  in  the  abandoned  valley  that 
leads  from  Sandy  Creek  at  Polk  northward  to  French  Creek.  This  deposit 
is  exposed  at  the  north  end  in  the  bluff  of  French  Creek,  and  also  in  ravines 
immediately  south  of  French  Creek.  There  is  some  blue  silt  in  the  lower 
part,  which  was  probably  deposited  in  advance  of  the  ice  sheet.  The  sur- 
face jjortion  is  a  stony  drift  similar  to  that  found  so  widely  in  this  region. 

AMOUNT    OF    EROSION. 

In  addition  to  the  evidence  of  great  age  found  in  the  advanced  stage 
of  weathering  of  the  pebbles,  there  is  the  evidence  from  erosion.  As 
indicated  in  the  description  of  the  drift,  there  are  several  valleys  in  which 
the  drift  is  preserved  only  in  narrow  strips  in  recesses  or  places  along  the 
valley  borders  where  erosion  is  at  a  minimum.  The  distribution  of  these 
strips  is  such  as  to  indicate  that  they  are  remnants  of  a  sheet  which  once 
filled  the  valleys  nearly  if  not  quite  to  the  height  at  which  they  occur. 
This  is  very  clearly  shown  in  the  portions  of  old  valleys  which  have  been 
abandoned.  The  abandoned  Grand  Valley,  which  connects  Brokenstraw 
and  Oil  creeks,  has  a  filling  of  drift  200  to  300  feet  in  depth  occupying  its 
entire  width.  But  Oil  and  Brokenstraw  valleys,  which,  aj)parently,  received 
a  similar  filling,  now  carry  only  narrow  strips  in  recesses  along  their  borders. 


236         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  Conewango  Valley  also  carries  only  narrow  strips  of  a  filling  which 
reached  to  a  height  of  about  250  feet  above  the  stream. 

It  is  probable  that  much  if  not  all  of  the  Allegheny  Valley  from 
Warren  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion  was  filled  to  a  height  of  150  to 
200  feet  above  the  present  river  level.  But  now  there  are  only  a  few 
remnants  to  indicate  the  height  to  which  it  was  filled.  It  may  be  considered 
doubtful  whether  the  Allegheny  was  greatly  filled;  but  the  fact  that  a 
large  amount  of  glacial  material  was  carried  by  stream  action  from  the 
middle  or  glaciated  portion  of  the  Allegheny  into. the  lower  or  unglaciated 
portion  at  levels  more  than  200  feet  above  the  present  stream  seems  to 
demand  a  great  filling  of  the  glaciated  portion.  It  is  hardly  probable  that 
an  ice  sheet  would  fail  to  make  heavy  deposits  in  a  valley  which  it  par- 
tially covered  and  with  which  it  had  numerous  connections,  when  it  was 
able  to  contribute  enough  material  to  a  larger  valley  (the  Lower  Allegheny) 
leading  away  from  the  ice  margin  to  produce  a  filling  80  to  100  feet  in 
depth  for  a  distance  of  more  than  1 00  miles. 

It  seems  well  within  bounds  to  estimate  that  the  erosion  of  this  old  drift 
on  the  principal  tributaries  of  the  Allegheny  which  carry  it — Conewango, 
Brokenstraw,  Oil,  and  French  creeks — as  well  as  on  the  Allegheny  itself, 
reached  a  depth  of  150  to  200  feet  and  a  breadth  nearly  as  great  as  that  of 
tlieir  valleys. 

It  seems  probable  also  that  the  attenuated  character  and  patchy 
distribution  of  the  upland  drift  has  been  to  a  marked  degree  intensified  by 
erosion.  It  would  be  diflicult,  however,  to  make  any  estimate  of  the  erosion 
there,  since  the  original  amount  of  drift  can  scarcely  be  estimated  or  even 
closely  conjectured. 

The  valleys  just  mentioned  have  afforded  discharge  for  the  waters  of 
later  glacial  stages  than  the  one  under  consideration,  and  this  should  not 
be  overlooked  in  dealing  with  the  amount  of  erosion,  nor  should  the  efi^ect 
of  the  glacial  floods  that  occupied  the  valleys  during  the  melting  of  the 
earliest  ice  field  be  disregarded.  While  in  general  the  glacial  floods  are 
depositing  rather  than  eroding  agencies,  not  a  few  instances  can  be  cited 
where  streams  which  headed  in  the  ice  sheet  have  cut  conspicuous  trenches 
across  gravel  plains  that  had  just  been  built  as  outwash  aprons  along  the  ice 
bordei'.  But  where  such  marked  trenching  has  occurred  the  glacial  streams 
were  apparently  favored  by  a  good  gradient,  such  as  is  so  often  afi'orded  by 


OUTWASH  FROM  THE  OLDEST  DRIFT.  237 

the  rapid  slopes  of  the  outwash  aprons.  There  seems  to  be  a  case  of  such 
erosion  by  glacial  floods  in  the  trench  above  noted,  which  was  cut  in  the 
old  drift  at  Clarendon  to  a  depth  of  100  feet  and  opened  southward  into 
the  Tionesta  Valley.  This  is  out  of  the  reach  of  stream  action  in  later 
stages  of  glaciation  and  apparently  seems  referable  only  to  the  work  of  a 
glacial  stream  connected  with  the  earliest  ice  invasion. 

But  conditions  for  erosion  of  this  sort  seem  not  to  have  been  open  to 
any  gi-eat  extent  on  the  Allegheny  or  its  main  tributaries  at  the  time  of  the 
first  ice  invasion.  The  trenching  in  general  must  have  kept  pace  with  the 
slow  deepening  of  the  Lower  Allegheny  and  Ohio  valleys  which  followed 
the  filling  with  the  gravel  of  this  earliest  glacial  stage.  The  floods  con- 
nected with  the  earliest  stage  of  glaciation  would  probably  effect  scarcely 
more  than  the  reduction  of  the  upper  part  of  the  Allegheny  to  a  gradient  in 
harmony  with  the  contemporaneous  gradation  plain  of  the  Lower  Allegheny, 
whose  height  after  this  gravel  filling  occurred  was,  as  already  shown,  nearly 
300  feet  above  the  present  stream. 

What  proportion  of  the  erosion,  both  of  the  rock  and  of  the  drift,  on 
the  Allegheny  and  its  main  tributaries  is  referable  to  glacial  streams  in 
connection  with  later  ice  advances  will  be  difficult  to  determine.  It  may 
perhaps  be  determined  by  a  careful  comparison  of  work  done  by  eastern 
and  southern  tributaries  which  have  not  been  aided  by  glacial  floods  with 
that  done  in  the  glaciated  tributaries  which  were  thus  aided.  Such  a  com- 
parison has  not  been  attempted,  but  it  is  apparent  from  a  merely  casual 
observation  that  the  streams  which  have  been  unaided  by  glacial  floods 
have  nevertheless  opened  valleys  of  sufficient  size  to  warrant  the  inference 
that  glacial  floods  are  responsible  for  only  a  minor  part  of  the  erosion  dis- 
played by  the  glaciated  tributaries. 

CHARACTER  OF  THE  OUTWASH. 

An  outwash  of  gravel  and  sand  appears  in  such  portions  of  the  Alle- 
gheny River  and  some  of  the  tributaries  as  were  not  obstructed  by  the 
ice  sheet,  but  were  instead  favorably  situated  for  receiving  it.  It  was  dis- 
tributed far  down  the  valleys,  reaching  even  into  the  upper  part  of  the  Ohio 
Valley.  The  western  tributaries  of  the  Allegheny,  as  far  down  as  the  gla- 
cial boundary  near  Kennerdell,  were  largely  covered  by  the  ice  sheet,  but 
seem  to  have  been  utilized  as  lines  of  discharge  for  glacial  waters  as  the 
ice'  melted. 


238  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  glacial  waters  usually  found  exit  into  valleys  that  were  only  200 
to  300  feet  above  the  Allegheny,  but  a  few  points  were  found  where  the 
discharge  took  place  at  much  higher  altitude.  Thus  at  the  head  of  Grordon 
Run,  a  tributary  which  enters  the  Allegheny  at  Tidioute,  a  line  of  glacial 
discharge  has  forme(^  a  flat-bottomed  channel  at  a  height  of  1,750  feet  above 
tide,  or  more  than  600  feet  above  the  river.  There  is  a  much  lower  tract  to 
the  north  which  must  have  been  covered  by  the  ice  sheet  a1>  the  time  waters 
were  discharged  into  Gordon  Run.  A  neighboring  valley,  Perry  Magee 
Run,  received  glacial  waters  at  about  as  high  an  altitude  as  Gordon  Run. 
The  headwaters  of  Pithole  Creek  also  received  glacial  waters  while  the  ice 
was  occupying  the  lowland  to  the  north.  The  altitude  of  this  stream  is  but 
little  lower  than  of  the  tributaries  just  mentioned. 

There  seems  to  have  been  but  one  eastern  tributary  of  the  Allegheny 
which  received  a  glacial  outwash,  Tionesta  Valley.  The  outwash  in  this 
valley  will  be  considered  first,  after  which  that  in  the  Lower  Allegheny,  the 
Beaver,  and  the  Upper  Ohio  will  be  taken  up.  Possible  lines  of  discharge 
in  southwestern  New  York  during  this  ice  invasion  are  discussed  to  better 
advantage  in  connection  with  the  terraces  of  Wisconsin  age. 

TIONESTA  VALLEY. 

From  Clarendon,  near  the  bend  of  the  Tionesta,  a  stream  of  consid- 
erable volume  and  strength  must  have  discharged  from  the  ice  sheet  into 
the  lower  Tionesta  Valley.  A  channel  one-fou.rth  to  one-half  mile  in  width 
passes  from  the  present  divide  sou^thward  to  the  bend  of  the  Tionesta,  on 
the  borders  of  which  the  glacial  deposits  rise  in  places  to  a  height  of  100 
feet  above  its  swampy  bottom.  This  channel  stands  about  1,400  feet  above 
tide,  or  225  feet  above  the  Allegheny  River.  It  falls  nearly  60  feet  in  5 
miles  to  Sheffield.  Below  this  village,  as  noted  in  Chapter  III,  an  old 
divide  is  crossed  by  the  Tionesta,  and  the  valley  for  several  miles  is 
very  narrow  and  carries  but  little  glacial  outwash.  The  writer's  obser- 
vations were  extended  only  3  or  4  miles  below  Sheffield,  but  Wright 
has  followed  the  valley  down  to  its  mouth  and  reports  the  occuiTcnce  of 
glacial  gravel  in  small  amount  at  a  few  points  in  its  lower  course.  N.  P. 
Wheeler,  of  Tidioute,  reports  that  just  back  of  Newtown  Mills,  a  few  miles 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Tionesta  River,  there  is  a  terrace  of  glacial  gravel 
which  stands  about  100  feet  above  the  stream,  or  1,250  feet  above  tide. 
Wheeler  estimates  the  width  of  the  terrace  to  be  one-eighth  of  a  mile  or 


OUTWASH  FROM  THE  OLDEST  DRIFT.  239 

more,  and  he  thinks  the  gravel  extends  to  the  stream  level.  Pebbles  of 
granite  2  to  2^  inches  in  diameter,  collected  by  Wheeler  on  this  terrace, 
were  inspected  by  the  writer. 

From  the  available  data  it  appears  that  the  stream  along  the  Tionesta 
had  sutficient  strength  to  carry  gravel  down  nearly  if  not  quite  to  the  Alle- 
gheny Valley.  Possibly  a  large  filling  occurred,  which  has  since  been 
almost  entirely  removed.  In  support  of  this  view  the  deposit  at  Newtown 
Mills  maj^  be  cited.  The  amount  of  channeling  hi  the  gravel  near  the 
bend  of  the  Tionesta  also  indicates  that  considerable  material  was  carried 
down  the  Tionesta. 


LOWER  ALLEGHENY  VALLEY. 


The  Upper  Allegheny,  as  above  noted,  appears  to  have  had  points  of 
special  filling,  as  at  Tidioute  and  near  Oil  City,  between  which  were  long 
stretches  in  which  the  amount  of  filling  may  have  been  less.  Upon  turning 
to  the  Lower  Allegheny  a  very  different  condition  is  found.  The  valley 
there  has  been  filled  up  with  sand  and  gravel  to  an  even  grade,  harmonizing 
in  slope  with  that  of  the  present  stream,  but  250  feet  or  more  above  it. 
Below  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion  the  Allegheny  has  a  well-defined  ancient 
gradation  plain,  which  has  been  trenched  by  the  river  to  a  depth  of  200 
feet  or  more,  as  indicated  in  Chapter  III.  The  gravel  covers  this  old 
gradation  plain  to  an  average  depth  of  perhaps  80  feet.  In  places  it 
extends  50  to  100  feet  below  the  gradation  plain,  as  if  either  that  amount 
of  trenching  of  the  old  valley  floor  had  preceded  the  gravel  deposition  or  a 
secondary  filling  had  taken  place  during  a  subsequent  excavation.  But,  as 
already  shown  (Chapter  III),  the  trenching  appears  not  to  have  been  com- 
pleted until  an  interglacial  stage  subsequent  to  this  early  gravel  deposition. 

From  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion  up  to  the  point  where  the  glacial 
boundary  bears  away  from  the  Allegheny  (near  Kennerdell)  the  Allegheny 
Valley  is  very  narrow,  being  about  the  width  of  the  inner  valley  below  the 
mouth  of  the  Clarion.  It  carries  only  occasional  remnants  of  gravel  out- 
wash,  yet  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  there  was  a  filling  to  correspond 
with  that  on  the  Lower  Allegheny.  Some  of  the  remnants  stand  at  a  suf- 
ficiently high  altitude  to  clearly  support  this  view. 

Since  the  deposition  of  the  gravel  so  much  erosion  has  occurred  on  the 
gradation  plain  of  the  Lower  Allegheny  that  the  original  surface  of  the  gravel 
is  preserved  in  only  a  few  places.     In  several  places  the  gravel  deposits 


240 


GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


have  been  cut  into  benches    or  terraces  with  a  uniform  level,  and  these 
reductions  from  the  original  level  of  filling  may  easily  be  mistaken  for  it. 

The  table  below  2)resents  several  jjoints  at  which  it  is  thought  that  the 
altitude  of  the  original  sui-face  of  the  gravel  has  been  determined.  The 
table  also  includes  points  along  the  Ohio. 

Tcible  sluxwlng  the  xipper  limit  of  gravel  filling  in  the  Lower  Allegheny  and  JJppefr 

Ohio  valleys. 


PENNSYLVANIA. 

Kennerdell 

Rockland - 

Foxburg 

Monterey 

East  Brady 

Red  Bank 

Templeton 

Kittanning 

Ford 

Arnold 

Allegheny 

Beaver 

OHIO. 

Toronto 


Approxi- 
mate dis- 
tance from 
glacial  bor- 
der. 

Altitude 
above 
stream. 

ifites. 

Feet. 

0 

360 

8 

320 

21 

275 

28 

280 

38 

290 

43 

280 

.53 

255 

62 

250 

67 

255 

87 

2a5 

107 

285 

a  132 

320 

a  167 

320 

Feet. 
1,270 
1,210 
1, 1.35 
1,125 
1,115 
1,100 
1,050 
1,030 
1,020 
1,011 


nThis  represents  the  distance  along  the  Allegheny;  the  distance  along  the  Beaver  is  much  less. 

The  origin  or  mode  of  formation  of  these  terraces  has  been  a  subject 
of  much  discussion.  At  the  time  the  hypothesis  of  an  ice  dam  at  Cincinnati 
was  suggested  by  Wright^  these  terraces  wei'e  cited  by  Lesley^  and  corre- 
sponding terraces  on  the  Monongahela  were  cited  by  White  ^  in  support  of 
the  hypothesis.  But  prior  to  that  time  Stevenson*  had  interpreted  those  on 
the  Monongahela  and  Chance^  those  on  the  Allegheny  to  be  river  terraces. 

iG.  F.  Wright:  Proc.  Am.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  Vol.  XXXII,  1883,  p.  207;  Science,  Vol.  II,  1883, 
p.  664;  Am.  Naturalist,  Vol.  XVIII,  1884,  pp.  563-567. 

2 J.  P.  Lesley:  Science,  Vol.  II,  1883,  p.  436;  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Kept.  Z,  1884, 
pp.  viii-xi. 

n.  C.  White:  Proc.  Am.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  Vol.  XXXII,  1883,  pp.  212-213. 

*J.  J.  Stevenson:  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Rept.  K,  1876,  pp.  1-22;  Proc.  Am.  Philos. 
Soc,  Vol.  XVIII,  1880,  pp.  289-316. 

°H.  M.  Chance:  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Rept.  V^,  1880,  pp.  ix-x,  17-22. 


OUTWASH  FROM  THE  OLDEST  DRIFT.  241 

In  view  of  these  differences  of  interpretation  Chamberlin  and  Gilbert  made 
a  special  stndy  of  the  terraces  on  the  Allegheny  and  Monongahela,  the 
results  of  which  have  been  presented  by  Chamberlin  in  a  bulletin  of  this 
survey.-*  In  this  bulletin  it  was  shown  («)  that  the  terraces  slope  with  the 
present  stream,  (h)  that  the  material  capping  the  terraces  is  distinctly  fluvial, 
(c)  that  the  terraces  have  rock  platforms  which  demand  more  work  than 
could  result  from  the  action  of  waves  in  a  narrow  lake,  {d)  that  the  form 
and  distribution  of  the  terraces  are  of  the  fluvial,  not  lacustrine  order,  (e) 
that  abandoned  channels  and  oxbows  have  been  preserved  in  connectioiL 
with  the  terraces.  The  view  that  the  terraces  were  produced  by  a  lake  held 
in  these  valleys  by  an  ice  dam  at  Cincinnati  seems,  therefore,  completely 
set  aside  by  these  observations. 

The  degree  of  presei'vation  of  tlie  gravel  on  the  high  terraces  presents 
a  striking  contrast  to  that  of  the  gravel  of  Wisconsin  age  found  low  down 
in  the  Allegheny  Valley.  It  is  far  more  deeply  stained  and  rotten,  the 
difference  being  as  striking-  as  in  the  respective  drift  slieets.  It  also  differs 
from  the  later  gravel  in  carrying  a  much  smaller  proportion  of  Canadian 
rocks.  Search  is  often  necessary  to  discover  a  Canadian  pebble  in  the  old 
gravel,  while  in  the  later  or  Wisconsin  gravel  the  Canadian  rocks  are  a 
conspicuous  ingredient. 

The  old  gravel  is  generally  fine,  and  contains  a  large  admixture  of 
sand,  while  in  places  it  is  interbedded  with  deposits  of  clear  sand;  but,  as 
is  natural  in  river  deposits,  it  also  contains  a  few  large  stones  1  to  2  feet 
or  more  in  diameter.  These  stones  are  chiefly  local  sandstones  washed 
in  from  neighboring  bluffs,  though  occasionally  a  large  Canadian  rock  is 
found. 

A  few  detailed  observations  concerning  these  deposits  and  the  features 
along  the  Lower  Allegheny  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  above  statements. 

As  indicated  above,  the  Allegheny  Valley  is  narrow  from  Kennerdell 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion,  and  but  a  small  amount  of  gravel  remains  in  it. 
These  remnants  are  in  every  observed  case  situated  on  sloping  points  on 
the  inner  curve  of  sharp  bends  in  the  river,  and  have  been  cited  by  Wright 
as  evidence  that  tlie  valley  was  excavated  to  about  its  ^jresent  depth  prior 
to  the  g-ravel  deposition.^     The  writer  is  in  agreement  with  Wright  in  the 


'T.  C.  Chamberlin:  Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  58,  1890,  pp.  24-32. 
^Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series,  Vol.  XLVII,  1894,  p.  175. 

!.L1 16 


242  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

view  that  the  occurrence  of  the  gravel  at  low  levels  can  not,  in  some  cases 
at  least,  be  accounted  for  by  creeping  or  by  landslides;  but  since  a  stream 
is  liable  in  such  places  to  redeposit  material  on  its  inner  curve  during  the 
deepening  of  the  valley,  the  writer  considers  it  probable  that  the  gravel 
has  been  carried  by  the  river  to  lower  levels  than  its  original  position.  The 
original  depth  can  as  yet  scarcely  be  determined  on  its  own  inherent  e-\d- 
dence,  and  the  precise  extent  of  the  excavation  in  that  part  of  the  valley 
prior  to  the  gravel  deposition  may  be  regarded  as  uncertain,  excejjt  as 
coiTclated  conditions  tlu-ow  light  upon  it. 

Opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Clarion,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Allegheny, 
there  is  a  recess  in  the  valley  wall  which  carries  a  deep  and  extensive 
deposit  of  gravel,  with  an  upper  limit  about  275  feet  above  the  river. 
There  is  probably  an  area  of  80  acres  with  an  aA'^erage  depth  of  100  feet 
of  gravel.  Across  it  there  passes  an  old  channel  of  the  river  whose  bed 
is  about  250  feet  above  the  present  stream.  Just  east  of  it  is  another  flat- 
topped  terrace,  apparently  a  reduction  from  the  higher  terrace,  with  an 
altitude  scarcely  200  feet  above  the  river.  In  both  terraces  the  pebbles  are 
fine,  mainly  an  inch  or  less  in  diameter,  and  include  a  very  few  Canadian 
rocks. 

From  this  recess  on  the  west  side  the  stream  appears  to  have  passed 
eastward  across  the  Allegheny  Valley  and  filled  the  valley  to  about  the 
level  of  an  oxbow-like  channel  east  of  Pai'ker,  brought  to  notice  by  Chance.-^ 
This  so-called  oxbow,  however,  stands  somewhat  higher  than  the  broad 
gradation  plain  of  the  Clarion-Lower  Allegheny,  and  has  a  channel  much 
narrower  than  that  of  neighboring  portions  of  the  valleys  of  these  streams. 
The  view  that  it  is  an  old  oxbow  of  either  of  these  streams  has  recently  been 
called  in  question  by  E.  H.  Williams^  and  art  alternative  view  suggested. 
This  later  view  is  one  which  the  writer  considers  more  consistent  with  the 
features  than  the  one  presented  by  Chance.  It  refers  the  opening  of  the 
double  channel  resembling  the  forks  of  an  oxbow  to  a  shifting  of  a  small 
tributary  of  the  Allegheny  from  one  side  to  the  other  of  a  low  hill  that 
stood  nearly  opposite  the  point  at  which  the  ti-ibutary  entered  the  valley. 
At  the  time  of  the  gravel  deposition  under  consideration,  this  small  oxbow- 
like channel  became  partiallj'  filled;  but,  as  noted  by  Wright,^  there  was  not 

'H.  M.  Chance:  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Kept.  V^  1880,  pp.  17-22. 
■^  At  Albany  meeting  of  Geological  Society  of  America,  Dec,  1900. 
'Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series.  Vol.  XLVII,  1894,  pp.  173-175. 


OUTWASH  FROM  THE  OLDEST  DRIFT.  243 

a  sufficiently  strong  current  through  it  to  carry  gravel  completely  around  the 
loop.  There  is  gravel  on  the  north  side  and  eastern  end,  but  much  of  the 
south  side  appears  not  to  have  been  filled.  Gravel  was  carried  a  short 
distance  into  the  southern  limb  or  branch  by  a  current  which  passed  down 
the  Allegheny  but  which  did  not  pass  around  the  oxbow.  Between  this 
filling  and  the  filling  of  the  eastern  end  there  is  an  unfilled  space  about  a 
half  mile  in  length.  The  filling  at  the  eastern  end  is  mainly  sand,  the  gravel 
being  deposited  nearer  the  river.  The  upper  limit  of  gravel  in  this  oxbow- 
like channel  seems  to  be  about  250  feet  above  the  river,  or  somewhat  lower 
than  at  points  on  the  Allegheny  immediately  above  and  below.  This  is  to 
be  expected  if  it  carried  only  a  weak  and  indirect  current. 

From  the  south  end  of  this  oxbow-like  double  channel  the  gravel 
deposits  were  carried  into  a  recess  on  the  west  side  of  the  valley  below 
Parker,  but  only  a  small  remnant  is  there  preserved.  The  next  extensive 
remnant  is  found  on  the  east  side  immediately  north  of  Monterey.  The 
gravel  there  has  an  estimated  thickness  of  125  feet,  its  upper  limit  being 
about  280  feet  above  the  river  and  the  underlying  rock  shelf  about  155  feet. 
Only  a  small  part  remains  at  the  original  level. 

Between  Monterey  and  Bradys  Bend  there  are  terraces  standing  con- 
siderably below  the  level  of  the  terraces  at  Monterey,  which  are  probably 
reductions  from  the  original  level  of  filling.  The  broadest  ones  are  scarcely 
200  feet  above  the  river. 

Around  Bradys  Bend  the  gravel  deposits  have  apparently  been  carried 
down  the  slope  with  the  downward  and  outward  cutting  of  the  stream, 
so  that  the  lower  limits  of  the  original  deposition  are  hard  to  determine.  In 
the  southern  part  of  East  Brady,  at  an  altitude  of  about  120  feet  above 
the  river,  gravel  appears  in  considerable  depth,  and  may  not  have  been 
redeposited.  At  lower  levels  it  is  strewn  on  the  slope  and  probably  has 
been  redeposited.  South  of  East  Brady,  over  the  ridge  which  the  river 
encircles,  waterworn  and  angular  material  is  found  embedded  in  a  reddish 
sand  up  to  levels  nearly  300  feet  above  the  river,  but  it  is  not  certain  that 
these  highest  deposits  contain  glacial  material.  On  the  soutli  side  of  the 
ridge  an  island-like  gravel  remnant  is  preserved,  at  an  altitude  about  270 
feet  above  the  river,  which  stands  on  a  rock  shelf  40  feet  lower,  or  230  feet 
above  river  level.  No  Canadian  rocks  were  found  in  this  gravel  island,  but 
the  general  aspect  of  the  gravel  is  similar  to  that  in  the  glacial  deposits 
just  described,  a  few  miles  up  the  valley. 


244  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

South  of  Red  Bank  Junction,  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  a  naiTOW 
remnant  of  a  teiTace  was  found  about  280  feet  above  the  river,  which  also 
may  be  glacial,  though  Canadian  rocks  were  not  found  in  it. 

Opposite  Templeton,  ou  the  west  side  of  the  river,  a  glacial  terrace, 
with  coarse  gravel  containing  a  few  Canadian  rocks,  has  an  altitude  of  about 
250  feet  above  the  river.  Rounded  pebbles  occur  on  the  slope  above  this 
teiTace  up  to  a  level  about  50  feet  hig-her. 

Between  Templeton  and  Kittanning  there  are  several  remnants  of  a 
deposit  of  glacial  gravel  standing  about  250  feet  above  the  river,  as  well 
as  terrace-like  remnants  at  lower  altitudes,  apparently  reduced  from  the 
original  level  of  filling.  The  rock  shelves  on  which  the  gravel  rests  stand 
only  150  to  200  feet  above  the  river.  The  original  depth  of  the  gravel 
was  probably  75  feet  or  more. 

West  of  Kittanning  there  is  a  deposit  of  g-lacial  gravel,  standing  about 
250  feet  above  the  river,  in  which  wells  have  reached  a  deptli  of  30  feet 
without  entering  rock.  A  mile  south  of  Kittanning,  at  a  similar  altitude, 
wells  reach  a  depth  of  40  feet  in  gravel.  A  short  distance  farther  south,  on 
the  south  side  of  Gran-etts  Run,  the  thickness  of  the  gravel  is  70  feet  or 
more.  It  contains  coarse  beds  and  includes  a  few  Canadian  rocks  (granite 
and  quartzite).  This  deposit  has  an  altitude  of  about  235  feet  (aneroid) 
above  the  river.  On  a  continuation  of  this  deposit  immediately  back  of 
Ford  a  channel  was  found  along  its  east  border  next  the  bluff,  which 
seems  to  have  been  made  by  a  stream.  It  is  much  naiTOwer  than  the 
present  river  channel,  being  only  50  to  75  yards  in  width,  and  probably 
carried  only  a  part  of  the  old  river.  Notwithstanding  its  great  altitude 
above  the  present  river,  the  banks  of  the  channel  are  clearly  defined.  The 
terrace  here  is  probably  reduced  from  the  original  level  of  the  gravel  filling, 
for  pebbles  appear  on  the  slope  back  of  it  up  to  a  level  about  20  feet  above 
the  terrace  or  255  feet  above  the  river. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  river  an  old  oxbow  channel  is  found  east  of 
Noith  Buffalo  at  an  altitude  only  120  feet  above  the  river.  It  is  in  a 
terrace  which  stands  30  to  40  feet  higher,  but  the  terrace,  as  well  as  the 
channel,  is  e\adently  far  below  the  original  level  of  g-ravel  filling.  There 
are  extensive  terrace  remnants  on  the  west  side  below  North  Buffalo,  but 
they  all  seem  to  be  cut  down  below  the  original  level.  Ou  the  east  side, 
also,  there  has  been  much  reduction  from  the  original  level,  though  small 


OUTWASH  FROM  THE  OLDEST  DRIFT.  245 

remnants  of  the  gravel  were  found  east  of  Logansport  and  back  of  White 
Rock  at  an  altitude  of  about  220  feet  above  the  river. 

On  the  west  side,  near  Natrona,  there  is  one  of  the  most  extensive 
terrace  remnants  on  the  river,  fully  a  square  mile  being  preserved  at  an 
altitude  of  about  2.50  feet  above  the  stream.  Jillson  has  determined  the 
altitude  by  Locke  level  and  found  it  to  be  953  feet  above  tide  at  the  reser- 
voir and  963  feet  at  the  fair  grounds.'  This  may  have  been  reduced  about 
50  feet  from  the  original  level,  as  indicated  by  deposits  at  Arnold,  discussed 
below.  The  surface  portion  to  a  depth  of  several  feet  is  mainly  sand,  but 
at  greater  depths  fine  gravel  occurs.  The  gravel  has  a  depth  of  more  than 
50  feet  and  may  in  places  reach  100  feet. 

An  extensive  remnant  of  gravel  filling  is  found  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Allegheny  below  Natrona,  near  Arnold  and  Kensington  stations.  It  borders 
the  river  for  a  distance  of  nearly  3  miles.  Just  east  of  Arnold  gravel  is 
found  up  to  an  altitude  about  200  feet  above  the  station,  or  1,000  feet  above 
tide.  Jillson  has  determined  its  altitude  by  Locke  level  to  be  1,011  feet 
above  tide.  There  is  an  island-like  hill  with  this  altitude  bordered  by  a 
terrace  60  to  65  feet  lower.  An  old  weather-stained  gravel  covers  the  slope 
from  this  terrace  down  to  the  level  of  the  railwa)^  station,  about  800  feet 
above  tide,  where  the  Wisconsin  gravel  sets  in.  If  the  valley  trenching 
had  reached  down  to  the  level  of  the  railway  station  before  the  first  gravel 
filling-  occurred,  a  filling  of  200  feet  would  have  been  required  in  the  deepest 
part  of  the  trench  to  build  it  up  to  the  level  of  the  island-like  knoll.  This 
is,  however,  one  of  the  cases  in  which  the  relation  of  the  gravel  to  valley 
trenching  could  not  be  clearly  made  out. 

The  gravel  appears  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  below  Kensington, 
and  is  preserved  in  a  terrace  remnant,  about  2  miles  in  length,  back  of 
Springdale  and  Acmaton.  The  altitude  of  the  upper  terrace,  as  determined 
hj  Jillson,  is  954  feet  above  tide  at  Springdale  and  948  feet  at  Acmaton. 


'  The  late  Dr.  B.  C.  Jillson,  of  Pittsbiu-g,  made  many  accurate  determinations  of  the  altitudes  of 
terraces  and  rock  shelves  in  the  vicinity  of  that  city  on  the  Allegheny,  Monongahela,  and  Ohio  rivers, 
which  have  been  published  by  the  Pittsburg  Academj'  of  Science,  in  a  pamphlet  of  25  pages  issued  in 
December,  1893,  and  entitled  "River  Terraces  in  and  near  Pittsburg."  It  should  perhaps  be 
explained  that  the  writer's  studies  preceded  the  publication  of  this  pamphlet  and  were  carried  on 
without  the  knowledge  of  Jillson's  work.  The  studies  were  entirely  independent  of  each  other,  yet 
the  interpretations  are  in  essential  harmony  so  far  as  the  old  or  high-level  gravels  are  concerned.  The 
title  of  Jillson's  paper,  as  well  as  his  discussion,  indicates  that  he  recognized  the  deposits  to  be  the 
product  of  a  stream. 


246  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  breadth  is  in  ^jlaces  fully  a  half  mile.  It  is  covered  to  considerable 
depth  with  sand  and  gravel. 

Below  Acmaton  the  gravel  terrace  appears  on  the  east  side  and  is  well 
displayed  from  Panther  to  Verona,  a  distance  of  3  miles.  In  places  the 
width  is  nearly  a  mile.  The  altitude  as  determined  by  Jillson  is  about  965 
feet  above  tide,  but  the  writer  found  places  where  it  rises  to  nearly  1,000 
feet.  Wells  30  feet  in  depth  do  not  reach  the  bottom  of  the  gravel.  In 
places  there  is  considerable  sand.  An  old  channel  of  the  river,  standing 
about  250  feet  above  the  present  stream,  connects  on  the  south  with  the 
Alleghen}^  at  Verona  and  on  the  north  with  the  valley  about  1  ^  miles  above 
Verona.  It  passes  back  of  hills  that  stand  perhaps  400  feet  above  the  river. 
It  seems  to  have  been  occupied  by  the  river  after  the  deposition  of  the  old 
or  hig'h-level  gravel,  for  this  gravel  rises  in  that  vicinity  to  a  higher  level 
than  the  channel. 

Below  Verona  the  gravel  appears  on  the  west  side  and  is  well  displayed 
back  of  Claremount  at  an  altitude  of  about  250  feet  above  the  river  (Jill- 
son).  It  has  in  places  a  width  of  about  one-half  mile.  It  contains  consid- 
erable coarse  gravel  and  cobble.  From  Claremount  down  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Allegheny  there  are  only  occasional  narrow  terrace  remnants  on  the 
west  side  of  the  valley. 

On  the  east  side  the  gravel  filling  makes  a  singular  detour  southward 
from  Morningside  to  East  Liberty,  and  thence  eastward  past  Allegheny 
cemetery  to  the  river,  encircling  high  uplands.  At  East  Liberty  it  occupies 
the  northern  end  of  an  abandoned  oxbow  of  the  ]\Ionougahela,  known  as  the 
East  Liberty  Valley.  The  gravel  is  well  displayed  on  the  west  side  of 
Negley  Run,  and  thence  westward  to  the  Allegheny  cemetery,  up  to  an 
altitude  260  to  270  feet  above  the  river,  and  about  60  feet  above  the  old 
oxbow  channel  of  the  Monongahela.  It  is  maiidy  a  very  fine  gravel  with 
a  large  admixture  of  sand.  West  from  the  cemetery  an  old  gravel  is  found 
down  to  a  level  only  about  100  feet  above  the  river.  The  exposures  show 
coarse  blocks  for  a  few  feet  above  the  rock  floor,  such  as  appear  along  a 
river  bed,  and  above  this  is  gravel  of  medium  coarseness.  The  old  grada- 
tion plain  stands  nearly  200  feet  above  the  river,  or  about  100  feet  above 
the  lower  limit  of  the  old  gravel.  Possibly  100  feet  of  trenching  preceded 
the  deposition  of  the  gravel,  but  here,  as  at  Arnold,  the  relation  of  the 
gravel  deposition  to  valley  trenching  remains  uncertain. 


OUT  WASH  FROM  THE  OLDEST  DRIFT.  247 

From  near  Allegheny  cemetery  the  gravel  passes  to  the  west  side  of 
the  river  at  "Mount  Troy"  in  the  east  part  of  Allegheny,  where  a  narrow 
remnant  of  the  old  gradation  plain  is  preserved.  It  also  covered  "Monu- 
ment Hill"  in  Allegheny,  an  island-like  remnant  of  the  gradation  plain,  but 
nearly  all  the  gravel  has  now  been  removed  from  this  hill. 

In  closing  this  discussion  of  the  Allegheny  Valley  a  few  paragraphs 
are  selected  from  Jillson's  paper  which  contain  levels  taken  in  the  vicinity 
of  Pittsburg.^  The  altitudes  were  in  all  cases  obtained  by  Locke  hand  level 
from  the  nearest  railway  track.  The  base  is  the  city  datum,  698.43  feet 
above  mean  tide  at  Sandy  Hook. 

In  describing  the  terraces  belonging  to  the  Pittsburg  group  we  will  begin  with 
"Monument  Hill."  This  hill  stands  on  the  north  side  of  the  Allegheny  River,  and 
is  a  typical  "hog's  back,"  1,500  feet  long  and  exactly  200  feet  high.  On  its  top  is  a 
thin  layer  of  gravel,  in  which  several  pieces  of  granite  have  been  found,  one  2  inches  in 
diameter.  "Mount  Troy"  rises  abruptly  from  the  north  bank  of  the  Allegheny.  It 
is  209  feet  in  height,  a  mile  and  a  half  in  length,  and  throughout  is  as  level  as  a  floor. 
Its  top  is  covered  with  foreign  gravel,  and  at  the  west  end  the  water  basin  was  exca- 
vated from  a  mass  of  coarse  gravel  and  cobblestones.  In  the  Allegheny  cemetery 
three  terraces  can  still  be  seen,  though  nmch  changed  by  necessary  improvements. 
Entering  the  cemetery  from  Butler  street  by  the  old  gate  and  passing  up  the  stone 
steps  to  the  right,  we  iind  a  terrace  120  feet  above  our  base  line.  This  terrace  can  be 
easily  followed  along  the  east  side  of  Butler  street  through  the  United  States  Arsenal 
grounds  to  Penn  avenue.  At  the  corner  of  Davison  and  Forty-sixth  streets  its 
height  is  131  feet;  in  the  arsenal  grounds  it  is  125  feet,  and  near  the  junction  of 
Forty-second  and  Sherman  streets,  158  feet. 

In  the  upper  part  of  Allegheny  cemetery  is  an  inmiense  mass  of  sand  and 
o-ravel,  the  highest  point  of  which,  near  the  monument  erected  to  the  memory  of 
those  killed  by  the  arsenal  explosion  in  1862,  is  250  feet.  The  character  of  this 
deposit  is  well  shown  just  back  of  the  receiving  vault,  where  the  sand  has  been 
removed,  exposing  a  perpendicular  section  25  or  30  feet  in  height  and  some  75  feet 
in  leno-th.  The  base  of  this  section  is  213  feet  above  our  base  line.  No  outcrop 
of  rock  is  seen  in  the  immediate  vicinitj',  but  not  a  great  distance  ofi'  a  laj^er  of  shale 
was  found  in  situ  22  feet  below  it.  Whether  this  shale  is  at  the  top  of  the  rocky 
bed  I  have  at  present  no  method  of  determining.  At  Geneva  and  Main  streets  this 
shelf  is  200  feet  in  height;  at  Liberty  avenue  and  Fortieth  streets,  206  feet.  The 
bed  of  sand  and  gravel  extends  from  the  cemetery  across  Penn  avenue  into  the  East 
Liberty  Valley  at  Bloomfield,  and,  like  other  beds  found  at  this  height,  consists  of 
stratified  sand,  gravel,  cobblestones,  bowlders,  and  angular  fragments,  many  pieces 
being  of  material  not  properly  belonging  to  the  rocks  of  this  vicinity.  The  top  of 
this  bed  at  Peai'l  street,  where  it  crosses  Penn  avenue,  is  259  feet;  at  Forty-fifth 
street,  256  feet;  at  Rebecca  street,  274  feet.     At  Thirty-third  street,  just  above  the 


iQp.  cit,  pp.  6-10. 


248  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Lawrenceville  station,  on  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad,  is  a  well-developed  terrace 
which  extends  to  the  West  Penn  Medical  College.  At  Brereton  and  Dickson  streets 
its  height  is  195  feet;  at  Thirtj'-third  street  it  is  some  10  feet  higher.  The  Bedford 
Avenue  water  basin,  near  the  Union  railroad  station,  was  excavated  in  part  from  a 
terrace  which  at  that  point  is  178  feet  in  height.  Several  houses  which  were  built 
on  the  original  terrace  before  the  avenue  was  graded  still  remain.  This  terrace, 
extending  from  the  water  basin  around  the  hill  to  Crawford  street,  though  now 
covered  with  houses,  can  be  ti'aced  without  diiBculty  bj'  an  examination  of  door- 
yards,  wells,  and  other  excavations.  On  Fulton  street,  at  the  foot  of  Center  avenue, 
its  height  is  now  194  feet.     *     *     * 

The  great  canyon  of  the  Ohio  has  formed  an  amphitheater  at  Pittsburg  nearly 
3  miles  long  and  more  than  1  mile  wide.  Tliis  amphitheater  is  complete!}^  surrounded 
b}'  high  cliii's,  except  the  narrow  gorge  on  the  east  through  which  the  Allegheny 
enters,  and  the  one  on  the  west  thi-ough  which  the  Ohio  departs.  On  the  walls  of 
this  amphitheater  are  two  distinct  horizontal  lines;  the  lower  one,  as  we  have  seen, 
appears  in  many  places  from  140  to  150  feet  above  the  river,  while  the  upper  is  a 
well-marked  shelf  or  terrace  200  feet  above  low-water  mark  in  the  Allegheny. 
Directly  connected  with  the  200-foot  level  is  the  ancient  river  bed  of  the  Mononga- 
hela,  which  at  one  time  ran  through  the  East  Libert}^  Valley.  It  entered  the  valley 
a  few  miles  below  Braddock's,  passed  a  little  to  the  west  of  Swissvale  and  Wilkins- 
burg  railroad  stations,  through  Brushton,  Homewood,  East  Liberty,  and  Shadyside 
to  Herron's  Hill.  This  hill  presented  an  insurmountable  barrier  to  its  further 
progress  in  this  direction,  and  here  it  divided,  the  left  branch  forming  the  plain  on 
which  so  many  beautiful  houses  in  Bellefield  and  Oakland  have  been  built;  the  other 
passed  to  the  right  of  the  hill,  joining  the  Allegheny.  Through  its  whole  course  we 
find  well-marked  evidence  of  river  action — huge  bowlders,  smoothed  and  rounded  by 
being  rolled  over  and  over  in  the  bed  of  the  river;  great  banks  of  sand  and  gravel 
distinctly  stratified;  large  heaps  of  cobblestones  and  other  characteristic  marks. 
The  position  of  the  bed-rock  is  determined,  not  onlj^  bj'  outcrops  at  the  beginning 
and  end  of  the  vallej%  but  also  b}^  the  sides  of  the  railroad  which  passes  through  it, 
and  by  numerous  wells  and  other  excavations.  Ditches  dug  for  sewers,  water,  and 
gas  pipes  show  the  greatest  depth  of  the  deposit  to  be  from  20  to  25  feet  near  the 
middle  of  the  vallej',  gradually  growing  less  in  depth  towards  the  sides.  Another 
evidence  of  river  action  is  shown  by  a  well-defined  "  second  bank,"  which  runs  along 
the  southern  side  a  distance  of  more  than  2  miles.  On  this  second  bank  is  now 
located  Fifth  and  Penn  avenues  from  Shadyside  nearly  to  Wilkinsburg.  From  the 
top  of  this  bank  to  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  track  is  an  abrupt  descent  of  many  feet. 
Before  Penn  avenue  was  graded  a  person  going  from  East  Liberty  to  Wilkinsburg 
soon  made  a  steep  ascent  at  Point  Breeze  hotel,  reaching  the  top  of  this  bank.  Passing 
along  it  nearly  to  Wilkinsburg,  at  the  old  "yellow  tavern"  on  the  left,  he  plunged 
into  the  old  river  bed,  crossing  which  he  reached  his  destination.  At  Homewood 
and  Penn  avenues  this  second  bank  is  now  79  feet  above  the  ancient  river  bed;  at 
Fifth  and  Shady  avenues,  71  feet;  and  at  Amberson  and  Fifth  avenues,  64  feet. 

Before  leaving  East  Libei-ty  Valley  let  me  call  your  attention  to  a  point  of  con- 
siderable importance.  The  great  deposit  of  gravel  containing  foreign  material,  in 
Alleghenj'  Cemetery,  extends  into  the  East  Liberty  Valley,  and  was  deposited  on  the 


OUTWASH  FROM  THE  OLDEST  DRIFT.  249 

detritus  of  our  ancient  river.  *  *  *  When  the  Allegheny  River  ran  300  feet  above 
its  present  level  it  overflowed  its  banks  at  this  point,  and  deposited  its  detritus  in  the 
cemetery  and  in  this  vallej^  Between  Neglej^  and  Highland  avenues  is  another 
deposit  of  a  similar  character,  showing  a  similar  overflow  when  the  Allegheny  River 
was  300  feet  higher  than  at  present.  This  "overflow"  deposit  consists  of  15  feet  of 
gravel  above  and  at  least  22  feet  of  fine  sand  below;  the  gravel  contains  much  foreign 
matter,  some  large  pebbles  and  many  angular  stones,  sometimes  a  foot  in  diameter. 
About  8  feet  from  the  top  was  found  a  rectangular  stone  which  measured  33  inches 
by  36,  bj'  13,  with  sharp  edges  and  angles;  it  was  a  conglomei-ate,  distinctly  stratified. 
and  composed  of  ver}-  small  grains  of  well-rounded  white  quartz.  The  nearest  bed- 
rock was  found  in  a  ravine  27  feet  below  the  base  of  the  gravel. 

UPPER   OHIO   VALLEY. 

The  terraces  on  the  Upper  Ohio  being-  a  direct  continuation  of  those 
on  the  Allegheny,  a  siinilar  series  of  deposits  is  presented.  The  first  promi- 
nent remnant  of  the  high-level  glacial  gravel  is  found  in  the  w^estern  part 
of  Allegheny,  and  extends  from  that  place  down  the  valley  past  Bellevue, 
a  distance  of  nearly  5  miles.  This  was  recognized  as  a  glacial  terrace  by 
White,  in  1876.''  The  altitude  is  shown  by  a  toj^ographic  map  of  Alle- 
gheny to  reach  in  2)laces  975  feet  above  tide,  and  the  general  level  of  the 
surface  is  above  950  feet.  The  width  averages  about  a  half  mile.  Several 
gravel  pits  have  been  opened.  One  on  Woodland  avenue,  described  b^' 
Jillson,  "consists  of  3  or  4  feet  of  clay  and  loam  resting  on  15  to  18  feet  of 
gravel,  and  this  on  sand  which  has  been  excavated  more  than  15  feet."  In 
the  gravel  was  a  granite  pebble  5  b}^  6  inches  in  diameter,  as  well  as  several 
smaller  pebbles  of  Canadian  rocks.  An  exposure  noted  by  the  writer  near 
California  avenue  has  the  following  beds: 

Section  of  gravel  'pit  on.  Mgli  terrace  in  Allegheny. 

Feet. 

1.  Sandy  loam 4-8 

2.  Fine  gravel,  with  much  sand  intermixed _ 3-6 

3.  Sand,  cross-bedded _  _ 4-,5 

4.  Gravel,  like  No.  2 6-7 

■5.  Sandy  and  gravelly  material  exposed 5-6 

The  gravel  extends  down  to  a  nearly  level  shelf  of  rock,  standing  890 
to  900  feet  above  tide,  or  75  to  85  feet  below  the  highest  parts  of  the  terrace. 
A  depth  of  75  to  85  feet  apparently  holds  all  along  the  terrace.  Wells  in 
Bellevue  60  feet  in  depth  have  not  reached  the  bottom  of  the  gravel. 

A  few  miles  farther  down  the  Ohio,  near  Sewickley,  a  narrow  terrace, 
standing  about  200  feet  above  the  river,  was  found  by  Jillson  to  carry 

'  .'Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Rept.  Q,  pp.  12, 175. 


250  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

"many  bowlders,  cobblestones,  and  a  little  metamorpliic  gravel."  One 
granite  bowlder  2  feet  long  and  1  foot  in  diameter  was  noted. 

Wriglit  has  found  on  a  terrace  back  of  Middletowu,  on  the  south  side 
of  the  Ohio  12  miles  below  Pittsburg,  rolled  stones  and  an  occasional 
pebble  of  granite  at  250  to  280  feet  above  the  river.  For  several  miles 
below  these  points  terrace  remnants  are  very  small. 

Near  the  mouth  of  the  Beaver  extensive  terrace  remnants  appear.  One 
back  of  Phillipsburg,  south  of  the  Ohio  River,  carries  gravel  at  an  altitude 
about  310  feet  above  the  river,  or  975  feet  above  tide,  and  one  back  of 
Beaver,  on  the  north  side,  has  a  gravel  deposit  at  equally  high  altitude. 
This  was  well  exposed  by  trenches  for  waterworks  at  the  time  the  writer 
last  visited  that  locality  (in  1898),  and  several  granite  rocks,  ranging  in 
size  from  nearly  a  foot  in  diameter  down  to  small  pebbles,  were  found  in 
the  material  thrown  from  the  trenches.  The  depth  of  the  gravel  is  about 
16  feet,  and  it  is  capped  by  a  reddish,  sandy  clay  8  or  10  feet  in  depth. 
These  terrace  remnants  at  Phillipsburg  and  Beaver  apparently  stand  at 
about  the  original  level  of  the  gravel  filling.  There  is  another  terrace  in 
that  vicinit}",  75  to  100  feet  lower,  which  carries  an  old  gdacial  gravel,  but 
it  was  probably  cut  down  from  the  level  of  the  high  terrace.  This  is 
described  by  White  as  the  "Fourth  terrace,"  and  is  well  displayed  at 
Rochester  and  New  Brighton. 

Just  above  Industry,  on  the  nortli  side  of  the  Ohio,  is  a  terrace  or  rock 
shelf,  standing  about  275  feet  above  the  river,  on  which  a  few  waterworn 
pebbles  were  found,  including  a  quartzite  9  or  10  inches  in  diameter,  and  a 
g-neiss  about  3  inches. 

From  Industry,  Pa.,  down  to  East  Liverpool,  Ohio,  there  are  only 
occasional  small  remnants  of  the  highest  terrace,  and  none  of  these  were 
closelv  examined.  At  East  Liverpool  the  reservoir  for  waterworks  stands 
on  a  terrace  about  300  feet  above  river  level.  On  this  ten-ace  there  is  a 
gravel  deposit  of  considerable  depth.  Another  terrace,  which  is  also  capped 
by  old  gravel,  occurs  about  200  feet  above  the  river,  but  this  apparently 
was  cut  down  from  the  level  of  the  high  terrace.  There  is  reported  to  be 
an  extensive  remnant  of  the  300-foot  terrace  on  the  south  side  just  above 
East  Liverpool,  but  it  was  not  examined  by  the  writer.  A  small  remnant 
also  appears  on  the  south  side  below  East  Liverpool.  Below  that  point  the 
old  terrace  is  well  displayed  on  the  north  side  back  of  Wellsville,  Ohio. 

The  next  terrace  remnant  examined  is  found  on  the  West  Virginia  side 


OUT  WASH  FROM  THE  OLDEST  DRIFT.  251 

north  of  Tomlinson  Run.  It  stands  about  300  feet  above  the  river  and 
occupies  an  area  of  perhaps  one-foiu-th  of  a  square  mile.  On  its  surface 
only  a  few  waterworn  pebbles  were  found,  there  being  no  continuous  bed 
of  gravel. 

South  of  Tomlinson  Run  there  are  two  terraces;  the  upper,  a  narrow 
one,  stands  about  300  feet  above  the  river  and  carries  only  scattering 
pebbles;  the  lower,  a  broad  shelf,  stands  about  200  feet  above  the  river 
and  carries  a  deposit  of  gravel  several  feet  in  depth.  In  a  gully  in  this 
gravel  a  large  number  of  clam  shells  were  found  which  seem  to  have  been 
embedded  with  the  gravel.  As  the  gravel  has  probably  been  derived  from 
higher  rock  shelves  and  redeposited  during  the  process  of  excavation,  these 
shells  may  be  considerably  younger  than  the  old  drift.  As  indicated  on 
page  94,  the  valley  may  not  have  been  opened  to  the  level  of  this  lower 
shelf  until  after  the  deposition  of  the  gravel. 

At  a  cemetery  in  a  recess  of  the  valley  back  of  Toronto,  Ohio,  a  bed 
of  gravel  was  found  at  an  altitude  about  320  feet  above  the  river,  or  950 
feet  above  tide,  which  contains  occasional  Canadian  rocks.  In  a  search 
of  half  an  hour  8  pebbles  of  granite  and  quartzite  were  found,  which 
represent  all  that  occur  in  a  collection  of  perhaps  10,000  pebbles.  They 
range  in  size  from  one-half  inch  up  to  3  inches  in  diameter.  The  deposit 
has  a  depth  of  U)  to  12  feet.  A  shelf  of  similar  altitude  appears  opposite 
Toronto,  but  it  carries  only  scattering  pebbles. 

Below  Toronto  scattering  pebbles  have  been  found  on  rock  shelves  at 
numerous  points  at  levels  200  to  300  feet  or  more  above  the  stream,  but 
no  bed  of  glacial  gravel  has  been  observed.  On  some  of  the  shelves  that 
stand  200  to  250  feet  above  the  river  appear  occasional  Canadian  rocks, 
which  are  thought  to  have  been  lodged  on  these  shelves  during  the  excava- 
tion that  followed  the  gravel  deposition.  The  features  of  the  Ohio  Valley 
below  the  point  where  well-defined  beds  of  glacial  gravel  occur  are  dis- 
cussed in  Chapter  III  (see  pp.  91-93,  108-109).  We  may,  therefore,  pass 
to  the  consideration  of  glacial  outwash  in  the  Beaver  Valley. 

BEAVER  VALLEY. 

Only  the  lower  10  miles  of  the  Beaver  Valley  lies  outside  the  limits 
of  the  Wisconsin  drift,  the  border  of  that  drift  being  near  Homewood. 
From  the  Wisconsin  drift  border  southward  to  Beaver  Falls  there  is  a 
broad  rock  shelf  standing  about  875  to  900  feet  above  tide,  or  210  to  235 


252         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

feet  above  the  mouth  of  the  river.  For  a  couple  of  miles  below  the 
Wisconsin  border  the  shelf  is  nearly  bare,  but  farther  south  it  carries  a 
o-ravel  deposit  2.5  to  30  feet  in  depth.  It  is  probable  that  the  gravel  has 
been  removed  by  stream  action  from  the  bare  part,  for  that  stands  below 
the  level  of  the  gravel  surface  to  the  south.  There  has  probably  also  been 
considerable  erosion  of  gravel  all  along  the  valley,  for  the  surface  of  the 
gravel  is  50  feet  or  more  below  the  level  of  the  terraces  on  the  Ohio  at 
Beaver  and  Phillipsburg. 

The  gravel  is  capped  by  a  silt  of  pale  color,  4  or  5  feet  in  depth,  which 
may  prove  to  be  the  equivalent  of  the  lowan  loess.  Its  color  is  strikingly 
in  contrast  with  that  of  the  gravel  below  it.  The  gravel  is  weather  stained 
at  top  and  seems  to  be  much  older  than  the  silt. 

As  a  rule  the  gravel  is  poorly  assorted  and  contains  much  sand,  and  in 
places  has  a  clayey  matrix.  The  largest  Canadian  rocks  noted  are  nearly 
a  foot  in  diameter.  They  are  deeply  weathered,  the  red  granites  behig 
usually  very  rotten.  A  few  striated  stones  were  found  in  the  north  part  of 
Beaver  Falls,  and  these  have  been  weathered  deeply  since  the  striation 
occurred.  The  proportion  of  Canadian  rocks  here,  as  on  the  Allegheny,  is 
much  smaller  in  this  gravel  than  in  gravel  of  Wisconsin  age  that  lies  in  the 
valley  below  the  level  of  this  rock  shelf. 

Below  Beaver  Falls  the  rock  shelf  is  less  conspicuous  than  above  that 
city,  though  a  broad  remnant  appears  on  the  east  side  in  New  Brighton. 
At  this  place  a  clayey  deposit  appears  on  the  rock  shelf,  in  which  stones  of 
various  sizes  are  embedded. 

It  being  uncertain  whether  the  old  drift  is  exposed  on  the  uplands  bor- 
'dering  the  Beaver  Valley  outside  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin,  the  relations 
of  the  terrace  to  the  drift  can  not  be  clearly  shown.  As  yet  it  is  not  known 
whether  the  border  of  the  old  drift  lies  some  distance  back  beneath  the 
Wisconsin  or  is  practically  identical  with  it  in  position.  There  is,  however, 
no  question  that  this  gravel,  like  the  similar  gravel  on  the  Lower  Allegheny 
and  Ohio,  has  been  derived  from  the  old  drift  and  was  deposited  long  before 
the  Wisconsin  stage  of  glaciation. 

The  Little  Beaver  Valley  has  not  been  examined  by  the  writer  outside 
the  Hmits  of  the  Wisconsin  drift,  and  nothing  has  been  learned  concerning 
the  character  of  the  outwash  found  along  it. 


CHAPTER    VI. 
THE  ILLINOIAN  DRIFT  SHEET. 

SECTION   I.     FEATURES    NEAR   THE    DRllT    BORDER. 

GENERAL  STATEMENT. 

The  drift  sheet  here  described  appears  to  be  the  continuation  of  the 
Illinoian  sheet  so  widely  displayed  in  Illinois  and  western  Indiana.  It 
connects  directly  with  that  sheet  at  the  reentrant  angle  in  the  glacial 
boundary  in  south  central  Indiana.  From  this  reentrant  angle  eastward 
across  southeastern  Indiana,  northern  Kentucky,  and  southwestern  Ohio  its 
general  aspect  and  relations  are  similar  to  those  of  the  Illinoian  sheet 
farther  west,  and  it  extends  to  the  limits  of  glaciation.  If  the  Kansan  or 
earlier  sheets  of  di'ift  are  present  their  borders  probably  lie  within  the 
limits  of  this  Illinoian  sheet  or  are  so  meagerly  represented  at  the  edge  that 
they  have  been  um-ecognized. 

As  already  indicated,  the  Illinoian  drift  has  been  identified  no  farther 
east  than  western  Holmes  County  in  north-central  Ohio,  at  which  point  its 
border  passes  northward  beneath  the  border  of  the  Wisconsin  drift  sheet. 

In  eastern  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey  a  sheet  of  old  drift  extends 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin,  descriptions  of  which  have  already  been 
given  by  Salisbury  and  others.^     It  is  barely  possible  that  this  sheet  is  of 

'R.  D.  Salisbury:  Preliminary  paper  on  drift  or  Pleistocene  formations  of  New  Jersey:  Kept. 
Geol.  Survey  New  Jersey,  1891,  pp.  102-103.  Surface  Geology  of  New  Jersey:  Eept.  Geol.  Survey 
New  Jersey,  1892,  pp.  151-166.  Certain  extramorainic  drift  phenomena  of  New  Jersey:  Bull.  Geol. 
Soc.  America,  Vol.  Ill,  1892,  pp.  172-182.  The  older  drift  in  the  Delaware  Valley:  Am.  Geologist, 
Vol.  XI,  1893,  pp.  360-362.  Surface  geology;  extramorainic  drift:  Kept.  Geol.  Survey  New  Jersey, 
1893,  pp.  73-123. 

E.  H.  Williams,  jr.:  Glaciation  in  Pennsylvania:  Science,  Vol.  XXI,  1893,  p.  343.  South  Moun- 
tain glaciation;  Bulll.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  V,  1894,  pp.  13-15.  Extramorainic  drift  between  the 
Delaware  and  Schuylkill:  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  V,  1894,  pp.  281-296.  Age  of  the  extra- 
morainic fringe  in  eastern  Pennsylvania:  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series.  Vol.  XLVII,  1893,  pp.  34-37. 
Notes  on  the  southern  ice  limit  in  eastern  Pennsylvania:  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series.  Vol.  XLIX,  1894, 
pp.  174-185. 

A.  A.  Wright:  Extramorainic  drift  in  New  Jersey:  Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  X,  1892,  pp.  207-216. 
Older  drift  in  the  Delaware  Valley:  Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  XI,  1893,  pp.  184-186.  Limits  of  the  glaciated 
area  in  New  Jersey:  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  V,  1894,  pp.  7-13. 

2.'53 


254  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

IlHnoian  age,  tliougli  from  its  general  characteristics  it  appears  to  be  of 
similar  age  to  the  old  drift  of  northwestern  Pennsylvania,  i.  e.,  Kansan  or 
pre-Kansan. 

The  extent  of  the  lUinoian  drift  having  been  set  forth  in  some  detail 
in  the  discussion  of  the  drift  border,  we  may  pass  at  once  to  the  discussion 
of  its  features. 

TOPOGRAPHIC    EXPRESSION   OF    THE    DRIFT    BORDER. 

The  border  of  the  Illinoian  drift  shows  definite  ridges  or  knolls  at  only 
a  few  places,  as  specified  below.  The  drift  has,  however,  along  much  of  its 
border,  sufficient  thickness  to  produce  a  marked  effect  on  the  topogTaphy. 
The  valleys  and  ravines  lying  just  within  its  border  have  received  much 
more  di'ift  than  the  uplands  or  divides  between  the  streams.  As  a  result 
there  is  a  marked  reduction  in  the  depth  of  valleys  in  the  drift-covered 
region  compared  with  similar  valleys  in  neighboring  driftless  tracts.  In 
places  where  a  very  thin  coating  or  only  scattering  bowlders  appear  on  the 
dividing  I'idges,  the  valleys  usually  carr}^  50  to  100  feet  or  more  of  drift. 
These  deposits  in  the  valleys  often  terminate  very  abruptly  at  the  drift 
border,  both  on  drainage  lines  which  were  blocked  by  the  ice  in  their  lower 
courses  and  on  lines  which  were  open  during  the  glacial  deposition.  The 
abrupt  termination  affords  strong  evidence  that  the  ice  sheet  extended  to 
the  extreme  limits  of  the  drift.  Lakes  were  no  doubt  formed  in  valleys 
that  were  obstructed  by  the  ice  sheet,  but  there  appears  to  have  been 
comparatively  little  transportation  of  material  from  the  ice  margin  into  the 
lakes.  The  rate  of  removal  of  material  in  unobstructed  valleys  was  also 
somewhat  less  rapid  than  the  rate  of  deposition  by  the  ice  sheet.  The 
variations  in  the  topographic  expression  may  perhaps  be  best  discussed  by 
following  the  border  from  the  reentrant  in  Monroe  County,  Ind.,  eastward 
to  the  point  of  disappearance  beneath  the  Wisconsin  drift  in  Holmes 
County,  Ohio. 

On  the  elevated  upland  north  of  Beanblossom  Creek,  in  northeastern 
Monroe  County,  Ind.,  there  are  many  bowlders  but  only  occasional  thin 
deposits  of  till;  but  on  passing  down  into  Beanblossom  Valley,  at  Need- 
more,  the  drift  border  changes  abruptly  to  a  bulky  ridge  which  rises  like 
a  dam  60  to  75  feet  above  the  valley  bottom  to  the  west,  and  blocks  the 
valley  for  a  space  of  fully  a  mile.     Its  surface  is  indented  by  shall  mv  basins 


BORDER  OF  THE  ILLINOIAN  DRIFT.  255 

and  carries  also  a  few  low  swells.  There  was  probably  considerable  obstruc- 
tion, if  not  a  complete  damming,  of  the  lower  course  of  Beanblossom  Creek 
by  the  portion  of  the  ice  sheet  immediately  west  of  the  reentrant  angle. 
Such  an  obstruction  is  suggested  not  onl}^  by  the  fact  that  the  lower  course 
of  the  creek  enters  the  drift-covered  region  but  also  b}^  the  features  in  the 
part  of  the  valley  just  below  the  drift  ridge  at  Needmore.  Only  an  occa- 
sional pebble  appears  below  the  ridge  to  testify  to  transportation  of  glacial 
material  down  the  valley. 

South  from  Beanblossom  Creek  considerable  till  is  banked  ag-ainst  the 
slope,  but  the  dividing  ridge  carries  on\j  bowlders  and  occasional  thin 
deposits  of  till.  The  bowlders,  as  noted  above,  have  apparently  been 
rolled  down  ravines  south  of  the  divide  to  some  distance  beyond  the  ice 
margin. 

In  Salt  Creek  Valley  the  drift  border  connects  with  a  glacial  terrace 
that  leads  down  the  valley  beyond  the  limits  of  Brown  County.  Where 
uneroded  this  terrace  stands  fully  50  feet  above  the  present  stream.  The 
valley  of  Salt  Creek  seems  to  have  been  the  main  line  of  discharge  for 
glacial  waters  in  the  elevated  region.  The  drift  deposits  at  the  place  where 
the  ice  margin  crossed  the  valley  are  not  so  conspicuous  as  on  Beanblossom 
Creek,  probably  because  so  large  an  amount  was  carried  down  Salt  Creek 
Valley  during  their  deposition. 

On  the  elevated  uplands  in  eastern  Brown  County  the  drift  is  in  jjlaces 
40  feet  thick,  but  it  is  usually  a  thin  deposit,  scarcely  sufficient  to  form  a 
continuous  diift  sheet.  There  appears  to  have  been  some  outwash  into 
Middle  Salt  Creek,  for  gold,  supposed  to  be  of  glacial  derivation,  is  reported 
to  occur  in  the  alluvium  at  Elkinsville,^  but  it  Avas  a  less  important  line  of 
discharge  than  the  North  or  main  Salt  Creek  Valley. 

On  the  low  plain  in  Jackson  County  a  prominent  drift  ridge,  known 
as  "Chestnut  Ridge,"  stands  near  the  glacial  boundary.  It  is  not  at  the 
extreme  limits  of  the  drift,  there  being  a  plain  west  of  it  a  few  miles  in 
width  which  is  underlain  by  clay  and  sand  carrying  glacial  pebbles.  It 
should,  however,  be  considered  in  connection  with  the  drift  border,  since  it 
is  not  unlikely  that  the  ice  sheet  formed  this  ridge  while  it  was  still  occupy- 
ing neighboring  parts  of  the  di'ift  border. 

'  Kept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1874,  p.  107. 


256  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

This  ridge  was  brought  to  notice  by  E.  T.  Cox,  of  the  Indiana  survey,  in 
his  report  on  Jackson  County,^  and  its  position  was  indicated  on  the  county 
map  accompanying  that  report.  With  the  ridge  Cox  included  some  sand 
hills  southeast  of  Seymour,  which  are  evidently  of  different  origin  from  the 
ridge.  The  northern  terminus  of  the  ridge  is  at  the  south  bank  of  Mud 
Creek,  3  miles  due  soiith  of  Seymour.  From  this  point  it  leads  slightly 
west  of  south  through  Dudleytown  toward  Mount  Sidney,  a  distance  of 
about  8  miles,  its  southern  terminus  being  3  miles  north  of  Mount  Sidney. 
The  village  of  Dudleytown  stands  about  the  middle  of  the  ridge.  The 
width  nowhere  exceeds  1  mile,  and  is  usually  scarcely  a  half  mile.  The 
height  ranges  from  50  to  170  feet  above  the  bordering  plain.  Being  so 
narrow  its  highest  portions  constitute  a  prominent  feature  in  the  landscape, 
rivaling  the  hills  that  have  a  rock  nucleus.  That  this  ridge  has  not  a 
nucleus  of  rock  is  shown  by  a  series  of  wells  whose  sections  are  given 
below.  From  tliese  sections  it  appears  that  the  drift  extends  in  places  to  a 
level  fully  50  feet  below  the  base  of  the  ridge,  and  contains  till  as  well  as 
assorted  material.  The  crest  of  the  ridge  is  very  uneven,  dropping  down  in 
places  to  within  50  feet  of  the  bordering  plain,  and  then  rising  to  100  feet, 
and  in  one  place  to  1 70  feet  by  surveyor's  level,  above  the  plain.  There  is 
little  question  that  the  ridge  should  be  classed  as  a  moraine.  It  was  so  con- 
sidered by  Cox  at  a  date  when  but  a  few  moraines  had  been  recognized 
in  North  America.  While  several  moraines  of  Wisconsin  age,  in  Indiana, 
exceed  it  in  bulk,  none  of  them  forms  a  more  pi'ominent  landscape  feature. 

From  the  terminus  of  Chestnut  Ridge  southward  to  the  Ohio  River  the 
di'ift  on  the  lowlands  is  usually  a  continuous  sheet  which  in  jjlaces  reaches 
a  depth  of  40  feet  or  more,  but  on  the  uplands  along  the  extreme  border 
there  are  in  places  only  scattering  bowlders  to  indicate  the  glaciation.  The 
surface  of  the  drift  on  the  lowlands  is  very  flat,  with  scarcely  a  trace  of 
knolls  or  ridges. 

Along  the  Ohio  Valley  the  character  of  the  drift  border  is  extremely 
variable.  In  places  only  bowlders  and  thin  patches  of  drift  are  present, 
while  in  other  places  there  are  knolls  and  ridges  of  considerable  size. 
Among  the  common  features  in  northern  tributaries  of  the  Ohio,  a  short 
distance  inside  the  glacial  boundary,  are  clusters  of  large  knolls  standing 
near  the  base  of  the  bluffs,  or  plastered  on  the  slopes.     Some  clusters  con- 

'  Kept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1874,  pp.  41-75. 


BOEDER  OF  THE  ILLINOIAN  DRIFT,  257 

tain  a  central  knoll  rising  to  a  height  of  75  to  100  feet,  around  which  are 
smaller  ones;  in  other  cases  there  are  chains  of  knolls,  and  occasionally  an 
isolated  knoll  appears.  The  Ohio  Valley  itself  carries  several  clusters  of 
knolls  between  Vevay,  Ind.,  and  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami  at  the  Ohio- 
Indiana  State  line.  More  commonly  the  drift  accumulations  in  the  Ohio 
Valley  have  a  level  top  like  a  terrace  and  stand  150  to  200  feet  above  the 
river.  It  should  not  be  inferred,  however,  that  this  level-topped  drift  filling 
represents  a  fluvial  terrace,  for  it  appears  to  be  the  product  of  the  ice 
sheet,  just  as  in  the  case  of  level-topped  drift  surfaces  on  the  uplands.  It 
consists  largely  of  till  or  of  poorly  assorted  material  and  is  very  unequal 
in  amount  in  different  parts  of  the  valley.  Occasionally  it  fills  the  valley 
to  a  height  of  150  to  200  feet  above  low  water,  while  in  other  places  there 
appears  to  have  been  much  less  filling. 

Near  Carrollton,  Ky.,  a  definite  drift  ridge  appears  between  the  Ohio 
and  Kentucky  rivers,  apparently  at  the  extreme  limits  of  glaciation,  which, 
not  only  because  of  its  position  but  also  because  of  its  contours,  may  be 
classed  as  a  moraine.  The  highest  points  stand  nearly  200  feet  above  the 
Ohio  River,  but  the  low  parts  of  the  crest  are  scarcelj^  125  feet  above  that 
stream.  On  either  side  of  it  are  terraces  of  the  Ohio  and  Kentucky  rivers, 
standing  about  90  feet  above  the  streams.  The  ridge  is  scarcely  a  half  mile 
in  width  and  consequently  rises  sharply  above  the  terraces.  It  leads 
directly  east  across  a  gap  in  the  rock  ridge  between  the  two  rivers.  This 
drift  ridge  consists  largely  of  till  and  carries  many  striated  stones.  The 
question  whether  it  may  be  a  reduction  by  erosion  from  a  drift  filling  with 
level  top,  such  as  appears  at  intervals  farther  up  the  Ohio,  was  considered 
by  the  writer  while  on  the  ground,  but  it  seemed  that  the  contours  are  better 
explained  as  the  product  of  drift  deposition  than  of  drainage  erosion.  From 
the  eastern  end  of  this  drift  ridge  the  drift  border  rises  to  an  upland  tract 
with  an  altitude  more  than  300  feet  above  the  Ohio.  On  this  upland,  which 
is  greatly  dissected  by  valleys  and  ravines,  the  drift  forms  a  conspicuous 
deposit  along  the  ravines  that  discharge  northward  to  the  Ohio,  but  there 
is  a  very  meager  deposit  on  the  ravines  that  lead  southward  to  Eagle 
Creek,  a  feature  which  is  to  be  expected  where  the  glacial  boundary  lies 
near  the  divide. 

For  a  few  miles  up  the  river  from  Vevay,  level-topped  remnants  of  a 
drift  filling  appear  at  an  altitude  about  150  feet  above  the  river.     They  are 

MON  XLI 17 


258  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

most  conspicuous  where  tributaries  enter.  In  the  A^alleys  of  these  tribu- 
taries there  are  ckisters  of  knolls,  as  indicated  above.  Just  above  the  bend 
near  Patriot,  Ind.,  along  the  west  bluff  of  the  Ohio,  are  clusters  of  knolls 
which  are  composed  of  clay  or  poorly  assorted  material  similar  to  that  in 
the  level-topped  di-ift  tracts.  The  highest  stand  about  150  feet  above  the 
Ohio,  or  at  about  the  level  of  the  plane-surfaped  valley  filling.  Their 
form  seems  to  favor  the  Yiew  that  they  are  due  to  in-egularit}-  of  drift  depo- 
sition rather  than  to  the  erosion  of  a  plane-surfaced  drift  deposit.  Similar 
knolls  are  found  on  the  Kentucky  side  below  Rising  Sun,  Ind.,  and  in 
places  along  the  border  of  the  Indiana  bluff  above  Rising  Sun,  They  rise 
about  50  feet  above  the  level  of  gravel  terraces  of  Wisconsin  age,  or  150 
feet  above  the  river. 

Near  Bellevue,  Ky.,  the  di'ift  is  aggregated  in  knolls  up  to  a  height 
of  250  to  300  feet  above  the  river,  but  the  drift  deposits  on  the  elevated 
uplands  between  Belle\Tie  and  Bui'lington,  Ky.,  have  a  plane  surface.  The 
drift  is  decidedly  greater  in  amount  on  the  southern  branches  of  Gunpowder 
Creek  than  on  the  uplands  farther  north  near  the  bluff  of  the  Ohio.  Near 
Richmond,  K)^,  it  is  a  conspicuous  deposit  within  a  mile  of  the  limits  of 
glaciation  on  a  branch  of  Gunpowder  Creek  that  discharges  northward, 
but  is  very  meager  on  Mud  Lick  Creek  drainage,  whose  discharge  is  south- 
ward. The  presence  of  di-ift  in  the  Mud  Lick  drainage  basin  shows,  how- 
ever, that  the  ice  sheet  extended  beyond  the  Gunpowder-Mud  Lick  divide. 

Above  Cincinnati,  for  the  50  miles  in  which  the  glacial  boundary  lies 
near  the  Ohio  River,  there  are  numerous  level-topped  remnants  of  a  drift 
filling  that  stand  about  150  to  175  feet  above  the  river.  It  is  probable  that 
much  of  that  portion  of  the  Ohio  Valley  received  a  di-ift  filling  up  to  these 
heights.  Just  above  Higginsport,  Ohio,  on  the  east  side  of  the  mouth  of 
White  Oak  Creek,  there  is  a  glacial  conglomerate  extending  up  to  a  height  of 
235  feet  (aneroid)  above  the  Ohio,  forming  a  narrow  bench  on  the  border  of 
the  valley.  A  drift  deposit  appears  on  the  Kentucky  side  opposite  Higgins- 
port which  also  carries  conglomerate  masses,  but  its  upper  part  consists  of  till. 
It  rises  only  to  a  height  of  175  feet  above  the  river,  its  altitude  being  nearly 
in  harmony  with  the  general  drift  filling  below  that  point.  It  is  near  the 
Higginsport  conglomerate  that  the  glacial  boundary  swings  away  from  the 
Ohio  Valley  toward  the  northeast. 

The  writer  has  not  examined  the  portion  of  the  border  lying  between 


BORDER  OF  THE  ILLINOIAN  DRIFT.  259 

the  Ohio  Kiver  and  the  head  of  Brush  Creek,  but  from  Wright's  desoi-iption 
it  ajjpears  to  be  plane  surfaced  and  rather  attenuated.^ 

From  the  head  of  Brush  Creek,  in  Pike  County,  Ohio,  eastward  to  the 
Scioto,  the  Wisconsin  and  Ilhnoian  drift  borders  are  nearly  coincident. 
The  Illinoian  drift,  however,  appears  along  the  south  side  of  Paint  Creek 
Valley  outside  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin.  It  shows  a  marked  tendency 
to  aggregate  in  knolls,  there  being  several  prominent  clusters  between 
Bainbridge  and  Chillicothe.  These  knolls,  like  those  on  tributaries  of  the 
Ohio  in  southeastern  Indiana,  are  banked  against  the  base  or  stand  on  the 
slope  of  the  bluff.  They  rise  abruptly  in  several  instances  to  a  height 
of  fully  100  feet  above  the  low  parts  of  the  creek  valley.  Around  and 
back  of  these  knolls  there  are  deposits  of  drift,  but  the  high  uplands  south 
of  Paint  Creek  appear  to  be  unglaciated.  On  the  east  border  of  the  Scioto 
Valley,  opposite  Chillicothe,  a  high  glacial  terrace,  standing  about  60  feet 
above  the  Wisconsin  terraces,  or  120  feet  above  the  Scioto  River,  apparently 
connects  with  the  Illinoian  sheet  of  drift.  Near  the  point  of  connection  it 
carries  shallow  basins  similar  to  those  so  often  found  on  outwash  aprons 
bordering  morainic  systems  of  Wisconsin  age.  The  drift  immediately  north 
of  the  head  of  this  terrace  is  of  gravelly  constitution,  and  it  grades  into  the 
terrace  in  the  manner  so  common  in  moraines  of  Wisconsin  age.  How- 
ever, no  knolls  or  ridges  of  morainic  type  were  found  in  this  portion  of  the 
Illinoian  drift  border. 

On  the  hilly  country  between  the  Scioto  Valley  and  Salt  Creek  Valley 
the  drift  border  on  the  high  ridges  is  attenuated,  consisting  only  of  bowlders 
and  thin  patches  of  till.  In  the  ravines,  however,  deposits  of  considerable 
depth  appear. 

In  Salt  Creek  Valley,  below  Adelphi,  for  a  distance  of  5  miles  there  are 
heavy  accumulations  of  drift,  with  nearly  plane  surfaces,  which  rise  about 
150  feet  above  the  creek  level  and  give  the  appearance  of  terraces  on  the 
valley  borders.  These  deposits  terminate  abruptly  at  the  drift  border,  there 
being  a  low  plain  extending  from  bluff  to  bluff  along  the  portion  of  Salt 
Creek  east  of  the  drift  border.  It  is  probable  that  a  lake  occupied  this  part 
of  the  creek  valley  during  part,  if  not  all,  of  the  Illinoian  stage  of  glacia- 
tion,  for  the  preglacial  course  of  the  stream,  as  noted  on  page  178,  was 

1  Glacial  Boundary  in  Ohio,  pp.  68-72. 


260  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

westward  to  the  Scioto  Basin,  and  it  became  necessary  to  open  a  new  line 
of  drainage  toward  the  south. 

In  much  of  the  interval  between  Salt  Creek  and  Hocking  River,  as 
indicated  above,  the  Wisconsin  drift  apparently  extends  to  the  limits  of 
glaciation.  The  Illinoian  drift  border,  however,  probably  lies  only  a  short 
distance  back  beneath  the  Wisconsin.  Possibly  an  attenuated  margin  of 
Illinoian  drift  may  be  found  outside  the  Wisconsin  in  a  pai't  of  this  interval, 
but  from  the  examination  already  made  it  is  evident  that  no  conspicuous 
sheet  of  Illinoian  drift  is  exposed.  In  the  Hocking  Valley  and  its  tribu- 
taries, and  also  in  an  abandoned  valley  east  of  Lancaster,  large  knolls  of 
Illinoian  drift,  similar  to  those  found  in  the  Ohio  River  and  Paint  Creek 
valleys,  appear,  sometimes  in  clusters  and  sometimes  isolated.  In  some 
cases  they  are  50  to  75  feet  in  height.  Aside  from  these  knolls,  which 
seem  confined  chiefly  to  the  valleys,  the  drift  surface  in  that  part  of  the 
border  is  plane.  The  filling  of  ra^anes  is  sufficient  there,  and  also  in  the 
part  of  the  di'ift  border  farther  north,  to  cause  a  striking  contrast  between 
the  drift-covered  and  the  driftless  tracts.  Very  few  knolls  ajopear  along  the 
portion  of  the  border  between  the  Hocking  and  Licking  rivers. 

In  the  Licking-  Valley  east  of  Hanover  is  an  accumulation  of  sand, 
gravel,  and  silt  at  the  drift  border,  presenting  the  form  of  a  great  dam 
across  the  valley.  It  stands  more  than  100  feet  higher  than  portions  of 
the  valley  above  and  below  it,  and  occupies  the  whole  width  of  the  valley 
for  a  space  of  about  2  miles.  The  valley  being  about  a  mile  wide,  the 
area  occupied  is  not  less  than  2  square  miles.  The  top  is  nearly  plane, 
but  descends  gradually  eastward;  the  west,  or  inner  face,  is  very  abrupt. 
The  deposit  appears  to  be  an  outwash  from  the  ice  sheet  into  a  body  of 
water  held  in  the  valley  to  the  east.  Much  of  the  material  is  a  fine  silt, 
and  there  is  none  coarser  than  fine  gravel.  The  surface  capping  is  coarser 
than  the  deeper  part.  West  from  this  great  dam  there  are  low  knolls  in 
the  bottoms  and  on  the  slopes  of  the  valley  which  were  probably  formed 
beneath  the  ice  margin.  They  are  much  less  conspicuous  than  the  dam. 
Prominent  drift  knolls  occur  in  the  valley  of  Wilkins  Run  a  few  miles 
northwest  of  Hanover,  as  noted  by  Wright,^  which  appear  to  be  of  Illinoian 
age.  They  I'ise  75  to  90  feet  above  the  creek  level,  and  are  classed 
by  Wright  as  "  extramarginal  kames."     They  apparently  lie  outside  the 


1  Glacial  Boundary  in  Ohio,  p.  52. 


STRUCTURE  OF  ILLIONIAN  DRIFT  BORDER.  261 

Wisconsin  drift  border,  but   they   are    several   miles   inside  the   lllinoian 
border,  and  are  therefore  extramarginal  only  to  the  Wisconsin  drift. 

From  the  Licking  Valley  northward  to  the  point  where  the  lllinoian 
drift  border  passes  under  the  Wisconsin  the  drift  is  generally  tliin  on 
uplands,  but  has  considerable  depth  in  valleys.  Knolls  such  as  occur  in 
Wilkins  Run  Valley  are  very  rarely  seen  in  this  part  of  the  drift  border.  A 
few,  however,  appear  in  the  valley  of  Mohican  Creek,  and  others  may  occur 
which  have  escaped  notice. 

STRUCTURE  OF  THE  DRIFT  BORDER. 

The  drift  border  generally  consists  of  a  sheet  of  moderately  stony  till 
similar  to  the  widespread  sheet  of  which  it  is  the  terminus.  Portions 
of  it  are  thickly  set  with  large  bowlders,  but  more  commonly  it  contains 
only  small  stones  a  foot  or  less  in  diameter.  On  the  borders  of  valleys  that 
afforded  a  good  line  of  discharge  for  glacial  waters  the  till  has  lost  much  of 
the  fine  material,  and  consists  of  a  more  or  less  thoroughly  assorted  grav- 
elly deposit.     It  is  seldom,  however,  distinctly  bedded. 

The  large  bowlders  are  mostly  of  granite  rocks,  but  quartzites  and 
greenstones  are  not  rare,  while  occasional  red  jasper  conglomerates  have 
been  noted.  There  are  also  a  limited  number  of  other  crystaUine  rocks  of 
Canadian  derivation.  South  from  the  Ohio  bowlders  exceeding  1  foot  in 
diameter  are  rare;  there  are,  however,  a  few  that  reach  3  or  4  feet  in 
diameter. 

In  a  few  places  extensive  masses  of  glicial  conglomerate  have  been 
formed,  of  which  perhaps  "Split  Rock,"  near  Aurora,  Ind.,  is  the  most  widely 
known.  These  conglomerate  masses  are  especially  conspicuous  in  the  Ohio 
Valley,  not  only  at  Split  Rock,  but  at  points  below,  near  Vevay,  Ind.,  and 
Carrollton,  Ky.,  and  at  points  above,  near  Augusta,  Ky.,  and  Higginsport, 
Ohio.  They  occur  at  various  levels,  from  about  50  feet  below  the  Ohio 
River  up  to  fully  300  feet  above  the  stream.  The  matrix  of  the  conglom- 
erates is  usually  a  calcareous  material  much  like  the  fine  parts  of  the  till. 
Indeed,  the  conglomerates  seem  to  be  an  exceptionally  stony  till  rather  than 
a  gravel.  The  coarse  fragments  are  mainly  limestone  slabs,  though  occa- 
sional Canadian  rocks  occur.  The  thickness  of  these  conglomerate  masses 
ranges  from  a  few  inches  up  to  100  feet  or  more.  In  places  they  are  like 
large  concretions  in  the  midst  of  an  uncemented  till;  in  other  places  they 


262  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

form  sheets  extending  horizontally  for  a  mile  or  more.  "Split  Rock"  is  a 
detached  mass  of  such  a  conglomerate  lying  in  the  river  on  the  Kentucky 
side.  The  conglomerate  from  which  it  is  broken  extends  up  to  a  height 
of  nearly  100  feet  above  the  river  and  for  a  distance  of  one-eighth  mile 
or  more  along  the  bank.  It  extends  for  more  than  a  mile  along  the  valley, 
lying  mainly  below  the  mouth  of  Wolper  Creek.  Back  of  this,  at  a  height 
of  about  300  feet  above  the  river,  is  another  conglomerate  mass,  known 
as  the  "Middle  Creek  conglomerate,"  which  was  discussed  some  years  since 
by  Sutton.^  From  the  wide  difference  of  level  at  which  these  conglomer- 
ates occur  Sutton  drew  the  inference  that  they  are  widely  different  in  age,  it 
being  assumed  that  they  are  terrace  remnants.  In  the  writer's  opinion,  as 
just  indicated,  the  conglomerates  are  to  be  classed  as  exceptionally  stony 
till  rather  than  the  deposit  of  a  stream,  and  the  wide  difference  in  altitude 
may  signify  nothing  as  to  time  relations.  Indeed,  the  writer  was  unable  to 
discover  any  evidence  that  the  two  conglomerates  differ  greatly  in  age. 
An  uncemented  stony  deposit  above  the  level  of  the  upper  conglomerate  is 
discussed  below. 

A  sheet  of  silt  or  white  clay  covers  the  Illinoian  drift  in  this  region  as 
well  as  in  the  region  to  the  west  occupied  by  the  Illinois  glacial  lobe,  which 
appears  to  be  a  continuation  or  extension  of  the  loess  of  the  central  part  of 
the  Mississippi  Basin.  The  white  clay  is  but  3  to  6  feet  thick  on  the  flat 
parts  of  this  region,  and  is  usually  largely  removed  from  valley  slopes. 
The  drift  knolls  above  noted  are  covered  by  it  unless  their  slopes  are  very 
abrupt.  It  conceals  the  till  and  bowlders  to  a  great  degree  on  the  uplands, 
leaving  only  the  eroded  valley  slopes  to  afford  natural  exposures.  The 
amount  of  white  clay  is  not  sufficient  to  produce  a  notable  valley  filling. 
It  thus  differs  from  the  till  which,  as  stated  above,  has  filled  valleys  to  a 
perceptible  degree  all  along  the  drift  border.  The  distribution,  structure, 
and  relationships  of  the  white  clay  are  taken  up  in  some  detail  farther  on. 
The  structure  of  the  drift  border  may  generally  be  easily  determined  from 
natm-al  exposures,  and  such  exposures  have  furnished  data  for  the  statements 
just  made;  but  in  valleys,  and  also  on  Chestnut  Ridge,  wells  have  been 
of  service  in  revealing  the  drift  structure.  A  few  records  are  accordingly 
given. 

^Glacial  or  ice  deposits  in  Boone  County,  Ky.,  of  twD  distinct  and  widely  distant  periods,  by 
George  Sutton:  Proc.  Am".  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  Vol.  XXV,  1876,  pp.  225-231;  also  Tenth  Ann.  Kept. 
Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1878,  pp.  108-11.3. 


STRUCTURE  OF  ILLIONIAN  DRIFT  BORDER.  263 

In  Beanblossom  Valley  near  Needmore,  Ind.,  the  wells  reach  a  depth 
of  about  50  feet,  and  the  material  penetrated  is  said  to  be  in  the  main 
similar  to  that  at  the  surface,  a  very  stony,  almost  g-ravelly,  till  of  brown 
color. 

In  East  White  Valley  wells  are  seldom  50  feet  in  depth,  and  are 
largely  through  sand  and  fine  gravel.  This  is  probably  referable  in  the 
main  to  the  Wisconsin  stage  of  glaciation.  On  the  lowlands  west  of  the 
valley  the  wells  ordinarily  penetrate  8  to  1 0  feet  of  pebbleless  clay,  beneath 
which  they  enter  till.  Beds  of  gravel  associated  with  the  till  furnish  a 
supply  of  water. 

At  Seymour,  Ind.,  on  a  low  sandy  plain  east  of  White  River  Valley, 
the  wells  are  driven  through  sand  and  sandy  clay  to  a  depth  of  50  feet  or 
more  without  encountering  a  stony  clay.  The  deposits  may  be  alluvial 
rather  than  glacial.  A  gas-well  boring  penetrated  75  feet  of  Pleistocene 
deposits,  as  follows: 

Section  of  Pleistocene  deposits  in  a  gas  boring  at  Seym.oiir,  Ind. 

Feet. 

1.  Coarse  sand 12 

2.  Very  fine  sand  or  silt,  almost  a  clay 43 

3.  Black  muck,  probably  an  old  flood  plain  of  the  river 10 

4.  Coarse  sand  with  a  large  amount  of  water _ , .       5 

5.  Blue  clay 5 

Total 75 

The  black  muck  of  this  section  is  often  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Sey- 
mour at  a  nearly  uniform  altitude,  and  seems  likely  to  be  an  old  flood 
plain  over  which  sand  and  silt  have  been  deposited,  either  by  water  or  by 
wind.  A  short  distance  east  from  Seymour  the  rock  comes  up  to  a  level  as 
high  as  the  well  mouth. 

On  the  plain  bordering  Chestnut  Ridge  south  from  Seymour,  water  is 
usually  obtained  at  a  depth  of  30  feet  or  less,  though  a  few  wells  are  as 
deep  as  40  feet.  The  wells  are  mainly  through  fine  sand  or  clay,  yellow  at 
top  but  of  blue  color  at  a  depth  of  16  to  18  feet.  A  flowing  well  on  this 
plain  is  reported  by  Cox  to  obtain  water  in  a  soft  shale  beneath  alluvium 
and  drift  at  a  depth  of  27  feet.  The  well  is  located  on  a  branch  of  Pond 
Creek,  in  sec.  7,  T.  4  N.,  R.  5  E.,  a  few  feet  below  the  general  level  of  the 
plain. 

The  following  sections  of  wells  were  obtained  on  Chestnut  Ridge. 


264  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASIiNS. 

The  section  of  Harvey  Morris's  well,  near  the  noi'th  end  of  the  ridge, 
89  feet  in  depth,  is  as  follows: 

Section  (if  Morris  well  on  Chestnut  Ridge. 

Feet. 

1.  Clay,  containing  a  few  pebbles  in  lower  part 20 

2.  Fine  sand,  becoming  gravelly  near  the  bottom 69 

Total 89 

Jerry  Anderson's  well,  also  near  north  end  of  ridge,  96  feet  in  depth, 
has  the  following  section: 

Section  of  Andersmi  well  on  C'hestmit  Ridge. 

Feet. 

1.  Clay,  pebbleless  at  surface  but  quite  pebbly  below;  blue  in  lower  part 52 

2.  Gray  sand,  too  fine  to  screen  but  yielding  water 38 

3.  Gravel 5 

Total 95 

Hiram  Love's  well,  57  feet  in  depth,  has  the  following  section: 

Section  of  Love  well  on  Chestnut  Ridge. 

Feet. 

1.  Surface  clay  and  yellow  till 20 

2.  Blue  till 30 

3.  Gravel  and  sand " 

Total 57 

A  well  at  Mr.  Wieneke's,  on  the  highest  point  of  the  ridge,  77  feet  in 
depth,  penetrates  the  following  strata: 

Section  of  Wieneke  well  on  Chestnut  Ridqe. 

Feet. 

1.  Sandy  loam 15 

2.  Loose  sand 18 

3.  Reddish  gravel  and  sand  with  clay  admixture,  probably  till 40 

4.  Coarse  gravel  - - 4 

Total 77 

A  strong  spring  gushes  out  of  the  slope  of  the  ridge  west  of  Wieneke's 
residence  at  about  the  level  of  the  bottom  of  the  well  and  probably  from 
the  same  gravel  bed.  At  M.  T.  Cox's  residence,  on  a  low  part  of  the  ridge, 
scarcely  50  feet  above  the  bordering  plain,  a  well  107  feet  in  depth  pene- 
trates strata  as  follows: 

Section  of  Cox  well  on  Chestnut  Ridge. 

Feet. 

1.  Till  50 

2.  Fine  sand  25 

3.  Gravelly  sand - 32 

Total - 107 


STRUCTUEE  OF  ILLIONIAN  DRIFT  BORDER.  265 

Wells  in  Dudleytown,  also  on  a  low  part  of  the  ridge,  obtain  an 
abundance  of  water  at  less  than  50  feet.  Heniy  King's  well,  on  the  slope 
of  the  ridge  south  of  Dudleytown,  perhaps  30  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
border  plain,  reaches  a  depth  of  63  feet.  John  W.  Collins's  well,  near  the 
south  end  of  the  ridge,  at  an  altitude  nearly  100  feet  above  the  plain, 
obtains  water  at  60  feet.  A  log  was  penetrated  near  the  bottom  in  a  sandy 
blue  clay. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Mount  Sidney,  on  the  borders  of  the  Muscatatuck 
River,  wells  are  obtained  at  40  to  45  feet  in  sand  and  gravel  below  till. 
The  water  bed  is  apparently  a  little  higher  than  the  level  of  the  river. 

Along  the  Ohio  Valley  several  wells  penetrate  to  a  level  considerably 
below  the  Ohio  River  before  striking  rock,  and  these  probably  in  some 
instances  pass  through  drift  of  Illinoian  age.  C.  E.  Siebenthal  reports  that 
at  Utica,  Indiana,  a  well  standing  on  ground  40  to  50  feet  above  the  Ohio 
River  reached  a  depth  of  120  feet  before  striking  rock,  while  several  wells 
west  from  Jeffersonville  penetrate  to  a  level  lower  than  the  river  without 
striking  rock.  They  are. mainly  through  sand  and  gravel.  Siebenthal 
holds  the  opinion  that  the  Ohio  may  have  formerly  had  its  course  through 
the  north  edge  of  the  valley  back  of  Jeffersonville.^ 

At  Madison,  Indiana,  several  wells  have  reached  a  depth  of  120  feet 
without  entering  rock,  but  they  are  on  a  terrace  standing  about  100  feet 
above  the  river.  The  terrace  seems  to  be  of  Wisconsin  age,  but  there  may 
be  gravel  and  sand  of  Illinoian  age  under  the  Wisconsin  gravel.  The  wells 
are  reported  to  be  entirely  through  sand  and  gravel. 

At  Carrollton,  Ky.,  a  boring  at  Jett's  distillery,  which  stands  near  the 
mouth  of  Kentucky  River  about  60  feet  above  the  low-water  level  of  the 
river,  reached  a  depth  of  107  feet  without  entering  rock.  It  terminated  in 
a  conglomerate  which  appears  to  be  similar  to  that  found  in  the  banks  of 
the  Ohio  above  Carrollton,  and  which,  like  that  conglomerate,  is  probably 
of  Illinoian  age. 

Near  Vevay,  Ind.,  cemented  gravel,  which  may  be  Illinoian,  appears 
under  loose  gravel  of  Wisconsin  age.  The  village  of  Vevay  stands  on  a 
terrace  about  80  feet  above  the  Ohio,  and  wells  are  usually  obtained  at 
depths  of  60  to  80  feet. 

The  Split  Rock  and  associated  conglomerates  near  Aurora,  Ind.,  have 

'  Twenty-fifth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1900,  pp.  359-364. 


266         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

already  been  noted.  Above  the  upper  conglomerate  there  is,  near  the 
headwaters  of  Middle  Creek,  a  deposit  of  assorted  drift,  which,  so  far  as 
observed  by  the  writer,  is  uncemented.  Since  this  has  not  been  men- 
tioned by  other  writers  a  bidef  account  of  it  will  be  given.  By  following 
the  road  leading  south  into  Middle  Creek  Valley,  past  the  rock  spring,  one 
finds  exposed:  First,  the  silt  at  the  top  of  the  bluff,  which  is  here  about 
5  feet  in  thickness;  second,  a  sand  of  gray  color  and  free  from  pebbles 
near  top,  but  becoming  brown  and  pebbly  below,  and  finally  grading 
into  a  coarse  gravel  and  cobble,  the  whole  formation  having  a  thickness  of 
about  50  feet.  For  a  vertical  distance  of  perhaps  50  feet  below  the  base 
of  this  deposit  there  are  scarcely  any  signs  of  drift  on  the  slope,  there 
being  outcropping  ledges  of  rock.  The  upper  conglomerate  then  sets  in 
and  occupies  a  vertical  distance  of  about  100  feet.  There  are  numerous 
large  masses  of  detached  conglomerate,  and  that  which  remains  attached 
to  the  hillside  is  fissured  deeply  and  presents  a  very  uneven  surface.  The 
rock  spring  issues  from  this  conglomerate. 

At  the  base  of  a  large  mass  of  conglomerate  near  the  rock  spring  an 
uncemented  gravel  was  found  whose  pebbles  are  of  medium  coarseness. 
An  examination  of  the  pebbles  indicates  that  not  more  than  1  per  cent  are 
of  Canadian  dei'ivation,  the  remainder  being  mainly  local  limestone.  No 
exposures  of  the  conglomerate  were  found  on  continuing  the  descent  from 
the  rock  spring  to  Middle  Creek,  the  greater  part  of  the  slope  having  out- 
crops of  limestone.  The  extent  of  the  Middle  Creek  conglomerate  is  not 
known,  but  it  has  been  observed  at  intervals  for  3  or  4  miles  northward 
from  the  rock  spring.  Sutton  has  traced  it  to  within  2^  miles  of  Split 
Rock.  He  has  also  traced  it  some  distance  southward  from  Middle  Creek 
(see  paper  cited  above).  On  the  farm  of  W.  T.  Ryle,  about  a  mile  north  of 
the  rock  spring,  there  are  slight  exposures  of  what  may  prove  to  be  a  drift 
conglomerate.  The  outcrop  consists  of  a  mass  of  loosely  cemented  stones, 
some  of  which  are  angular  and  others  well  rounded.  They  are  maiidy 
limestone,  but  chert  pebbles  were  also  observed.  No  Canadian  rocks  were 
found  in  these  beds,  but  some  loose  ones  occur  on  the  slope  near  the  same 
horizon,  which  may  have  weathered  out.  Should  these  outcrops  prove  to 
be  glacial  deposits  the  conglomerate  horizon  would  be  of  about  the  same 
altitude  as  the  uncemented  gravel  near  the  top  of  the  slope  above  the  rock 
spring.     There  are  on  Mr.  Ryle's  farm,  and  also  on  farms  east  of  the  rock 


STRUCTURE  OF  ILLINOIAN  DRIFT  BORDER.  267 

spring,  low  knolls  along  the  brow  of  the  bluff,  whose  tops  rise  above  the 
general  level  of  the  uplands.  The  writer  was  unable  to  ascertain  whether 
they  have  a  nucleus  of  rock  or  are  drift  knolls.  The  slopes  of  Middle 
Creek  Valley  westward  from  the  rock  spring  are  not  smooth  like  those  of 
the  river  bluffs,  but  have  irregularities  of  outline  that  are  due  to  drift 
deposits.  These  irregularities  have  not  the  sharp  outline  which  morainic 
knolls  commonly  present,  but  their  lack  of  sharpness  of  outline  may  be  a 
result  of  denudation  consequent  upon  great  age.  Were  they  of  as  recent 
age  as  the  morainic  knolls  of  the  Wisconsin  stage  their  outline  should  still 
be  sharp.  At  the  junction  of  the  north  bluff  of  Middle  Creek  with  the  east 
bluff  of  the  Ohio,  and  at  the  base  of  the  bluffs,  there  is  a  group  of  knolls 
standing  50  to  70  feet  above  the  valley  bottom,  which  also  appear  to  be 
drift  aggregations,  but  there  are  not  sufficiently  deep  exposures  to  throw 
light  upon  their  structure. 

A  gas  boring  at  Aurora,  on  ground  standing  45  to  50  feet  above  the 
river,  reached  a  depth  of  92  feet  before  entering  rock.  It  was  largely 
through  sand  and  gravel.  At  Rising  Sun,  Ind.,  a  few  miles  below  Aurora, 
a  well  reached  a  level  60  feet  below  the  river  without  encountering  rock. 
Only  a  half  mile  from  this  well,  on  the  Kentucky  side,  rock  extends  half 
way  across  the  river  at  about  low-water  level. 

At  Lawrenceburg,  Ind.,  Orton  noted  an  outcrop  of  a  blackened  clay, 
apparently  a  soil,  along  the  river  bank,  a  description  of  which  appears  in 
the  Geology  of  Ohio.^  The  Wisconsin  gravel  terrace  at  that  point  stands 
80  to  85  feet  above  the  river,  and  the  gravel  appears  to  be  of  Wisconsin  age 
down  nearly  to  river  level,  where  this  blackened  clay  outcrops.  A  gas  bor- 
ing at  Lawrenceburg  reached  a  depth  of  140  feet  before  entering  rock. 
The  rock  floor  is,  therefore,  about  60  feet  below  this  blackened  clay  and 
the  drift  between  the  clay  and  the  rock  floor  may  be  Illinoian.  It  is 
reported  to  be  gravelly.  This  blackened  clay  has  been  noted  at  a  few 
points  below  Lawrenceburg  at  about  low-water  level. 

In  the  portion  of  the  Ohio  Valley  along  the  Ohio-Kentucky  line  the 
only  well  records  obtained  are  on  terraces  of  Wisconsin  gravel,  and  the 
wells  appear  to  terminate  in  that  gravel  near  the  present  river  level.  A 
few  in  Cincinnati  are  deeper  and  reach  a  level  50  to  60  feet  below  the  river 
before  striking  rock. 


'Vol.  I,  pp.  42&-428. 


268  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

In  nortlieastern  Pike  County,  Ohio,  in  a  tract  known  as  the  "Beech 
Flats,"  records  of  several  wells  were  obtained  within  a  mile  or  two  of  the 
limits  of  glaciation.  These  records  show  a  heavy  deposit  of  till.  An  old 
valley  which  drained  that  region  northward  to  Paint  Creek,  as  noted 
on  page  177,  has  been  so  completely  filled  that  the  drainage  is  now  turned 
southward  through  Brush  Creek  to  the  Ohio.  The  filling  probably  exceeds 
300  feet  in  depth  along  the  middle  of  the  old  valley.  In  a  few  places 
along  Brush  Creek  the  drift  becomes  stony,  but  well-assorted,  definitely 
bedded  gravel  is  rare. 

The  knolls  along  Paint  Creek  Valley  probably  contain  much  gravel, 
but  it  is  not  extensively  opened. 

On  the  high  terrace  in  the  Scioto  Valley  east  of  Chillicothe  several 
wells  have  been  sunk  to  a  depth  of  over  100  feet,  or  to  about  low-water  level 
of  the  river,  withoiTt  striking  rock.  They  are  mainly  through  uncemented 
sand  and  gravel.  Occasionally  thin  beds  of  cemented  gravel  are  passed 
through.  A  well  in  section  26,  Springfield  Township,  in  process  of  excava- 
tion at  the  time  the  writer  was  there,  has  the  following  section: 

Section  of  well  neai'  head  of  gravel  ter'race  in  section  26,  Springfield  TotonsMp,  Ross 

County,  Ohio. 

Feet. 

1.  Surface  clay  and  fine  sand 10 

2.  Coarse  sand  and  fine  gravel 49 

3.  Cemented  gravel 11 

4.  Fine  calcareous  sand  with  small  amount  of  water 5 


Total. 


75 


About  2  miles  west  of  Mooresville,  on  the  bluff"  of  a  small  tributar}'  of 
the  Scioto,  exposures  of  blue  till  appear  beneath  a  brown  till.  The  blue  till 
is  less  thickly  set  with  pebbles  and  coarse  rock  material  than  the  brown. 
West  from  this  place  around  the  base  of  "Mount  Logan"  there  is  a  very 
stony,  sandy  till. 

In  the  valley  of  Salt  Creek  east  of  Adelphi  there  is  a  calcareous  blue 
silt  up  to  a  height  about  7.5  feet  above  creek  level,  which  apparently  was 
deposited  in  a  glacial  lake  held  between  the  advancing  ice  front  and  the 
divide  across  which  Salt  Creek  was  turned  (see  p.  178).  This  silt  is  cov- 
ered with  about  50  feet  of  coarse  glacial  drift,  much  of  which  is  very 
stony.  Bowlders  1.^  to  2  feet  in  diameter  are  to  be  seen  near  Haynes,  at 
the  extreme  limits  of  the  glacial  drift. 


STRUCTURE  OF  ILLINOIAN  DRIFT  BORDER.  269 

About  IJ  miles  east  of  Clearport,  near  the  forks  of  the  road,  there  is  a 
good  exposure  of  buried  soil  apparently  of  Sangamon  age  between  the  sur- 
face silt  and  the  lUinoian  drift.  The  soil  is  a  rich  black,  but  the  glacial  depos- 
its below  are  of  a  pale-ash  color  and  quite  sandy.  A  half  mile  northeast  from 
the  exposm'e,  on  a  tributary  of  Clear  Creek,  is  a  knoll  of  lUinoian  drift  about 
30  feet  high,  which  at  the  surface  carries  a  slightly  pebbly  clay  but  seems 
to  have  a  nucleus  of  gravel.  The  drift  is  very  scanty  from  the  valley  in 
which  this  knoll  stands  eastward  to  the  Hocking  Valley  at  Sugar  Grrove. 

A  black,  mucky  soil  was  found  between  the  Wisconsin  and  Illinoian 
drift  in  the  grading  of  the  railway  leading  from  Lancaster  to  the  reform 
school  about  4  miles  south  of  Lancaster. 

In  the  Hocking  Valley  about  midway  between  Sugar  Grove  and  Lan- 
caster a  few  drift  knolls  appear,  one  of  which,  near  Crawfiss  Institute,  has 
been  opened  for  gravel.  The  pebbles  are  largely  of  limestone  and  sand- 
stone, as  may  be  seen  by  the  table  below.  In  making  the  classification 
pebbles  1  to  2  inches  in  diameter  were  taken. 

Classification  ofj^ebbles  in  a  grcovel  hioll  in  the  Hocking  Valley  ielow  Lancaster^  Ohio. 

Per  cent. 

Granite _._  2 

Other  pre-Cambrian  crystalline  rocks ^ 9 

Chert 2 

Quartz 3 

Clay  ironstone 2 

Sandstone,  probably  local 36 

Limestone 46 

Total 100 

The  drift  in  the  Hocking  Valley  has  a  depth  of  about  200  feet  at  Lan- 
caster and  a  still  greater  depth  toward  the  head  of  the  stream,  while  down 
the  valley  the  thickness  shows  a  marked  decrease.  The  well  data  (as  shown 
on  p.  169)  indicate  that  the  rock  floor  slopes  toward  the  Scioto  Basin,  or  in 
the  reverse  of  the  present  drainage.  So  far  as  could  be  learned  from  well 
drillers,  the  drift  in  this  valley  consists  chiefly  of  sand  and  gravel,  there 
being  little,  if  any,  till  reported.  Occasionally  a  "blue  mud"  is  mentioned, 
but  it  seems  to  be  free  from  bowlders  or  coarse  rock  fragments.  The  court- 
house hill  in  Lancaster  has  a  large  amount  of  cemented  gravel  in  its  base, 
but  there  is  about  40  feet  of  drift  covering  the  highest  part  of  the  hill.  The 
surface  drift  is  till,  apparently  of  Wisconsin  age,  but  th^  underlying 
cemented    gravel    is    probably  Illinoian.     This   cemented  gravel  is  well 


270  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

exposed  in  a  2Dit  on  the  south  slope  of  the  hill.  Masses  of  it  are  used  for 
building  stone  walls  in  that  vicinity. 

The  drift  knolls  east  of  Bern  Station  have  in  several  places  been  opened 
for  gravel,  but  they  are  composed  in  part  of  a  stony  till. 

A  fine  exposure  of  till  is  made  by  a  railroad  cutting  one-half  mile  east 
of  Junction  City  and  very  near  the  glacial  boundar}-.  The  till  there  has 
blocked  the  valley  of  P]ast  Rush  Creek  to  a  height  of  100  feet  above  the 
stream  and  caused  the  stream  to  be  deflected  around  a  rock  hill.^ 

For  several  miles  northeast  from  Junction  City  the  drift  border  lies 
along  the  west  side  of  a  prominent  ridge,  and  the  ^dew  from  the  ridge  shows 
a  great  contrast  between  the  glaciated  and  unglaciated  ten-itory.  In  the 
unglaciated  territory  there  are  deep,  sharp  valleys,  while  in  the  glaciated 
the  valleys  seem  to  have  been  filled  50  to  100  feet  or  more.  Ntimerous 
exposures  of  till  10  to  15  feet  thick  may  be  seen  at  roadsides  and  along 
ravines  in  the  vicinity  of  the  diift  border  all  through  the  region  between 
the  Hocking  and  Licking  rivers.  In  the  Licking  Valley,  as  noted  above, 
there  is  a  great  filling  of  silt  with  a  capping  of  gravel  and  sand. 

North  from  the  Licking  Valley  for  a  few  miles  the  di'ift  has  a  very 
attenuated  border,  but  near  Fallsburg  a  sheet  10  to  20  feet  or  more  in 
depth  sets  in  at  the  drift  border,  and  from  there  northward  to  the  Walhond- 
ing  the  immediate  border  shows  numerous  exposures  of  till  several  feet  in 
depth.  North  from  the  Walhonding  the  drift  margin  again  becomes  very 
attenuated,  and  continues  so  to  the  point  where  it  passes  beneath  the  Wis- 
consin drift.  In  places  only  an  occasional  bowlder  is  found  to  indicate  the 
presence  of  the  ice  sheet.  But  within  5  miles  back  from  the  border  in  the 
valley  of  Mohican  Creek,  thick  deposits  of  drift  occur,  which,  as  above 
noted,  are  in  places  aggregated  in  large  knolls. 

SECTION  II.     GENERAL  ASPECTS  OF  THE  lELINOIAN  DRIFT  SHEET. 

The  preceding  remarks  apply  mainl}^  to  the  border  of  the  Illinoian 
drift.     It  remains  to  discuss  features  back  from  the  border. 

The  Illinoian  drift  sheet  is  well  exposed  only  in  the  district  lying  out- 
side the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin  drift,  for  the  thickness  of  the  Wisconsin  drift 
is  usuallv  so  great  as  to  completely  conceal  it.  This  outlying  district  has, 
in  the  region  under  discussion,  an  area  of  6,400  square  miles,  more  or  less, 

iSee  W.  G.  Tight:  Bull.  Denison  Univ.,  Vol.  IX,  1897,  p.  36 


GENERAL  FEATURES  OF  ILLINOIAN  DRIFT  SHEET.  271 

of  which  about  3,200  square  miles,  are  iu  southeastern  Indiana,  400  square 
miles  in  Kentucky,  and  2,800  square  miles  in  Ohio.  Its  greatest  extension 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin  is  60  miles,  in  southern  Indiana.  In 
the  part  which  extends  to  the  Ohio  River  the  distance  of  the  southern  border 
of  the  lUinoian  from  the  border  of  the  Wisconsin  ranges  from  20  to  60 
miles.  By  reference  to  the  glacial  map  (PL  II)  the  extent  of  this  outlying 
part  of  the  Illinoian  drift  may  be  seen.  This  map  also  serves  to  show  the 
discordance  between  the  Illinoian  and  Wisconsin  drift  borders.  The  Illi- 
noian border  has  but  one  reentrant  in  the  region  under  discussion,  and  that 
a  very  slight  one,  while  the  Wisconsin  has  two  reentrants  and  three  distinct 
lobes  in  the  area  included  between  the  same  meridians,  and  still  other  lobes 
farther  east. 

The  Illinoian  drift  sheet  presents  a  remarkably  flat  surface.  There 
are  few  prominent  knolls  and  no  definite  morainic  ridges  except  those  on 
the  border  above  described.  Much  of  the  surface  is  so  level  as  to  be 
imperfectljr  drained.  This  is  especially  true  in  northern  Clermont  and 
Brown  and  adjacent  parts  of  Warren,  Clinton,  and  Highland  counties,  Ohio. 
A  large  area  in  southeastern  Indiana  is  also  poorly  drained. 

The  very  flat  surface  is  found  in  the  part  of  this  region  which  is  under- 
lain by  limestone.  The  sandstone  formations  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
region  have  a  more  uneven  or  diversified  surface.  In  the  limestone  region 
there  appears  to  have  been  a  gentlj^  undulating  upland  surface  similar  to 
that  of  the  "blue  grass"  region  of  Kentucky,  where  ox^ly  the  valleys  of 
the  main  streams  and  the  lower  courses  of  the  tributaries  are  deeply  trenched 
below  the  uplands.  The  drift  is  sufficient  usually  to  fill  the  shallow  valleys, 
and  in  some  cases  it  has  so  completely  filled  deep  preglacial  valleys  that 
their  courses  are  traced  with  difficulty.  Among  the  sandstone  hills  it  has 
only  partly  filled  the  valleys,  though  its  thickness  is  nearly  as  great  as  in 
the  legion  underlain  by  limestone. 

In  the  headwater  portion  of  the  Rocky  Fork  drainage  basin,  near 
Hillsboro,  Ohio,  there  are  prominent  drift  ridges  and  knolls  which  lie  near 
the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin  drift,  but  which  seem  to  be  older  than  the  Wis- 
consin. They  are  accordingly  discussed  in  connection  with  the  Illinoian. 
Near  the  railway  there  are  several  knolls  standing  either  on  the  valley 
slopes  or  in  its  bottom,  which  range  in  height  from  about  10  feet  up  to  fully 
100  feet.     With  the  knolls  there  is  found  a  sharp  ridge,  75  feet  or  more  in 


272  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

height  and  but  150  to  200  yards  in  width,  which  trends  northwest  to  south- 
east for  perhaps  a  half  mile.  Sharp  knolls  are  found  a  mile  or  more  to  the 
southwest,  near  the  Hillsboro  and  Newmarket  pike,  some  of  which  reach  a 
height  of  100  feet.  Similar  knolls  were  noted  near  the  Hillsboro  and  Belfast 
pike.  They  are  numerous  for  fully  4  miles  southeast  from  the  railway, 
and  are  occasionally  found  farther  east,  near  the  valley  of  Eocky  Fork. 
They  carry  a  weather-stained  gravel  or  gravelly  clay  at  the  surface,  which 
allies  them  with  the  knolls  found  outside  the  Wisconsin,  and  distinguishes 
them  from  the  comparatively  fresh  Wisconsin  drift. 

The  Illinoian  drift  sheet  consists  very  largel)^  of  a  compact  till.  Sand 
or  gravel  beds  have  some  development  where  valleys  have  been  filled,  but 
are  very  rare  on  the  uplands.  Where  the  till  is  less  than  20  feet  in  depth 
its  color  is  a  yellow  or  brown,  but  if  of  greater  thickness  a  blue-gray  till  is 
usually  found  beneath  the  yellow.  The  yellow  till  appears  to  be  simply 
an  oxidized  part  of  a  sheet  which  was  at  first  blue.  Its  texture  and  the 
number  and  kind  of  rock  constituents  are  so  similar  to  those  of  the  blue 
till  that  a  separation  from  that  till  seems  called  for  only  on  the  ground  of 
difference  in  color.  Orton  sought  to  account  for  the  oxidized  portion  of  the 
drift  both  in  this  region  and  in  the  Wisconsin  drift  area  to  the  north  by 
iceberg  deposition,'  but  this  interpretation  was  made  before  the  limited  scope 
of  iceberg  action  had  beconie  known. 

Both  the  yellow  and  the  blue  portions  of  the  till  sheet  are  harder  than 
the  till  of  Wisconsin  age.  This  is  very  apparent  to  persons  who  have  sunk 
wells  in  the  region  of  overlap  and  to  any  one  passing  south  from  the 
Wisconsin  to  the  Illinoian  area.  The  indurated  character  of  the  Illinoian 
drift  is  appai-ently  due  to  a  partial  cementation  with  lime,  for  the  till 
contains  a  large  amount  of  fine  calcareous  material  ground  from  the  lime- 
stone. The  Illinoian  till  is  also  characterized  by  fissures  to  a  much  greater 
extent  than  the  Wisconsin.  The  fissures  extend  down  from  the  yellow  into 
the  blue  poi'tion  and  are  filled  with  yellow  or  oxidized  clay. 

The  Illinoian  drift  sheet  appears  to  have  been  deposited  in  this  border 
tract  with  very  little  abrasion  of  the  rock  surface.  There  are  occasional 
exposures  of  residuary  clay  between  the  blue  till  and  the  rock,  and  in  many 
places  a  very  rotten  rock  surface  appears  at  the  base  of  the  drift.  Occasional 
well  sections  pass  through  a  black  mucky  clay,  probably  a  preglacial  soil, 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  1873,  p.  4.30. 


GENERAL  FEATURES  OF  ILLINOIAN  DRIFT  SHEET.  273 

immediately  below  the  blue  till  and  a  few  feet  above  the  rock.  One  of  the 
most  striking-  instances,  at  Mount  Oreb,  Ohio,  and  several  in  southeastern 
Indiana,  are  cited  in  the  Avell  sections  which  follow.  Orton  has  reported 
the  occurrence  near  Bethel,  Ohio,  of  a  soil  and  deposit  of  bog  iron  between 
the  yellow  and  blue  tills, ^  it  is  said  to  be  present  over  an  area  of  several 
square  miles.  Inasmuch  as  Orton  was  a  careful  and  cautious  observer, 
the  writer  does  not  feel  free  to  question  the  evidence  he  cites,  but  it  is 
apparently  the  only  instance  of  a  soil  at  that  horizon  yet  reported.  In 
this  connection  it  may  be  said  that  several  instances  of  the  "forest  bed," 
cited  by  Newben-y  in  the  Ohio  reports  and  elsewhere,  have  been  found  to 
refer  simply  to  loose  fragments  of  wood  such  as  are  now  known  to  occur, 
like  bowlders,  at  all  horizons  in  the  till.  This  construction,  however,  may 
not  be  applicable  to  the  case  under  discussion.  Orton  reports  the  following 
section  of  di'ift  beds: 

Rejjre^ientatvve  sections  of  drift  l>eds  near  Bethel^  Ohio. 

[Reported  b}'  Dr.  E.- Orton.] 

Feet. 

Yellow  clay,  with  beds  of  sand  and  gravel 20 

Fine-grained  clay  free  from  grit _ 4 

"Forest  bed"  _ 2 

Bowlder  clay .  _ 20-30 

Upon  visiting  the  region  the  writer  learned  through  Di-.  x^bbott,  of 
Bethel,  that  several  wells  in  the  vicinity  of  that  village  have  struck  logs 
and  pieces  of  wood  under  the  blue  till  in  a  gravelly  bed  that  extends  to 
the  rock,  but  nothing  coiild  be  learned  of  a  buried  soil  in  the  midst  of  the 
till.     Rock  is  struck  at  40  to  50  feet. 

The  following  notes  upon  the  thickness  and  structure  of  the  drift  at 
certain  points  may  be  of  service  in  illustrating  or  in  supplementing  the 
general  statements  made  above: 

Near  the  bend  of  Brush  Creek,  a  short  distance  north  of  Fort  Hill, 
in  Highland  County,  there  are  deposits  of  till  rising  to  a  height  of  about 
75  feet  above  the  creek  and  extending  to  an  undetermined  distance 
beneath  the  creek  bed.  The  till  contains  not  only  pebbles,  but  also  bowlders 
of  Canadian  derivation,  some  of  which  are  2  feet  or  more  in  diameter. 
The  great  thickness  of  till  at  this  point  may  seem  remarkable,  since  there 

iOp.cit.,p.443. 
MON   XLI 18 


274  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

is  scarcely  any  drift  south  and  east  of  this  creek.     It  is  probable,  however, 
that  it  is  in  the  line  of  a  preglacial  valley. 

At  Mr.  Sparger's,  about  2  miles  northeast  of  Fort  Hill,  a  well  35  feet 
deep  strikes  no  rock.  On  an  adjoining  farm,  at  Mr.  Eubank's,  is  a  well  22 
feet  deep  which  penetrates  the  following  strata: 

Section  of  Euiank^s  well  near  Fort  Tlill. 

Feet. 

1.  Sandy  clay -  -  -  - - - - 10-12 

2.  Blue  clay -  - 6-8 

2.  Sand - -  - 2 

At  Mr.  Cameron's,  1  mile  south  of  Cynthiana,  a  well  strikes  shale  at 
20  feet.  The  drift  consists  of  clay,  yellow  at  top  and  blue  near  the  bottom. 
The  well  is  near  the  north  border  of  Brush  Creek  Valley.  Not  more  than 
100  5^ards  south  of  this  well,  on  the  bank  of  Brush  Creek,  is  a  gravel  pit. 
The  gravel  is  quite  fine,  few  pebbles  exceeding  an  inch  in  diameter.  Many 
granite  and  other  Archean  pebbles  occur.  At  Cynthiana,  just  south  of  tlie 
outer  Wisconsin  moraine,  a  well  on  Joseph  Wilson's  property  was  bored 
to  a  depth  of  fully  60  feet  without  encountering  rock.  It  is  described  to 
be  mainly  in  a  blue  clay  "free  from  grit." 

In  Adams  Count}^,  a  short  distance  west  of  Lovett  post-office,  the 
following  exposure  was  noted  on  the  borders  of  a  ravine  crossed  by  the  pike : 
Road  section  near  Lovett,  Ohio. 

Feet. 

1.  Silt,  of  yellow  color - 2-3 

2.  Yellow  clay  containing  a  few  Archean  pebbles - 1 4-5 

3.  Eeddish-brown  clay  capping  the  limestone 2-3 

This  exposure  is  of  especial  interest,  since  it  shows  the  presence  of  a 
well-defined  drift  sheet  above  the  residuary  clay.  It  also  is  of  importance 
in  o-eographic  position,  since  it  lies  fully  5  miles  outside  the  line  commonly 
recognized  through  Wright's  reports  as  the  glacial  boundary.  In  many 
other  ]3laces  in  Adams  and  southern  Highland  counties  a  bed  of  reddish- 
brown  residuary  clay  caps  the  limestone,  while  above  it  is  a  drift  sheet. 

In  a  trip  from  Sugartree  Ridg'e  to  Sardinia  several  exposures  were 
observed,  showing  the  following  .series: 

Generalized  section  of  exposures  near  Sardinia.  Ohio. 

Feet. 

1.  Clay  or  silt  nearly  free  from  pebbles - - 2-4 

2.  Brown  till,  deeply  .oxidized  and  streaked  in  places  with  brownish-black  seams 3-4 

3.  Yellow  till,  usually  very  stony  and  slightly  cemented;  striated  limestone  pebbles  numerous; 

not  so  highly  oxidized  as  No.  2 6-8 

4.  Blue  till,  very  stony  and  partially  cemented;  striated  limestone  pebbles  numerous;  color  very 

deep  blue,  almost  black  in  places -  - 10-15 


GENERAL  FEATURES  OF  ILLINOIAN  DRIFT  SHEET.  275 

At  a  few  places  near  Sardinia  a  dark  band,  apparently  a  soil,  occurs 
between  Nos.  1  and  2,  but  in  the  majority  of  sections  observed  it  is  not 
present.  The  deep-brown  color  of  No.  2  marks  the  weathered  zone  and  is 
strikingly  in  contrast  with  the  pale  color  of  Nos.  1  and  3.  Its  color  more 
nearly  resembles  the  residuary  clay  that  rests  on  the  subjacent  limestones 
than  that  of  any  members  of  the  drift  series.  It  is  fully  as  significant  as  a 
black  soil  in  denoting-  atmospheric  action.  At  Sardinia  wells  are  30  feet  in 
depth,  but  none  reach  the  rock,  and  rock  is  not  exposed  in  valleys  near 
there  whose  depth  is  30  to  40  feet.  Between  Sardinia  and  Mount  Oreb, 
near  Whiteoak  Creek,  two  exposures  were  observed  of  a  soil  or  black  band 
between  the  silt  and  the  underlying-  till  at  a  depth  of  2  or  3  feet. 

Near  Mount  Oreb  station  a  gas  well,  in  a  depression  on  slightly  lower 
ground  than  the  station,  strikes  rock  at  49  feet  A  well  at  J.  F.  Jenning's 
residence,  on  ground  slig'htly  hig'her  than  the  station,  penetrates  68  feet  of 
di"ift  and  unconsolidated  beds,  of  which  the  following  is  the  section: 

Section  of  Pleistocene  beds  in  Jenning's  ivell  at  Mount  Oreb,  Ohio. 

Feet. 

1.  Yellow  clay,  pebbly 1-t 

2.  Sand  and  gravel - _ 6 

3.  Blue  till 20 

4.  Bluck  mucky  clay  (preglacial?) 15 

5.  Sand : , 3 

6.  Alternations  of  bluish  clay  and  black  muck  extending  to  the  limestone 10 

Total 68 

On  the  uplands  in  Mount  Oreb,  near  the  Christian  "Union  Church,  is  a 
gas  well  which  has  106  feet  of  drive  pipe,  but  the  rock  was  struck  at  slightly 
less  than  100  feet,  there  being  a  few  feet  of  rotten  rock  below  the  drift.  At 
the  Jennings  well  the  drive  pipe  is  76  feet  in  length,  but  it  extends  a  few 
feet  into  the  rotten  surface  of  the  limestone.  The  difference  in  thickness  of 
drift  is  not  due  to  knolls  or  ridges,  but  to  inequalities  of  the  underlying  rock 
surface,  the  uplands  in  the  vicinity  of  Mount  Oreb  having  now  a  very  flat 
surface. 

Between  Mount  Oreb  and  Williamsburg  there  are  rock  exposures  in 
:,liallow  ravines, the  altitude  of  the  rock  surface  being  somewhat  hig-her  than 
at  Mount  Oreb.  A  soil  was  frequently  observed  between  the  silt  and  under- 
lying till,  at  about  3  feet  below  the  surface.  At  Williamsburg  the  East 
Fork  of  Little  Miami  River  has  rock  bluffs  rising  on  each  side  of  the  creek 
to  a  height  of  about  20  feet,  above  which  there  is  about  50  feet  of  drift, 


276  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

mainly  till.  A  short  distance  from  Williamsburg,  on  the  road  toward  Bethel, 
rock  outcrops  up  to  a  level  only  15  or  20  feet  below  the  level  of  the  uplands, 
or  much  above  the  level  of  the  rock  surface  in  East  Fork  Valley.  The 
peculiar  drift  structure  at  Bethel  was  noted  above  (p.  273).  Granite  bowl- 
ders are  found  on  the  surface  in  the  vicinity  of  Bethel,  which  are,  in  some 
cases,  8  or  10  feet  in  diameter.  Similar  bowlders  are  reported  from  the 
vicinity  of  Russellville,  in  Brown  County. 

East  of  Bethel,  near  Hamersville,  on  an  elevated  ridge  standing  about 
975  feet  above  tide,  the  drift  is  thin,  being  only  10  to  20  feet  in  thickness, 
and  the  altitude  of  the  rock  surface  is  90  to  100  feet  higher  than  at  Bethel. 

The  drift  is  thin  on  the  uplands  on  either  side  of  White  Oak  Creek,  in 
the  vicinity  of  Georgetown,  scarcely  exceeding  20  feet. 

The  drift  at  Winchester  has  a  thickness  of  only  10  feet  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  village,  but  exceeds  20  feet  in  the  northern  and  western  parts. 

Drift  exposures  are  numerous  between  Winchester  and  Seaman,  the 
first  railway  station  toward  the  east,  but  farther  east  there  are  only  scattering 
patches  of  di-ift  or  occasional  bowlders. 

The  general  thickness  of  the  drift  along  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Rail- 
road in  Brown  and  Clermont  counties,  and  between  that  railroad  and  the 
outer  Wisconsin  moraine  is  20  feet  or  less,  or  an  amount  scarcely  half  that 
found  in  a  trij)  through  a  tract  12  tc)  20  miles  to  the  south.  This  thickening 
does  not,  however,  assume  the  form  of  a  ridge,  but  as  previously  noted, 
simply  serves  to  fill  up  preglacial  inequalities  of  surface  to  a  somewhat 
uniform  level. 

From  the  Little  Miami  Valley  westward  across  Hamilton  County,  Ohio, 
there  is  a  nearly  continuous  sheet  of  till,  the  thickness  of  which  on  the 
uplands  seldom  exceeds  20  feet,  but  hi  lowlands  and  valleys  sometimes 
reaches  100  feet  or  more. 

South  of  the  Ohio  River  there  is  not  so  continuous  a  sheet  of  drift. 
Pebbles  and  bowlders  of  Canadian  derivation  constitute  one  of  the  con- 
spicuous features.  There  are  also  deposits  of  a  sandy,  or  more  frequently 
clayey  character,  through  which  Canadian  rocks  are  sparingly  distributed. 
In  these  deposits  many  local  rock  fragments  occur.  They  usually  bear 
but  slight  resemblance  to  ordinaiy  till,  though  the  presence  of  granite  or 
other  distantly  derived  pebbles  is  evidence  that  they  were  acted  upon  by 
the  ice  sheet.     They  appear  to  be  in  the  main  only  the  shghtly  disturbed 


GENERAL  FEATURES  OF  ILLINOIAN  DRIFT  SHEET.  277 

residuary  clays  formed  by  a  dissolution  of  the  surface  limestones  of  that 
region.  Aside  from  the  deposits  noted  there  are  occasional  beds  of  coarse 
gravel  and  cobble.  The  bowlders,  as^bove  noted,  are  usually  a  foot  or  less 
in  diameter,  but  they  occasionally  reach  a  diameter  of  3  or  4  feet. 

In  his  report  on  the  glacial  boundary'  Wright  notes  the  occurrence 
of  till  in  Campbell  Comity,  Ky.,  on  the  slopes  facing  the  Ohio  River. 
It  extends  to  an  elevation  of  350  to  400  feet  above  the  river,  but  no 
till  or  granite  pebbles  were  found  on  the  dividing  ridge  between  the 
Ohio  and  Licking  rivers,  whose  general  altitude  is  about  400  feet  above 
the ,  river.  He  describes  a  stiff  clay  deposit  containing  granite  pebbles  in 
western  Kenton  County  at  points  7  miles  south  of  the  Ohio,  and  also  at  a 
railroad  cut  at  Erlanger,  the  altitude  at  Erlanger  being  475  feet  above  tlie 
river.  Granitic  bowlders  were  also  noted  in  pebbly  clay.  The  heaviest 
deposits  of  glacial  material  yet  observed  on  the  Kentucky  side  of  the  river 
are  the  Split  Rock  conglomerate  in  the  Ohio  Valley  and  a  similar  deposit 
a  few  miles  southeast  of  Split  Rock,  both  of  which  were  discussed  above 
(P-  261). 

On  the  north  side  of  the  Ohio,  in  the  vicinity  of  Cincinnati,  the 
Illinoian  drift,  as  previously  remarked,  forms  a  neai'ly  continuous  sheet  both 
on  the  uplands  and  lowlands.  So  far  as  observed  the  only  localities  in  which 
the  drift  is  patchy  or  attenuated  are  along  the  brow  of  the  Ohio  bluffs  and 
on  some  of  the  sharp  ridges  bordering  the  Great  Miami.  Here  in  places 
there  are  only  scattering  pebbles  and  bowlders.  The  upland  drift,  beneath 
the  surface  coating  of  silt,  consists  almost  entirely  of  ordinary  till,  there 
being  but  little  sand  or  gravel  associated  with  it.  The  lowland  drift  is  more 
vai'iable,  there  being  much  sand,  gravel,  and  pebbleless  clay  as  well  as  till. 
The  upland  diift  ranges  from  a  thin  coating  up  to  a  deposit  about  50  feet 
in  thickness  with  a  general  average  of  about  20  feet.  The  lowland  drift 
usually  exceeds  50  feet,  and  in  the  larger  valleys  a  thickness  of  about  200 
feet  is  attained.  The  till  has  a  brown  or  yellow  color  to  a  depth  of  1 0  or 
15,  and  occasionally  20  or  25  feet.  Below  this  depth  it  has  a  blue  or  gray 
color. 

Wliere  there  has  been  no  erosion  the  bowlders  are  entirely  concealed 
by  the  silt,  and  they  are  not  numerous  on  the  hillsides  or  in  places  where 
erosion  has  removed  the  silt  covering.     The  fact  that  few  bowlders  and 

1  Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  58,  1890,  p.  63. 


278  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

gravel  deposits  are  to  be  seen  in  tlie  district  south  of  the  oviter  Wisconsin 
moraine  was  noted  by  Professor  Orton  in  his  reports  on  the  counties  of 
southwestern  Ohio,  though  he  did  not  recognize  the  morainfe  and  conse- 
quently indicated  the  boundaries  of  the  extramorainic  tract  in  only  a  gen- 
eral way.  Thus,  in  his  report  on  Warren  County,  he  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  southeastern  townships  are  covered  with  white  clays,  while  in 
the  northern  townships  bank  gravel  is  met  with  on  the  highlands  as  well  as 
in  the  valleys.-^  In  his  report  on  Butler  County  (a  county  lying  maiidy 
witliin  the  district  covered  by  the  Wisconsin  ice  invasion)  he  calls  attention 
to  the  bowlders  that  occur  plentifully  at  all  altitudes,  while  in  his  reports 
on  Hamilton  County  (a  county  lying  mainly  outside  the  outer  Wisconsin 
moraine)  he  calls  attention  to  the  scarcity  of  the  bowlders.  In  the  report 
of  tlie  Indiana  survey  on  the  southeastern  counties  of  Indiana  similar  state- 
ments are  made  concerning  the  drift  in  nearly  every  county  lying  outside 
this  moraine,  it  being  noted  that  bowlders  are  seldom  seen  except  along 
ravines,  and  that  the  uplands  contain  scarcel}^  any  bank  gravel;  while  in 
reports  on  counties  traversed  by  the  moraine  or  lying  north  of  it,  the  pres- 
ence of  bank  gravel  and  surface  bowlders  receives  frequent  comment.  The 
contrast  between  the  surface  features  of  these  districts  is,  therefore,  so 
striking  that  it  was  remarked  long  before  the  moraines  were  recognized. 

Some  of  the  exposures  of  lowland  drift  in  southwestern  Ohio  merit 
special  mention.  One  of  the  most  extensive  is  found  along  the  line  of  the 
Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  and  St.  Louis  Railway,  between  North 
Bend  and  Cleves.  Here  there  is  a  gap  in  the  rocky  ridge  which  lies  between 
the  Great  Miami  and  Ohio  rivers,  in  which  there  has  been  a  drift  filling  to 
a  height  of  150  to  170  feet  above  these  streams.  The  railway  has  made 
a  cut  80  feet  deep  in  the  summit  of  the  gap  without  encountering  rock; 
while  a  well  in  North  Bend  near  the  south  end  of  the  cut  does  not  reach 
rock  at  a  depth  of  73  feet,  though  its  bottom  is  nearly  as  low  as  the  present 
river  bed.  Within  80  rods  either  side  of  this  cut  the  limestone  ledges  rise 
to  a  height  of  200  feet  or  more,  while  on  portions  of  the  dividing  ridge 
between  the  Miami  and  Ohio  rivers  the  I'ock  surface  reaches  an  altitude  of 
fully  400  feet  above  these  streams.  Both  the  railway  cutting  and  the  well 
are  maiidy  through  till.  There  are,  however,  assorted  beds  associated  with 
the  till.     In  one  place  on  the  west  side  of  the  track  a  funnel-shaped  sand 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  387. 


GENERAL  FEATURES  OF  ILLINOIAN  DRIFT  SHEET.  279 

deposit  completely  displaces  the  till,  extending  from  the  top  to  the  bottom 
of  the  cutting.      Its  beds  dip  and  curve  greatly,  conditions  which  seem  to 
suggest  that  they  Avere  deposited  beneath  the  ice  sheet  and  disturbed  by  its 
movement.     There  are  also  horizontal  breaks  in  the  till  with  thin  beds  of 
assorted  material   between,  features  indicating  an  alternation  of  aqueous 
with  glacial  deposition.     The  upper  surface  of  the  till  is  eroded  and  a  bed 
of  assorted  material  6  or  8  feet  in  thickness  rests  unconformably  upon  it. 
This  assorted  material  is  principally  coarse   sand,  but  is,  in  places,  of  a 
gravelly  character,  and  it  grades  upward  into  a  silt  or  fine  sand  nearly 
free  from  pebbles.     Between  this  assorted  material  and  the  undertying  till 
there  appears  in  places  a  dark-colored  band,  which  is  sometimes  of  a  peaty 
character  and  contains  bits  of  wood  but  quite  as  often  consists  simply  of 
a  stain  on  the  pebbles.     In  one  place  there  was  found  a  thin  bed  of  very 
fine  sand  between  the  peat  and  the  underlying  till,  and  in  this  sand  minute 
gasteropod  shells  were  embedded.     The  evidence  is,  therefore,  decisive  that 
the  assorted  material  is  a  later  deposit  than  the  till,  but  its  precise  age  is  not 
yet  determined.     The  silt  which  overlies  it  and  forms  the  surface  of  tliis 
lowland  district  does  not  appear  to  be  of  markedly  later  age  than  the  sand 
and  gravel,   there  being  no   distinct  line   of  separation  or  unconformity 
between  them.     The  preservation  of  the  peat  beds  and  the  shell-beari  ag 
sands,  as  well  as  the  sandy  character  of  the  assorted  beds  overlying  them, 
seems   to  indicate  that  the   depositing  wfi,ters  had  not  violent  movement. 
Since  the  assorted  beds  stand  only  40  to  50  feet  above  the  terraces  which 
were  formed  in  connection  with  the  Wisconsin  ice  invasion  and  at  a  point 
where  the  Great  Miami  makes  an  abrupt  change  in  its  course,  the  question 
arises  whether  an  unusual  flood  or  a  temporary  ice  gorge  may  not  have 
caused  the  water  to  rise  to  a  sufficient  height  to  pass  across  this  low-gap 
into  the  Ohio  and  thus  produce  this  deposit.     There  appears  to  be  nothing 
in  the  character  of  the  beds  to  ojjpose  this  interpretation,  yet  it  may  not 
prove  an  adequate  one. 

In  the  abandoned  valley  north  of  Cincinnati  connecting  Mill  Creek 
and  the  Little  Miami  River  (see  PI.  V)  there  are  several  exposures  of  the 
upper  portion  of  the  drift,  frojn  which  it  appears  that  the  structure  presents 
considerable  variation.  The  structure  of  the  lower  portion  of  the  drift,  as 
shown  by  well  sections,  is  also  variable,  there  being  in  places  heavy  beds 
of  blue  silt,  while  in  other  places  there  is  gravel,  and  in  still  others  till. 


280  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  opinion  is  expressed  by  Orton,  in  the  Ohio  reports,  that  this  lowland  is 
filled  with  alluvium,  and  Wright's  reports  contain  the  same  opinion,  though 
the  latter  makes  mention  of  till  in  this  district.  The  numerous  exposures, 
some  sections  of  which  are  given  below,  will  make  it  evident  that  the  drift 
here  is  glacial  rather  than  alluvial. 

This  lowland  tract  carries  a  few  undulating  surface  swells  10  to  15 
feet  and  occasionally  20  feet  in  height,  whose  forms  could  scarcely  be 
produced  by  erosion.  A  good  illustration  may  be  seen  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  Madisonville,  on  the  west  side  of  Columbia  aveniie,  the  residence 
of  E.  S.  Emerson  being  built  upon  a  swell  that  stands  nearly  15  feet  above 
the  bordering  tracts.  A  cistern  at  Emerson's  shows  the  swell  to  be  com- 
posed of  till.  This  lowland  tract  is  drained  by  a  small  stream  (Dutch 
Creek)  leading  eastward  into  the  Little  Miami  River,  and  a  score  or  more 
of  exposures  along  the  banks  show  ordinary  till.  Beds  of  silt  are  associated 
with  the  till,  but  as  often  as  otherwise  they  underlie  it,  except  in  the  case 
of  the  surface  silt,  which  forms  here,  as  on  the  uplands,  a  continuous 
capping  for  the  till. 

In  a  ditch  on  the  east  side  of  the  electric  railway,  between  the  Zoologi- 
cal Gardens  and  St.  Bernard,  and  near  the  south  border  of  this  lowland 
ti'act,  is  an  exposure  with  a  silt  deposit  3  to  4  feet,  beneath  which  is  fine 
sand,  somewhat  contorted  and  wavy,  thickness  3  to  4  feet;  then  follows  a 
yellow  till,  very  stony,  about  20  feet  in  thickness,  beneath  which  is  a  pebbly 
laminated  clay  of  deep-blue  color,  in  which  the  bedding  has  contorted  or 
disturbed  lines.     This  blue  stratum  is  exposed  to  a  depth  of  25  or  30  feet. 

On  Rose  avenue,  in  St.  Bernard,  a  few  rods  east  of  the  canal,  the 
following  beds  are  exposed : 

Section  on  Rose  avenue^  St.  Bernard. 

Feet. 

1 .  Clayey  sand - 4-5 

2.  Pebbly  clay  of  yellow  color,  doubtfully  classed  as  till :^-4 

3.  Pebbly  clay  of  dark-brown  color 1-2J 

4.  Fine  calcareous  claj'  loam,  nearly  free  from  pebbles,  porous  at  top,  and  of  sufficient  coarse- 

ness in  places  to  be  called  a  sand,  but  grading  below  into  a  compact  laminated  clay,  color 

varying  from  yellow  to  blue,  but  mainly  blue  near  base 7-8 

.5.  Ordinary  yellow  till 3-4 

6.  Ordinary  blue  till,  exposed 2-3 

In  the  vicinity  of  Bond  Hill  there  are  sand  deposits  which  extend  east 
nearly  one-half  mile  from  Mill  Creek  Valley,  and  lie  north  of  the  lowland 
tract  under  consideration.     They  reach  a  height  of  45  to  50  feet  above  the 


GENERAL  FEATURES  OF  ILLINOIAN  DRIFT  SHEET.  281 

plain  in  Mill  Creek  Valley,  immediately  west  and  about  160  feet  above  the 
Ohio  River.  The  method  of  deposition  of  this  sand  is  not  clearly  under- 
stood. Occasional  small  pebbles,  one-eighth  inch  or  more  in  diameter, 
contained  in  the  sand  seem  to  indicate  that  it  is  not  entirely  a  wind-drifted 
formation.  The  till  with  its  capping  of  silt  passes  beneath  this  sand,  a  fact 
implying  that  the  sand  is  more  recent  than  the  silt.  The  sand  is  probably 
connected  in  some  way  with  the  floods  attending  the  Wisconsin  ice  invasion. 
The  features  suggest  that  it  may  have  been  deposited  during  a  rise  of  water 
occasioned  b)^  an  ice  gorge  in  the  valley  of  Mill  Creek  below  Carthage, 
the  width  of  the  valley  being  somewhat  reduced  in  passing  Walnut  Hills 
just  before  it  enters  the  Ohio  Valley. 

In  passing  through  this  lowland  tract  the  Panhandle  Railway  makes 
numerous  cuttings  10  to  20  feet  deep,  which  in  nearly  every  instance  expose 
a  silt  4  to  5  feet  thick,  below  which  there  is  ordinary  till.  In  one  cut  near 
Pleasant  Ridge  there  is  a  bed  of  assorted  material  (sand  and  gravel)  between 
the  yellow  and  blue  tills,  but  in  the  majority  of  cuttings  the  yellow  till 
grades  downward  into  the  blue. 

Within  the  village  of  Madisonville  there  is  an  abrupt  change  in  the 
substrata,  the  western  portion  of  the  village  hemg  underlain  by  till  to  a 
depth  of  40  to  50  feet  or  more,  while  the  eastern  is  underlain  by  gravel  at 
slight  depth.  Above  the  gravel  there  is  in  some  .places  only  a  silt  deposit; 
in  other  places  there  is  a  deeply  oxidized  (reddish-brown)  clay  carrying  a 
few  pebbles.  The  age  of  the  reddish  clay  is  not  known,  the  situation  being 
such  that  it  is  difficult  to  determine.  It  occupies  a  basin  or  slightly 
depressed  tract  and  may,  therefore,  have  received  contributions  in  post- 
glacial times  by  the  wash  from  the  neighboring  highlands.  It  is  also 
sufficiently  low  to  have  been  flooded  by  the  Little  Miami,  at  least  down  to 
the  time  of  the  Wisconsin  ice  invasion.  The  bearing  of  these  conditions 
upon  the  question  of  the  Madisonville  chipped  stone,  which  was  found  at 
the  base  of  this  red  clay,  was  discussed  by  the  writer  some  years  ago, 
and  the  conclusion  was  reached  that  the  deposit  can  not  be  referred  with 
certainty  to  glacial  agencies ;  in  fact  it  may  be  much  more  recent  than  the 
last  stage  of  g-laciation.^ 


^  Supposed  Glacial  man  in  southwestern  Ohio,  by  Frank  Leverett:  Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  XI,  1893, 
pp.  186-189. 


282  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  following  section  was  obtained  in  the  southwest  part  of  Madison- 
ville,  where  a  street  (Columbia  avenue)  has  been  graded  down: 

Section  mi  Cohanhia  avenioe  in  MadisonviUe^  Ohio. 

Feet. 

1.  Clay  or  silt,  nearly  free  from  pebbles,  color  light  brown .3-4 

2.  Pebbly  clay  of  dark -brown  color,  slight  traces  of  bedding,  with  crumpling  and  disturbance. . .      4-6 

3.  Brown  till  with  blue  streaks 4 

4.  Gravel  and  sand  in  horizontal  beds,  exposed 7-8 

Total. 20-22 

A  short  distance  west  the  same  street  grade  shows  a  change  in  the  till 
(No.  3)  to  a  fine  laminated  clay,  while  the  underlying  bed  becomes 
disturbed. 

Just  north  of  Batavia  Junction,  where  this  lowland  tract  opens  into  the 

Little  Miami  Valley,  there  is  a  bluff  rising  to  a  height  of  80  feet  above 

the   station   or  about  140  feet  above  the  Ohio.     The  following-  beds  are 

exposed: 

Section  near  Batavia  Junction.,  Ohio. 

Feet. 

1.  Sandy  surface  deposits 5-10 

2.  Yellow  clay  containing  blocks  of  local  limestone 15-20 

3.  Fine  sand 15 

4.  Gravel,  medium  to  coarse 40 

It  seems  not  improbable  that  the  gravel  beds  here  exposed  extend  north 
into  Madisonville,  there  being  nothing  in  the  topography  to  oppose  this  -sdew 
and  the  distance  being  only  a  mile.  A  short  distance  Avest  of  Batavia 
Junction  the  Wisconsin  gravel  appears  in  the  form  of  terraces  along  the  face 
of  the  bluff,  the  upper  terrace  being  about  40  feet  below  the  level  of  the 
border  of  the  lowland  tract  under  discussion. 

Calcareous  nodules  were  observed  at  many  points  in  this  lowland  tract 
in  connection  with  the  silts  which  underlie  or  replace  the  till,  but  they  are 
not  common  here  or  elsewhere  in  connection  with  the  silt  that  overlies  the 
till  and  forms  the  surface  of  the  uplands  and  are  seldom  found  in  the  till 
itself.  An  exposure  was  noted,  however,  just  east  of  the  gate  of  the 
Zoological  Garden  and  near  the  top  of  the  north  slope  of  the  Walnut  Hills 
Ridge,  where  nodules  appear  in  a  pebbly  clay  just  below  the  silt,  the 
section  exposed  being: 

Section  near  Zooloqical  Garden  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

■'  Feet. 

1.  Silt  of  pale  yellow  color 4 

2.  Clay  containing  few  pebbles,  but  thickly  set  with  calcareous  nodules 2 

3.  Ordinary  yellow  till,  exposed 6-8 


GENERAL  FEATURES  OF  ILLINOIAN  DRIFT  SHEET.  283 

Sections  of  several  wells  along  Mill  Creek  Valley  are  given  in  the 
discussion  of  the  early  Wisconsin  drift  (Chapter.  X).  The  greater  part  of 
the  drift  is  probably  Illinoian,  as  appears  in  that  discussion. 

The  portion  of  the  Illinoian  drift  sheet  covering  southeastern  Indiana 
was  the  subject  of  only  a  hasty  reconnaissance  b}'^  the  writer,  and  very  few 
detailed  sections  can  be  furnished.  Nun:ierous  exposures  were  found  in 
which  yellow  till  extends  to  the  rock,  the  distance  to  rock  on  uplands  beino- 
generally  20  feet  or  less.  Well  sections  published  in  the  Indiana  reports, 
which  tln:-ow  light  upon  the  deeper  parts  of  the  drift  are  here  reproduced: 
Section  of  Van  Osdel  loell  in  Ohio  County,  Incl.  {sec.  (?,  T.  3,  R.'B  W.). 

Feet. 

1.  Soil  and  clay _  _ 22 

2.  Yellow-  sand,  quite  hard  or  cemented g 

3.  Blue  clay,  hard,  without  pebbles _  _  ij. 

4.  Black  soil  containing  rotten  leaves,  twigs,  and  wood,  thought  to  be  walnut _ i,V 

5.  Coarse  sand,  gravel,  and  shelly  stone 9" 

6.  Hard,  blue  limestone t 

Total ^ 

Section  of  Gorclen  loell  in  nortJnoest  Sioitzerland  County  {sec.  4,  T.  5,  R.  12  E.). 

Feet. 

1.  Soil  and  clay,  pale  in  lower  part 92 

2.  Blue  mud  resembling  recent  alluvium g 

3.  Black  soil  containing  leaves,  cedar  wood,  and  ocherous  particles _ 3 

4.  Small  stones  closely  packed  together -^ 

Total ^ 

Wells  in  that  vicinit)^  often  enter  rock  at  10  to  14  feet,  but  a  neigliborino- 
well  struck  leaves  and  poplar  bark  at  32  feet.  It  is  thought  that  the  bottom 
bed  in  the  Gordon  well  is  native  rock.  In  the  ^dcinity  of  Paris  Crossing, 
in  the-  extreme  southern  part  of  Jennings  County,  buried  timber  is  often 
found  in  digging  wells  on  land  60  to  70  feet  above  the  bed  of  Graham  Creek. 
From  one  well,  sunk  by  Mr.  John  F.  Files,  it  is  estimated  that  at  least  a  half 
cord  of  wood  was  taken,  at  a  depth  of  32  to  40  feet.  The  wood  appeared 
to  be  birch,  and  specimens  were  sent  to  the  State  museum.  The  wood  was 
much  crushed  and  twisted,  but  it  was  found  suitable  for  fuel,  and  was  made 
use  of  by  Mr.  Files.  The  following  is  the  section  of  the  beds  penetrated : 
Section  of  Files  well,  near  Paris  Crossing,  southern  Jennings  County. 

■  Feet. 

1.  Light-colored  clay  with  darker  shades  below _ 10 

2.  Ocher-colored  clay  with  flint  pebbles,  increasing  in  hardness  toward  the  bottom 19 

3.  Very  hard  bed  of  clay  and  gravel 2-^! 

4.  Sandy  blue  clay  with  water;  also  limbs,  twigs,  and  roots  of  trees 7-10 

t  Total .3Q    ,.9 


284         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  ingress  of  water  prevented  the  deepening  of  the  well,  and  the  wall 
was  commenced  on  the  driftwood  at  its  bottom.  A  well  at  South  Milan,  in 
eastern  Ripley  County,  54  feet  in  depth,  did  not  enter  rock,  though  quar- 
ries are  opened  in  that  vicinity  at  about  the  level  of  the  well  mouth.  The 
following  is  a  section  of  the  well  made  by  the  railway  company: 

Section  ofrailvmy  well  at  South  Milan,  Bid. 

Feet. 

1.  Light-colored  clay ; 10-14 

2.  Yellow  clay  with  flint,  gravel,  and  fossil  corals 12 

3.  Blue  glacial  clay ^ 12 

4.  Coarse  yellow  sand  with  recent  shells  and  water 8 

5.  Blue  clay  and  muck  containing  roots  and  limbs  of  trees 8 

Total - 54 

Statistics  concerning  wells  were  obtained  at  several  villages  on  the 
uplands  in  these  southeastern  counties  of  Indiana,  as  follows :  At  Versailles, 
the  county  seat  of  Ripley  County,  wells  are  obtained  at  depths  of  18  to  25 
feet  in  the  upper  part  of  the  limestone.  At  Osgood  they  are  usually 
obtained  near  the  base  of  the  drift  at  depths  of  9  to  15  feet.  Occasionally 
they  are  drilled  to  a  depth  of  100  feet  or  more  in  the  northern  part  of 
Ripley  County.  At  North  Vernon,  in  Jennings  County,  wells  are  obtained 
usually  at  depths  of  12  to  35  feet,  the  majorit)^  being  about  25  feet;  they 
enter  the  rock  a  few  feet.  At  Charlestown,  formerly  the  county  seat  of 
Clark  County,  man)-  Avells  are  obtained  at  a  depth  of  So  to  35  feet,  usually 
ill  the  Corniferous  limestone.  A  few,  however,  reach  this  depth  without 
entering  rock.  In  wells  where  drift  25  to  30  feet  in  thickness  is  penetrated 
it  is  common  to  find  a  blue  mud  carrying  tree  trunks  or  small  pieces  of  wood 
near  the  base  of  the  drift.  Rock  is  ordinarily  struck  in  this  village  at  about 
12  feet.  There  are  four  very  strong  springs  within  the  corporate  limits  of 
the  town,  which  are  used  by  many  of  the  residents.  At  Scottsburg,  the 
county  seat  of  Scott  County,  wells  are  usually  obtained  at  25  to  35  feet  or 
less.  A  gas-well  boring  near  the  railway  station  penetrated  47  feet  of  drift, 
as  follows: 

Section  of  d/rift  in  gas-well  'boring  at  Scottshii/)-'g,  Znd. 

Feet. 

1.  Yellowish  white  clay,  nearly  pebbleless 15 

2.  Sand - 5 

3.  Blue  till - 27 

Total 47 


OUTWASH  OF  ILLINOIAN  AGE.  285 

In  the  Whitewater  Valley  several  borings  for  gas  have  been  made  out- 
side the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin  ice  invasion.  They  fall  within  the  limits 
of  a  terrace  of  Wisconsin  gravel,  but  as  the  Wisconsin  gravel  probably 
extends  little,  if  any,  below  river  level  a  large  part  of  the  material  is  thought 
to  be  Illinoian.  A  boring  at  the  brickyard  in  the  south  part  of  Brookville 
shows  the  rock  floor  to  be  about  180  feet  below  the  low- water  level  of  the 
stream,  or'  but  440  feet  above  tide.  Three  other  borings  in  the  valley  near 
Brookville  enter  rock  at  a  level  about  125  feet  below  the  river,  or  495  feet 
above  tide.  A  gas  boring  near  Cedargrove,  also  in  this  valley,  penetrates 
154  feet  of  drift  and  enters  rock  at  about  450  feet  above  tide.  At  the  mouth 
of  the  river  the  rock  floor  is  less  than  400  feet  above  tide 

SECTION  III.    CHAKACTER  OF  THE  OUTWASH, 

GENERAL  STATEMENT. 

In  the  western  part  of  the  region,  from  near  Louisville,  Ky.,  eastward 
to  near  Maysville,  the  ice  sheet  at  its  culmination  occupied  the  Ohio 
Valley  so  completely  that  drainage  must  have  been  greatly  obstructed. 
As  indicated  above,  the  deposits  appear  to  have  been  very  uneven;  parts 
of  the  valleys  apparently  received  but  little  drift,  while  other  parts  were 
filled  to  a  height  of  150  to  200  feet  above  the  present  stream.  The  filling 
is  also  variable,  being  in  places  a  fine  silt,  in  other  places  an  ordinary  till,  in 
other  places  assorted  sand  and  gravel,  and  in  still  other  places  a  conglom- 
erate with  a  large  number  of  coarse  stones  in  a  matrix  of  clay  or  fine  sand. 
In  some  of  the  valleys  in  central  Ohio  a  terrace  composed  of  well-assorted 
sand  and  gravel  appears,  which  is  probably  of  Illinoian  age.  Reference 
has  already  been  made  (p.  102)  to  the  terrace  in  the  Scioto  Valley.  This 
and  similar  terraces  in  valleys  farther  east  will  now  be  considered.  The 
discussion  begins  with  a  terrace  in  Sandy  Creek  Valley,  that  being  the  east- 
ernmost valley  in  which  there  appears  to  be  good  evidence  of  an  outwash 
of  Illinoian  age.     Valleys  to  the  west  are  then  taken  up  in  succession. 

SANDY   CREEK   VALLEY. 

About  1  mile  east  of  Minerva,  Ohio,  Sandy  Creek,  a  tributary  of  Tus- 
carawas River,  leaves  the  Wisconsin  drift  and  enters  what  appears  to  be 
an  unglaciated  tract.  For  several  miles  below  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin 
drift  it  seems  to  have  only  one  terrace  above  the  flood  plain,  and  this 
is  in  all  probability  of  Wisconsin  age.     Near  Waynesburg,  Ohio,  a  higher 


286  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

terrace  appears,  which  seems  to  be  much  older  than  the  Wisconsin  terrace. 
It  stands  about  70  feet,  while  the  Wisconsin  terrace  in  that  part  of  the 
valley  rises  scarcely  40  feet  above  Sandy  Creek.  It  is  preserved  only  in 
a  recess  on  the  south  side  of  the  valley,  and  there  has  a  Jiiucli  more  eroded 
surface  than  the  Wisconsin  terrace.  It  contains  a  sandy  gravel  which  shows 
a  greater  degree  of  weathering  than  the  Wisconsin  gravel,  and  it  has  been 
opened  extensively  b}^  the  railway  company  to  obtain  gi-avel  for  ballast. 
The  entire  deposit  is  deeply  weathered  and  many  of  the  stones  are  very 
rotten.  A  few  granite  and  quartzite  pebbles,  3  inches  or  less  in  diameter, 
were  found  after  prolonged  search,  but  there  is  a  much  smaller  percentage 
of  such  rocks  than  in  the  g-ravels  of  Wisconsin  ag-e  found  on  the  lower 
terrace  along  the  creek. 

The  valley  was  examined  below  Waynesburg  as  far  as  Sandvville,  but 
no  other  remnants  of  the  old  gravel  were  observed. 

The  occurrence  of  this  old  gravel  suggests  that  the  border  of  the 
lUinoian  drift  sheet  ma}^  lie  not  far  back  to  the  nt)rth;  but,  as  indicated  in 
the  discussion  of  that  drift,  no  exposures  have  been  noted  outside  the 
Wisconsin  drift  in  that  part  of  Ohio. 

TUSCARA\A7^AS  AND  TRIBUTARIES. 

No  other  remnants  of  such  old  gravel  have  been  observed  on  the 
Tuscarawas  or  its  tributaries,  though  the  valleys  have  received  only  a 
hasty  examination,  and  some  of  them  have  received  no  atteiition.  The 
same  is  true  of  the  valley  of  Killbuck  Creek,  a  tributary  of  Walhonding 
River.  The  Walhonding  emerges  from  the  old  or  Illinoian  drift  a  few  miles 
above  its  mouth,  but  examinations  have  not  been  carried  down  the  valley 
sufficiently  to  determine  whether  there  was  a  notable  outwash.  Waha- 
toraaka  Creek  also  emerges  from  the  old  drift  some  distance  above  its 
mouth,  but  the  portion  outside  the  drift  border  has  received  no  attention. 
We  accordingly  pass  to  the  next  valley  to  the  west,  Licking  River,  and 
consider  its  outwash  and  that  of  its  continuation,  Muskingum  RiA^er. 

LICKING-MUSKINGUM  VALLEY. 

As  noted  in  the  discussion  of  the  drift  border,  a  great  dam  was  built 
across  the  old  westward  line  of  discharge  of  the  Muskingum,  at  Hanover, 
Ohio,  which  stands  about  100  feet  above  the  portions  of  the  valley  oga  each 
side,  and  perhaps  300  feet  above  the  rock  floor  of  the  old  vallev.     While 


OUTWASH  OF  ILLINOIAN  AGE.  287 

the  dam  was  accumulating  a  lake  probably  occupied  the  valley  to  the  east. 
The  filling  is  largely  a  fine  silt  of  blue  color,  capped  by  a  few  feet  of  gravel 
and  sand.  The  amount  of  filling  has  been  sufficient  to  cavise  a  new  channel 
to  be  opened  by  the  Licking  for  a  short  distance  in  the  vicinitv  of  the  drift 
border. 

In  the  tract  lying  between  the  Licking  and  the  old  valley  of  the 
Muskingum,  east  -"^rom  the  drift  border  as  far  as  the  present  valley,  there  has 
been  a  general  filling  up  of  valleys,  not  only  on  the  main  lines  of  drainage, 
but  also  on  the  tributary  lines.  Much  of  the  filling  is  a  fine  silt,  but  the 
surface,  as  in  the  dam  at  the  drift  border,  is  of  coarser  material.  In  some 
of  the  tributary  valley.s  small  drift  pebbles  have  been  obser\^ed  on  the 
slopes  up  to  a  level  25  feet  or  more  above  the  flat  valley  bottoms,  a  feature 
which  seems  to  indicate  that  the  region  has  been  submerged  to  levels  above 
the  valley  bottoms.  It  is  suggested  that  the  prevailing  west  winds  mav 
have  carried  cakes  of  ice  laden  with  pebbles  from  the  vicinity  of  the  drift 
boi'der  eastward  into  these  valleys,  passing,  in  some  cases,  over  low  divides, 
and  thus  distributing  them  outside  the  range  of  the  present  system  of 
drainage. 

The  glacial  lake  which  was  held  in  this  portion  of  the  Muskingum 
Valley  discharged  southward  to  the  Ohio  across  the  old  divide  south  of 
Zanesville.  The  volume  of  its  discharge  was  probably  much  greater  than 
that  of  the  present  Muskingum,  since  it  appears  to  have  carried  nearl}-  all 
the  drainage  of  the  ice  field  in  northeastern  Ohio.  The  high-level  gravels 
below  the  old  divide  at  McConnelsville,  and  at  points  farther  down  the 
valley,  may  prove  tt)  have  been  deposited  by  the  glacial  waters  crossing 
this  divide.  But  as  jet  this  is  merely  a  matter  of  conjecture.  The  gravel 
at  McConnelsville  has  an  aged  ■  appearance  quite  similar  to  that  of  the 
glacial  gravels  connected  with  the  lUinoian  drift,  and  decidedly  in  contrast 
with  the  fresh  gravels  of  Wisconsin  age,  which  occur  at  lower  levels  in  the 
valley.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  remarked  that  gravel  of  Wisconsin 
age  has  been  deposited  in  sucli  large  amount  along  the  line  of  the  Lickino- 
below  Hanover  and  along  the  entire  length  of  the  Muskingum  that  the 
outwash  from  the  earlier  ice  field  has  been  rendered  rather  obscure,  except 
at  the  great  dam  near  Hanover. 


288  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

HOCKING   VALLEY. 

The  Hocking'  Valley  appears  to  have  been  a  line  of  vigorous  discharge 
for  glacial  waters  during  the  Illinoian  ice  invasion,  there  being  a  large 
amount  of  gravel  and  cobble  in  its  middle  and  lower  courses  outside  the 
limits  of  glaciation,  which  seems  to  have  been  derived  from  the  Illinoian 
drift.  Much  of  the  gravel  has  been  carried  beyond  the  supposed  old 
divide  below  Sugargrove,  there  being  extensive  remnants  in  the  vicinity  of 
Logan  and  Haydeuville,  and  also  north  of  Athens.  The  old  gravel  has 
been  largely  removed  in  the  part  of  the  valley  above  the  divide  down  to  a 
level  at  least  as  low  as  the  Wisconsin  terraces,  but  it  can  be  traced  up  to 
the  Illinoian  drift  border.  Reference  was  made  in  the  discussion  of  the 
drift  border  to  a  terrace  on  the  lower  course  of  Clear  Creek  that  leads 
down  to  the  Hocking  and  also  to  the  old  gravel  in  the  Hocking  Valley  at 
Lancaster.     These  seem  to  be  near  the  head  of  the  glacial  drainage. 

The  altitude  of  the  g-ravel  terrace  decreases  in  passing  down  the  valley 
at  about  the  rate  of  fall  in  the  river,  and  the  terrace  stands  80  to  100  feet 
above  the  stream.  At  Lancaster  the  gravel  has  an  altitude  of  nearly  900 
feet,  at  Logan  scarcely  800  feet,  and  near  Athens  about  700  feet  above 
tide.  The  general  elevation  is  about  50  feet  above  the  terraces  of  Wisconsin 
age  in  the  valley. 

The  gravel  varies  greatly  in  coarseness,  some  portions  being  rather 
fine  with  a  liberal  admixture  of  sand,  while  other  portions  are  a  coarser 
gravel  and  cobble.  On  the  whole  the  material  is  coarser  than  is  usually 
displayed  by  terraces  connected  with  the  Illinoian  drift.  It  is  often  firmly 
cemented  into  a  conglomerate,  the  cement  being  usually  calcareous,  but  in 
some  cases  ferruginous.  As  noted  above,  this  conglomerate  is  used  at 
Lancaster  in  stone  fences.  Near  Logan  its  outcrops  on  the  face  of  a 
terrace  bear  a  strong  resemblance  to  rock  ledges. 

Granite,  quartzite,  and  other  Canadian  rocks,  though  not  so  abundant 
as  in  the  gravels  of  Wisconsin  age,  are  well  represented  all  along  the 
terrace.  Some  of  these  rocks,  in  a  remnant  of  the  terrace  near  the  school- 
house  in  tlie  north  part  of  Logan,  are  5  or  6  inches  in  diameter.  They  are 
nearly  as  coarse  in  the  terrace  north  of  Athens. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Logan  a  valley  fully  one-half  mile  wide  seems  to 
have  been  filled  with  this  old  gravel  from  a  level  about  76  feet  below  the 
river  to  a  level  fully  80  feet  above  it.     For  a  distance  of  3  miles  below 


OUTWASH  OF  ILLINOIAN  AGE.  289 

Logan  remnants  are  very  extensive,  occupying  one-third  to  one-half  the 
width  of  the  old  valley.  From  that  point  to  Chauncey  nearly  all  the 
gravel  has  been  removed  down  to  a  level  as  low  as  the  Wisconsin  gravel; 
but  between  Chauncey  and  Athens  a  section  of  the  old  valley  is  abandoned, 
and  more  than  a  square  mile  of  the  gravel  filling  is  preserved.  Below 
Athens  no  remnants  of  the  old  gravel  were  noted.  Possibly  the  deposit 
was  not  carried  in  large  amount  farther  down  the  valley  than  the  abandoned 
section  above  Athens. 

SALT  CREEK  VALLEY. 

As  indicated  in  the  discussion  of  the  drift  border,  the  North,  or  main, 
Fork  of  Salt  Creek  appears  to  have  held  a  small  glacial  lake  during  the 
deposition  of  the  Illinoian  drift,  into  which  but  little  material  except  fine 
silt  was  carried.  The  lake  discharged  across  an  old  divide  near  the  point 
where  the  present  stream  passes  from  Hocking  into  Vinton  County,  into  a 
valley  that  opened  southward  to  the  Scioto,  but  it  seems  not  to  have  carried 
much  material  into  that  valley.   ' 

The  South  Fork  of  Salt  Creek,  though  lying  apparently  entirely  outside 
the  limits  of  glaciation,  is  so  situated  that  the  glacial  accumulations  on  the 
Scioto  at  the  mouth  of  the  creek  held  a  lake  in  the  creek  valley  into  which 
the  glacial  waters  passed,  and  at  the  head  of  which  they  opened  a  passage 
southward  to  the  Ohio.  This  lake  received  a  large  amount  of  fine  calcareous 
sediment,  the  depth  at  the  present  divide  between  Salt  Creek  and  Symmes 
Creek  near  Camba  being  not  less  than  90  feet 

SCIOTO     VALLEY. 

Attention  was  called  in  the  discussion  of  the  Illinoian  drift  border  to  a 
prominent  gravel  terrace  on  the  Scioto,  which  heads  at  the  glacial  boundary 
east  of  Chillicothe.  This  terrace,  which  at  its  head  stands  about  100  feet 
above  the  Scioto,  has  been  built  up  at  that  point  from  below  river  level. 
Passing  southward,  down  the  valley,  one  finds  the  glacial  gravel  covering 
a  series  of  rock  shelves,  which  show  a  slight  increase  in  altitude  in  that 
direction.  It  declines  in  altitude  about  50  feet  in  passing  fi'om  the  glacial 
boundary  to  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto,  where  it  barely  comes  to  the  level  of 
the  rock  shelves.  From  more  than  100  feet  opposite  Chillicothe  the  depth 
of  the  gravel  becomes  reduced  to  but  16  feet  at  Coopersville,  near  the  line  of 

MON  XLI 19 


290  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Pike  and  Scioto  counties,  about  30  miles  below.  The  surface  in  that  dis- 
tance falls  from  fully  700  feet  above  tide  to  650  feet  or  less,  while  the  rock 
shelf,  or  old  valley  floor,  rises  from  below  600  feet  to  fully  625  feet.  The 
material  in  this  terrace  varies  from  a  well-assorted  gravel  of  medium  coarse- 
ness to  a  sandy  and  clayey  gravel  very  imperfectly  assorted.  As  a  rule, 
the  gravel  contains  a  large  amount  of  sand.  The  current  was  probably 
moderate  except,  perhaps,  on  the  immediate  boi'ders  of  the  ice  sheet.  The 
gravel,  like  the  drift  from  which  it  was  derived,  contains  only  a  few  Cana- 
dian rocks,  yet  they  have  been  found  as  far  down  as  Coopersville. 

In  an  old  oxbow  back  of  Lucasville,  discussed  in  Chapter  III,  no 
glacial  deposits  were  noted,  but  pebbles  were  found  on  the  inner  slope  up  to 
a  level  above  the  probable  limits  of  the  filling  by  glacial  gravel.  These 
pebbles,  as  well  as  the  material  in  the  bottom  of  that  oxbow,  may  be  older 
than  the  glacial  gravel.  The  altitude  of  the  bottom  of  the  oxbow  is  fully 
as  great  as  the  glacial  gravel  at  Coopersville,  and  no  Canadian  rocks  were 
found  in  it  after  prolonged  search. 

MIDDLE    AND     LOWER    OHIO    VALLEY. 

The  portion  of  the  Ohio  Valley  which  was  covered  by  the  ice  sheet, 
from  near  Mavsville  down  to  the  vicinity  of  Louisville,  Ky.,  received  a 
large  amount  of  drift,  some  of  which  is  evidently  waterlaid.  It  is  not, 
however,  so  distinct  an  outwash  from  the  ice  sheet  as  that  found  in  valleys 
to  the  east,  already  discussed.  Much  of  it  was  probabl)^  deposited  as  directly 
by  the  ice  sheet  as  the  till  of  the  boi'dering  uplands.  It  has  accordingly 
been  treated  in  connection  with  the  drift  sheet.  By  reference  to  these 
descriptions,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  filling  varies  greatly  in  constitution,  as 
is  to  be  expected  in  a  partially  obstructed  valley. 

The  encroachment  of  the  ice  sheet  on  a  part  of  the  Lower  Ohio  at  the 
lUinoian  stage  of  glaciation  may  seem  to  oppose  the  view  that  some  of  the 
gravel  cai'ried  down  the  Scioto  was  of  Illinoian  age.  It  seems  probable, 
however,  that  the  drainage  through  the  Ohio  was  obstructed  for  only  a  brief 
time  if  at  all.  The  glacial  boundary  at  its  farthest  point  extends  but  10  or 
12  miles  beyond  the  Ohio,  and  generally  but  2  to  5  miles.  It  is  not  certain 
that  so  slight  an  extension  could  cause  complete  damming. 

Furthermore,  the  ice  sheet  extended  beyond  the  Ohio  during  only  a 
small  part  of  the  Illinoian  stage  of  glaciation,  thus  leaving  the  valley  open 


OUT  WASH  OF  ILLINOIAN  AGE.  291 

most  of  the  time,  except  for  the  drift  filling,  and  this  was  not  sufficiently 
high  to  greatly  impede  the  flow  of  water  from  the  upper  part  of  the  Ohio 
and  its  tribtitaries.  The  filling  is  generally  below  the  600-foot  contour, 
which  is  100  feet  lower  than  the  head  of  the  gravel  terrace  on  the  Scioto, 
and  perhaps  25  feet  lower  than  the  gravel  filling  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Scioto. 

Below  the  limits  of  glaciation  the  Ohio  Valley  has  received  only  a  hasty 
examination,  and  no  deposits  have  been  found  that  seem  to  be  referable  to 
the  lUinoian  outwash.  The  examination  has,  however,  not  been  sufficiently 
complete  to  make  certain  that  such  deposits  do  not  exist,  and  it  is  possible 
that  some  terraces  which  have  been  referred  provisionally  to  the  Wisconsin 
may  prove  to  be  older. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

THE  SANGAMON  SOIL  AND  WEATHERED  ZONE. 

After  the  Illinoian  stag-e  of  g'laciation  the  surface  of  its  drift  sheet 
became  weathered,  and  a  black  soil  was  formed  on  the  level  or  poorly 
drained  portions.  This  weathering  and  the  forming  of  a  soil  continued  for 
a  considerable  period,  as  is  apparent  from  the  state  of  decay  of  the  pebbles 
and  the  leaching  of  the  till,  there  having  been  usually  a  complete  leaching 
of  the  lime  from  the  finer  part  of  the  till  to  a  depth  of  several  feet,  accom- 
panied by  a  nearly  complete  dissolution  of  limestone  pebbles. 

This  weathering  has  not  continued  to  the  present  day,  for  the  surface 
of  the  Illinoian  has  received  a  coating  of  silt  several  feet  in  depth,  which 
now  prevents  further  weathering.  This  silt  deposition  and  interruption  of 
the  weathering,  as  indicated  below,  are  thought  to  have  occurred  in  con- 
nection with  the  lowan  stage  of  glaciation,  in  which  case  the  soil  and 
weathered  zone  stand  for  an  interglacial  stage  between  the  Illinoian  and 
lowan  glacial  stages. 

The  name  Sangamon  has  been  suggested  for  this  interglacial  stage  by 
the  writer  because  of  the  excellent  development  of  the  soil  in  the  Sangamon 
River  drainage  basin,  in  central  Illinois,  and  because  the  exposures  there 
were  among  the  eailiest  recognized  in  this  country.^ 

The  Sangamon  soil  and  weathered  zone  may  be  seen  beneath  the  sur- 
face silt  in  thousands  of  exposures  in  southeastern  Indiana  and  southwestern 
Ohio,  for  the  general  thickness  of  the  silt  is  only  4  or  6  feet.  Farther  north 
there  are,  in  addition  to  the  silt,  the  heavy  deposits  of  Wisconsin  drift,  which 
have  buried  the  soil  and  weathered  zone  to  such  a  depth  that  it  is  rarely 
exposed.  However,  a  few  exposures  have  been  found  in  the  deeper  valleys, 
and  wells  not  infrequently  penetrate  both  the  silt  and  the  soil  under  the 
Wisconsin  drift. 

'The  Sangamon  soil  and  weathered  zone,  by  Frank  Leverett:  Proc.  Iowa  Acad.  Sci.,  Vol.  V,  1898, 
pp.  71-80;  also  Jour.  Geol.,  Vol.  VI,  1898,  pp.  171-181.  Numerous  instances  of  occurrence  within  the 
limits  of  the  Illinois  glacial  lobe  are  cited  in  Monograph  XXXVIII  of  this  Survey. 

292 


SANGAMON  INTERGLACIAL  STAGE.  293 

It  is  this  soil  which  attracted  the  attention  of  Orton  in  his  examination 
of  wells  near  Marshall,  in  Hig-hland  County,  Ohio,^  but  the  soil  there  is 
within  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin  drift.  It  is  probable  that  the  deposits  of 
peat  below  the  Wisconsin  drift  near  Germantown,  in  Montgomery  County, 
Ohio,  also  brought  to  notice  by  Orton,^  are  referable  to  the  Sangamon.  In 
fact,  the  great  majority  of  buried  soils  reported  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois 
appear  to  be  at  this  horizon.  The  soil  attracts  attention  more  effectively 
when  found  at  considerable  depth  than  in  places  where  it  is  covered  by 
only  a  few  feet  of  silt.  One  often  passes  it  in  the  latter  situations  without 
realizing  that  it  is  really  at  a  lower  horizon  than  the  surface  soil,  for  the 
surface  soil  is  liable  to  be  washed  down  the  slope  beloAV  the  level  of  the 
Sangamon  soil.  A  careful  inspection,  however,  will  place  beyond  question 
the  frequent  occurrence  of  the  Sangamon  soil.  In  many  cases  it  can  be 
traced  back  along  ditches  until  it  passes  beneath  the  surface  silt,  but  where 
this  can  not  be  done  an  examination  of  the  constitution  of  the  Sangamon 
soil  will  reveal  the  presence  of  pebbles,  which  distinguish  it  from  the 
pebbleless  surface  soil. 

The  Sangamon  soil,  in  the  region  under  discussion,  does  not  commonly 
show  a  black  color,  though  exposures  of  such  a  color  are  met  with  in  all 
parts  of  the  region.  The  evidence  of  a  land  surface  is  more  generally 
found  in  the  deep-brown  color  and  weathering  or  soil-producing  disintegra- 
tion of  the  upper  part  of  the  till.  The  deep  brown  changes  gradually  below 
to  the  ordinary  yellow  color  of  oxidized  till,  but  at  top  it  terminates  abruptly 
at  the  base  of  the  overlying  silt.  The  color  of  the  silt  being  much  lighter 
than  that  of  this  brown  soil,  the  contrast  is  very  marked.  The  deep-brown 
color  extends  usually  to  a  depth  of  2  feet  or  more,  while  leaching  and 
discoloration  are  noticeable  to  6  or  8  feet.  The  amount  of  discoloration  is 
somewhat  greater  than  is  commonly  found  at  the  surface  of  the  Wisconsin 
drift,  and  numerous  comparisons  of  the  Sangamon  soil  with  the  post- 
Wisconsin  soil  lead  to  the  opinion  that  the  Sangamon  involved  more  time 
than  has  elapsed  since  the  culmination  of  the  Wisconsin  stage  of  glaciation. 
The  same  opinion  is  reached  upon  comparing  the  amount  of  leaching.  On 
the  lUinoian  drift  it  is  rare  to  get  a  response  with  acid  within  6  to  8  feet  of 

'  Kept.  Geol.  Survey  Ohio,  1870,  p.  266. 

^  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  2d  series.  Vol.  L,  1870,  pp.  54-57, 293.  See  also  Rept.  Geol.  Survey  Ohio,  1869,  pp. 
165-169. 


294  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  surface,  whereas  in  the  Wisconsin  drift  the  leaching  has  seldom  been 
carried  to  so  great  a  depth  as  6  feet.  It  seems  clear  from  the  ^oosition  and 
relations  of  this  old  land  surface  that  the  leaching  took  place  before  it  was 
buried  under  the  silt.  In  view  of  these  facts,  this  may  safely  be  considered 
one  of  the  main  intervals  of  deglaciation. 

The  erosion  of  the  Illinoian  drift  in  the  Sangamon  interglacial  stage 
was  not  so  conspicuous  a  feature  as  the  weathering.  This  is  true  not  only 
in  the  region  under  discussion,  but  also  in  the  region  to  the  west,  covered 
by  the  Illinois  glacial  lobe.  The  channeling  seems  to  have  been  shallow 
and  broad  wherever  new  lines  were  opened,  while  the  old  lines,  being  already 
largely  open,  suffered  but  little  excavation.  These  features  indicate  that 
drainage  conditions  were  less  favorable  than  now,  but  they  should  not  be 
cited  against  the  evidence  of  a  long  interval  derived  from  the  leaching  and 
weathering  of  the  surface.  The  conditions  for  erosion  seem  to  have  become 
worse  rather  than  better  toward  the  close  of  the  Sangamon  interglacial 
stage,  and  in  the  stage  which  followed,  as  indicated  below,  erosion  was  either 
suspended  or  became  so  feeble  as  to  allow  silt  to  accumulate  on  the  surface. 


CHAPTERVIII. 

THE  LOESS  AND  ASSOCIATED  SILTS. 
ge:nt:raij  statemeivt. 

On  the  borders  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  main  tributaries  there  is  a 
very  porous  silt  which  overhes  the  Sangamon  soil  and  weathered  surface  of 
the  lUinoian  drift  sheet,  and  which  has  long  been  known  as  loess.  It  is 
commonly  calcareous  to  a  marked  degree,  though  its  main  ingi-edients  are 
siliceous  and  argillaceous  particles.  A  series  of  chemical,  mineralogical, 
and  mechanical  analyses  appear  in  Monograph  XXXVIII  of  this  Survey. 
Portions  of  the  loess  are  highly  fossiliferous,  with  a  fauna  composed  chiefly 
of  terrestrial  species  of  mollusks,  but  containing  also  species  which  inhabit 
ponds,  and  occasionally  a  fluviatile  mollusk.  Lists  of  the  fossils  are  also 
given  in  Monograph  XXXVIII. 

On  the  uplands  back  from  the  Mississippi  and  its  main  tributaries,  and 
also  along  the  minor  tributaries,  there  are  silts  of  more  compact  texture 
than  those  which  border  the  valleys.  Mechanical  analyses  of  samples  col- 
lected in  Illinois,  also  appearing  in  Monograph  XXXVIII,  show  that  there 
is  a  larger  proportion  of  very  fine  particles  in  these  compact  silts  than  in 
the  loess  bordering  the  valleys,  but  that  in  many  respects  they  are  similar. 
The  porous  loess  does  not  contain  coarser  particles  than  are  found  in  the 
compact  silt. 

DISTBIBUTIOlSr. 

The  compact  silt  extends  eastward  in  a  practically  continuous  sheet 
from  Illinois  over  southern  Indiana,  southern  Ohio,  and  neighboring  portions 
of  Kentucky  and  West  Virginia,  and  is  the  surface  deposit  as  far  north  as 
the  border  of  the  Wisconsin  drift  sheet.  It  is  known  to  underlie  the  Wis- 
consin drift,  numerous  exposures  having  been  found  beneath  that  drift. 

This  silt  has  long  been  recognized  in  the  glaciated  districts  of  south- 
western Ohio  and  soiitheastern  Indiana.  In  the  Ohio  reports  it  is  referred 
to  as  the  "white  clay,'"  and  in  the  Indiana  reports  as  "slash  land."     It  has 

295 


296  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

not  been  known  so  long  that  a  similar  silt  extends  outside  the  limits  of 
the  Illinoian  di-ift.  Wright  has  called  attention  to  a  silt  on  Beech  Flats,  in 
Pike  County,  Ohio,  which  was  cited  as  an  extra  glacial  material,  but  it  now 
apjDears  to  be  underlain  throughout  by  glacial  deposits.-'  In  the  writer's 
examinations  in  southeastern  Ohio  and  neighboring  parts  of  West  Virginia 
and  Kentucky,  in  1896,  it  was  found  that  the  silt  occurs  at  least  as  far  east 
as  Parkersburg,  W.  Va.  Examinations  in  the  Beaver  Valley,  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  1898,  as  indicated  on  page  252,  have  raised  the  suspicion  that  it 
occurs  there.  It  may  also  occur  on  the  Monongahela  and  its  tributaries, 
for  the  terraces  there  are  in  many  places  capped  by  a  compact  silt  several 
feet  in  depth.  This,  however,  is  merely  a  conjecture.  Its  limits  will  not 
be  easy  to  determine,  for  it  is  so  thin  that  it  is  likely  to  be  preserved  only 
on  comparatively  flat  areas  where  erosion  has  been  very  slight.  Wherever 
flat  uplands  appear  in  southeastern  Ohio  from  the  glacial  boundary  east- 
ward to  Parkersburg,  W.  Va.,  the  silt  capping  is  clearly  ]-ecognized.  It 
is  especially  noticeable  in  parts  of  Morgan  County,  near  McConnels^alle, 
which  are  underlain  by  limestone,  for  the  silt  contrasts  more  strikingly  in 
color  with  the  residuary  products  of  the  limestone  than  with  those  of 
sandstone. 

The  extent  of  this  silt  northward  beneath  the  Wisconsin  drift  is  unde- 
termined. It  has  been  found  at  some  distance  back  from  the  border,  both 
in  southeastern  Indiana  and  in  southwestern  Oliio. 

TIIICKlSrESS  OF  THI]  SILT. 

The  thickness  of  the  silt  on  the  uplands  of  southeastern  Indiana, 
northern  Kentucky,  and  southern  Ohio,  where  it  overlies  the  Illinoian  di-ift, 
averao-es  scarcely  5  feet,  and  seldom  reaches  10  feet.  As  the  exposures  are 
mainly  on  slopes  where  more  or  less  removal  has  occurred,  the  thickness 
seems  to  be  only  2  or  3  feet,  but  the  wells  or  excavations  on  flat  uplands 
correct  this  interpretation  and  show  it  to  be  about  5  feet.  The  thickness 
varies  but  little  from  place  to  place,  though  it  seems  to  be  less  on  uplands 
near  the  Ohio  Valley  than  farther  north  near  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin 
drift.  This  difference  may  be  due  to  greater  erosion  on  the  borders  of 
the  Ohio,  where  the  surface  is  more  completely  dissected  than  at  points 
some  distance  back.  But  there  is  also  a  strong  probability  that  some  silt 
has  been  deposited  as  an  outwash  along  portions  of  the  Wisconsin  border. 

iBull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  58,  1890,  pp.  92-96. 


THICKNESS  AND  CHARACTER  OF  THE  SILT.  297 

The  thickness  of  the  silt  on  uplands  outside  the  limits  of  the  drift  is 
even  less  than  on  the  drift,  though  it  probably  falls  short  but  a  foot  or  two. 
The  estimates  are  mainly  from  exposures  on  slopes,  there  being  few  oppor- 
tunities to  learn  its  thickness  on  the  level  upland.  It  should  be  borne  in 
mind,  also,  that  the  country  outside  the  limits  of  glaciation  is  generally  much 
more  uneven  than  in  the  glaciated  tracts,  and  that  flat  areas  such  as  would 
hold  the  silt  in  its  full  thickness  are  comparatively  rare.  The  silt  is  seldom 
preserved  in  the  Ohio  Valley,  the  exposure  at  Parkersburg  being  the  most 
conspicuous  instance  noted.  In  the  northern  part  of  the  city  it  covers  an 
island-like  hill  which  stands  about  175  feet  above  the  river,  and  it  there  has 
a  thickness  of  12  to  15  feet  and  a  porous  texture  similar  to  the  loess  along 
the  valleys  farther  west. 

In  the  abandoned  valley  of  the  Kanawha,  leading  from  St.  Albans, 
W.  Va.,  to  Huntington,  known  as  Teays  Valley,  there  is  apparently  a  thin 
bed  of  the  silt  imder  discussion,  capping  a  thick  deposit  of  silt  of  different 
color.  The  thickness  is  only  5  or  6  feet,  or  but  little  greater  than  on  the 
bordering  uplands. 

The  deposits  in  the  Beaver  and  Monongahela  valleys  which  are  con- 
jectured to  be  of  this  age  are  only  a  few  feet  in  depth,  those  on  the  Beaver 
being  5  or  6  feet  and  those  on  the  Monongahela  but  little  thicker. 

CHARACTERISTICS. 

Color. — The  color  of  the  silt  is  a  distinguishing-  characteristic,  for  it  is  in 
striking  contrast  with  both  the  underlying  till  and  with  the  residuary  cla}', 
and  is  remarkably  uniform  throughout  its  extent  in  this  region.  It  is 
generally  of  a  pale  yellow  or  ashy  color  from  top  to  bottom,  the  soil  as 
well  as  the  subsoil  being  pale  and  light  colored.  For  this  reason  it  is 
widely  known  as  ' '  white  clay."  In  parts  of  southern  Ohio  and  southeastern 
Indiana  this  deposit  has  given  rise  to  a  black  soil.  This  is  found  mainly  in 
exceptionally  flat  portions  of  the  uplands,  and  does  not  prevail  very  exten- 
sively there,  the  level  tracts  being  usually  characterized  by  a  very  light- 
colored  soil. 

Texture. — Tlic  uamc  sllt  indicates  that  this  deposit  is  of  fine  texture. 
Ordinarily  it  contains  no  grains  or  rock  fragments  sufficiently  coarse  to  be 
detected  by  the  naked  eye,  but  in  a  few  places  occasional  small  pebbles 
have  been  noted  in  it,  usually  near  the  bottom  of  the  deposit.  The  rarity 
of  these  pebbles  raises  the  suspicion  that  they  may  not  be  normal  to  the 


298  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

deposit.  In  some  cases  they  may  liave  been  brought  up  from  the  underlying 
till  by  burrowing  animals  long  after  the  silt  was  laid  down;  but  in  other 
cases  they  seem  to  have  been  brought  in  during  the  process  of  deposition. 
A  few  were  found  in  the  unglaciated  parts  of  southeastern  Ohio,  where  their 
presence  seems  difficult  to  explain  unless  they  wei-e  laid  down  with  the  silt. 
The  pebbles  are  generally  of  quartz,  though  a  few  other  very  resistant 
rocks  are  represented ;  this  is  true  of  pebbles  in  both  the  glaciated  and  the 
unglaciated  tracts. 

Chemical  constitution. — But  oue  aualysls  of  tlils  sllt  lias  been  reported.  This 
first  appeared  in  the  Geology  of  Ohio,^  and  was  made  by  T.  G.  Wormley, 
State  chemist.  The  specimen  was  obtained  on  the  level  upland  in  western 
Highland  County. 

Analysis  of  white  clay  from  western  Highland  County,  Ohio. 

Per  cent. 

Water  combined 5.54 

Silicic  acid 62.60 

Alumina 18.90 

Sesquioxide  of  iron 6.30 

Manganese 0.20 

Phosphate  of  lime 0.63 

Carbonate  of  lime 1-89 

Carbonate  of  magnesia 1-82 

Potash  and  Soda 2.32 

Total 100.10 

Mineraiogicai  constitution. — Two  samples  collccted  by  the  writer  have  been 
examined  microscopically  by  R.  D.  Salisbury.  One  is  from  Beech  Flats, 
in  northwestern  Pike  County,  Ohio;  the  other  is  from  western  Highland 
County,  not  far  from  the  locality  from  which  the  sample  subjected  to 
chemical  analysis  was  obtained.  One  is  very  near  the  glacial  boundary, 
the  other  15  or  20  miles  back  from  the  boundary.  No  essential  difference 
was  found  in  the  samples.  Both  consist  mainly  of  quartz  grains,  among 
which  are  feldspar  fragments,  hornblende,  and  possibly  epidote  and  augite ; 
there  are  also  coarse  grains  of  chert  and  minute  concretions  of  iron  oxide. 
The  material  is  largely  angular,  even  when  the  grains  are  of  sufficient 
coarseness  to  have  been  liable  to  become  rounded  under  favorable  conditions. 

PROBABLE  lOWAN  AGE. 

Standing,  as  it  does,  above  the  Sangamon  weathered  zone  and  below  the 
Wisconsin  drift,  the  position  of  the  silt  is  similar  to  that  of  the  lowan  drift. 

'  Vol.  I,  p.  445. 


AGE  AND  MODE  OF  DEPOSITION  OF  THE  LOESS.  299 

It  is  certain  that  the  loess  on  the  south  border  of  the  lowan  drift  in  eastern 
Iowa  and  western  IlHnois  is  of  the  same  age  as  that  drift,  for  the  two 
deposits  connect  completely  at  their  borders.  The  loess  sets  in  abruptly  at 
the  south  border  of  the  lowan  drift  like  an  outwash  from  the  lowan  ice 
sheet.  The  silt  appears  to  hold  the  same  stratigraphic  position  throughout 
its  entire  extent,  and  no  reason  has  been  found  for  excluding  any  part  of 
it  from  the  lowan  stage.  It  is  not  certain,  and  perhaps  it  is  scarcely 
probable,  that  the  deposit  is  everywhere  an  outwash  from  the  lowan  ice 
sheet.  But  it  seems  to  have  been  deposited  at  a  single  epoch  of  general 
lew  altitude  and  slack  drainage.  Its  wide  distribution  on  the  uplands  may, 
however,  be  due  immediately  to  the  agency  of  winds. 

MODE   OF   DEPOSITION. 

The  mode  of  deposition  of  the  loess  and  associated  silts  has  been  and 
still  remains  one  of  the  most  puzzling  problems  of  Pleistocene  geology. 
At  present  little  more  can  be  done  than  to  state  the  several  hypotheses  and 
discuss  the  difficulties  of  interpretation.  This  has  been  attempted  by  the 
writer  in  Monograph  XXXVIII  of  this  Survey,  and  but  little  can  be  added 
to  that  discussion.  The  leading  hypotheses  are  known  as  the  aqueous  and 
the  eolian.  But  as  a  portion  of  the  deposit  in  southeastern  Ohio  has  been 
attributed  to  organic  agencies,'  that  interpretation  also  should  be  considered. 

It  is  generally  recognized  that  difficulties  attend  the  application  of  any 
one  hypothesis  to  the  entire  deposit.  Probably  no  one  questions  the  view 
that  the  influence  of  the  wind  has  been  important,  and  nearly  all  will  concede 
that  water,  or  at  least  imperfect  drainage,  has  been  influential.  The  division 
of  opinion,  therefore,  is  concerned  with  the  relative  importance  of  wind  and 
water  in  the  distribution  of  the  loess. 

The  question  of  the  influence  of  the  atmosphere  as  an  agent  of  erosion, 
transportation,  and  sedimentation  has  been  carefully  examined  and  ably 
discussed  by  Udden,  with  the  result  of  showing  that  it  is  competent  to  per- 
form as  much  work  as  is  required  in  producing  this  deposit."  Chamberlin 
has  recently  discussed  the  peculiarities  of  distribution  and  considered  the 

'  See  Edward  Orton:  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  1, 1873,  p.  445;  also  G.  F.  Wright:  Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Sur- 
vey No.  58, 1890,  p.  104. 

^  The  main  results  of  Udden' s  investigations  are  presented  in  the  following  papers:  Erosion, 
transportation,  and  sedimentation  performed  by  the  atmosphere:  Jour.  Geol.,  Vol.  II,  1894,  pp.  318-331; 
Loess  as  a  land  deposit:  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  IX,  1897,  pp.  6-9;  The  mechanical  composition 
of  wind  deposits:  Augustana  Library  Publications,  No.  1,  1898,  Lutheran  Augustana  Book  Concern,  Rock 
Island,  111. 


300  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

difficulties  attending  the   application   of   either    hypothesis    to    the   entire 
deposit.-' 

The  adherents  of  the  eolian  hypothesis  generally  assume  that  di-ainage 
conditions  were  such  that  the  dust  accumulation  exceeded  the  erosion  of 
the  land,  but  they  object  to  the  view  that  much  of  the  surface  was  under 
water.  The  restriction  of  the  deposit  to  a  certain  stage  in  the  G-lacial  epoch 
is  thought  to  affect  in  no  way  the  applicability  of  this  hypothesis  so  long 
as  it  is  granted  that  there  were  exceptionally  poor  drainage  conditions,  it 
being  thought  that  erosion  is  ordinarily  more  than  a  match  for  dust  accu- 
mulations. They  cite  the  presence  of  shells  of  land  mollusks  and  the  wide 
vertical  distribution  of  the  loess  as  fatal  to  the  aqueous  hypothesis. 

The  adherents  of  the  aqueous  hypothesis,  while'  recognizing  the  diffi- 
culties of  accounting  for  the  land  molhisks  and  the  wide  vertical  distribu- 
tion of  loess,  have  emphasized  the  important  fact  that  the  thickest  and  most 
porous  loess  is  distributed  along  the  main  valleys,  and  they  maintain  that 
its  distribution  was  largely  dependent  upon  the  great  streams  of  the  region. 
They  also  have  emphasized  the  occurrence  of  coarse  material  in  places  in 
the  basal  portion  of  the  loess,  and  the  occasional  development  of  distinct 
beds  of  silt  and  also  of  sand  that  seem  to  be  water  laid. 

The  close  connection  between  the  lowan  drift  sheet  and  the  loess 
deposits  of  eastern  Iowa  and  western  Illinois  is  recognized  by  the  advocates 
of  each  hypothesis,  and  there  seems  to  be  unanimity  of  opinion  that  water 
was  an  important  distributer  there,  though  some  difference  of  opinion  exists 
as  to  the  extent  of  its  influence. 

In  the  region  under  discussion  the  variations  in  level  are  such  as  to 
put  the  aqueous  hypothesis  to  severe  test,  for  the  silt  deposits  occur  from 
an  altitiide  500  feet  or  less  above  tide  up  to  more  than  1,000  feet.  In 
southeastern  Indiana  this  wide  range  is  found  within  a  space  of  but  a 
few  miles.  The  uplands  ordinarily  stand  200  feet  or  more  above  the  surface 
of  the  drift  accumulations  in  the  main  valleys,  and  nearly  400  feet  above 
the  main  streams.  To  submerge  this  region  it  would  seem  necessary  to 
assume  a  depression  that  would  bring  the  uplands  about  to  sea  level  and 
carry  the  valleys  to  a  level  far  below  tide,  there  being  no  apparent  basis 
for  the  hypothesis  of  land  barriers  or  other  obstructions  which  could  have 
held  a  wide  body  of  water  much  above  sea  level. 


1  Supplementar)'  hypothesis  respecting  the  origin  of  the  loess  of  the  Mississippi  Valley:  Jour. 
GeoL,  Vol.  V,  1897,  pp.  795-802. 


MODE  OF  DEPOSITION  OF  THE  LOESS.  301 

That  this  region  had  an  unfavorable  altitude  for  drainage  in  the  pre- 
ceding Sangamon  interglacial  stage,  and  probably  stood  much  lower  than 
at  present,  seems  evident  from  the  shallowness  of  the  valleys  which  were 
opened  on  the  surface  of  the  Illinoian  drift.  The  drainage  conditions  seem 
to  have  become  still  more  unfavorable  during  the  silt  deposition,  so  that 
erosion  was  either  suspended  or  became  so  weak  that  it  could  not  keep 
pace  with  deposition.  This  increased  imperfection  of  drainage  conditions 
seems  best  explained  by  a  depression  of  the  land.  This  being  granted, 
there  may  be  found  but  little  occasion  for  dispute  between  the  advocates 
of  the  eolian  and  the  aqueous  hypotheses,  it  being  only  necessary  to  decide 
whether  or  not  depression  stopped  short  of  submergence.  The  pebbles 
and  occasional  sandy  beds  found  in  parts  of  this  silt  may  help  in  deciding 
this  question. 

The  source  of  the  material  is  a  question  of  prime  importance,  but  so 
far  as  the  region  under  discussion  is  concerned  it  is  largely  undetermined. 
The  part  which  covers  the  glacial  drift  seems  from  the  examinations  made 
by  Salisbmy  to  have  been  derived  to  some  extent  from  glacial  deposits, 
there  being  minerals  present  which  abound  in  these  deposits  and  are  not 
present  in  neighboring  rock  formations;  but  the  quartz  which  forms  the 
great  body  of  the  silt  may  easily  have  been  derived  from  various  rock 
formations,  near  or  remote,  east,  south,  or  west  from  the  glaciated  districts, 
and  also  from  the  drift. 

It  remains  to  consider  the  influence  of  organic  agencies,  the  view  having 
been  presented  by  Orton  that  the  white  clay  of  southwestern  Ohio  is  merely 
the  fine  material  brought  up  by  burrowing  animals,  earthworms,  etc.,  from 
the  underlying  till.  This  view  was  suggested  before  the  relationship  to  the 
loess  had  been  determined  and  before  the  underlying  Sangamon  weathered 
zone  had  been  clearly  recognized.  While  therefore  the  effectiveness  of 
such  agencies  to  produce  deposits  of  considerable  bulk  is  not  questioned, 
the  reference  of  this  silt  deposit  to  such  agencies  can  scarcely  be  sustained. 
The  disturbance  produced  by  these  organic  agencies  has  not  been  suffi- 
ciently deep  to  greatly  affect  the  buried  Sangamon  soil  and  weathered  zone, 
there  being,  as  indicated  above,  a  clearly  marked  line  separating  the  weath- 
ered surface  of  the  Ilhnoian  till  sheet  from  the  overlying  silt.  The  inad- 
equacy of  organic  agencies  to  account  for  the  surface  silt  becomes  still  more 
apparent  when  the  great  bulk  of  the  silt  farther  west  is  considered,  the 
thickness  of  the  loess  in  parts  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  being  over  100  feet. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE   PEORIAN   OR  POST-LOESSIAL  SOIL  AND  WEATHERED 
ZONE  (TORONTO  FORMATIONI). 

The  soil  and  weathered  zone  formed  on  the  lowan  till  and  the  loess 
and  associated  silts  before  the  ciilniinatiou  of  the  Wisconsin  stage  of  glaci- 
ation  have  been  called  the  Peorian/  because  of  good  exposures  in  the 
vicinity  of  Peoria,  111 ,  beneath  the  Shelby  ville  oi-  earliest  sheet  of  the 
Wisconsin  series.  The  interval  between  the  lowan  and  Wisconsin  stages 
had  previously  been  provisionally  named  Toronto  by  Chamberlin,^  because 
of  excellent  exposures  of  interglacial  fossiliferous  beds  along  the  Don  Valley 
in  Toronto,  Ontario,  which  were  at  first  thought  to  be  of  this  age. 
Chamberlin  remarks,  in  connection  with  the  introduction  of  this  name,  that 
the  grounds  for  the  correlation  are  not  very  strong,  and  that  further  investi- 
gation may  show  them  to  be  eiToneous.  In  view  of  the  uncertainty  attached 
to  this  correlation  it  has  seemed  advisable  to  employ  for  the  present  a  sub- 
stitutional name  which  is  known  to  be  applicable  to  the  interval  between 
the  lowan  and  the  early  Wisconsin.  In  case  the  correlation  suggested  by 
Chamberlin  is  demonstrated  to  be  correct  the  name  Toronto  has  precedence. 

The  evidence  of  this  interglacial  interval  is  found  not  only  in  the 
formation  of  a  soil  and  leached  horizon  at  the  top  of  the  loess,  but  also 
in  a  great  change  in  the  outline  of  the  ice  sheet  in  the  succeeding  or 
Wisconsin  glaciation  from  that  displayed  in  the  preceding  or  lowan 
glaciation.  There  was  also  a  marked  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  land, 
the  conditions  for  drainage  being  decidedly  better  in  the  Wisconsin  than 
in  the  lowan  stage  of  glaciation. 

These  several  lines  of  evidence  are  well  shown  in  the  region  covered 
by  the  Illinois  glacial  lobe,  and  are  discussed  in  Monograph  KXXVIII. 

'The  Peorian  soil  and  weathered  zone  (Toronto  formation?),  by  Frank  Leverett:  Jour.  Geol., 
Vol.  VI,  1898,  pp.  24-1-249;  see  also  Mon.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  Vol.  XXXVIII,  1899,  pp.  185-190. 

^Classification  of  American  glacial  deposits,  by  T.  C.  Chamberlin:  Jour.  Geo!.,  Vol.  Ill,  1895, 
pp.  270-277. 

302 


PEORIAN  INTERGLACIAL  EPOCH.  303 

In  the  region  under  discussion  the  lowan  drift  has  not  been  found  outside 
the  Wisconsin,  and  nothing  is  known  concerning  the  outhne  of  the  lowan 
drift  border.  The  other  hues  of  evidence  are,  however,  about  as  clearly 
shown  in  this  region  as  in  that  covered  by  the  Illinois  glacial  lobe.  A 
comparison  of  the  weathering  and  erosion  on  the  silt  with  that  on  the  earliest 
moraine  and  drift  sheet  of  the  Wisconsin  series  shows  a  perceptibly  greater 
change  in  the  silt  than  has  been  effected  in  the  surface  of  the  Wisconsin 
di-ift;  but  here,  as  in  the  Illinois  lobe,  the  interval  appears  less  prolonged 
than  the  Sangamon  interglacial  stage. 

It  was  remarked  in  Monograph  XXXVIII,  in  the  discussion  of  this 
interval,  that  the  weathering  appears  to  indicate  that  it  is  comparatively 
brief,  but  that  the  change  in  the  outline  of  the  ice  sheet  and  in  the  attitude 
of  the  land  may  call  for  more  time  between  the  lowan  and  Wisconsin 
stages  of  glaciation  than  the  weathering  seems  to  require.  It  should  also 
be  remembered  that  the  Toronto  formation  has  furnished  decisive  evidence 
of  a  prolonged  interglacial  interval.'  Should  it  be  proved  to  represent  the 
interval  between  the  lowan  and  Wisconsin  deposits  its  testimony  should 
outweigh  any  inferences  of  a  brief  interval  drawn  from  a  comparison  of 
the  weathering  of  the  two  deposits. 


1  See  descriptions  by  Dr.  A.  P.  Coleman  and  Prof.  D.  P.  Penhallow:  Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  XIII, 
1894,  pp.  85-95;  see  also  additional  interpretation  by  Dr.  Coleman:  Jom-.  Geol.  Vol  III  pp  274 
622-645. 


CHAPTER  X. 
THE  EARLY  WISCONSIN  DRIFT. 

GENEEAIi  STATEaCEKT. 

In  the  Wisconsin  stage  of  glaciation  there  were  several  glacial  lobes 
occupying  the  basins  now  covered  by  the  Great  Lakes  and  extending 
beyond  them  into  the  lowlands  that  are  connected  with  the  southern  borders 
of  the  lake  basins.  These  lobes  were  brought  to  notice  and  named  by 
Chamberlin.^  Those  included  in  the  region  under  discussion  are  the  Miami, 
Scioto,  and  Grand  River  lobes,  named  from  the  drainage  basins  in  Avhich 
they  were  situated,  and  their  successor,  the  Maumee-Erie  lobe,  which 
occupied  the  Maumee  and  Lake  Erie  basins.  The  East  White  lobe  is  not 
included,  since  it  falls  naturally  into  a  report,  now  in  preparation,  which 
covers  the  Wisconsin  di-ift  of  central  and  northern  Indiana  and  the  southern 
peninsula  of  Michigan. 

Although  the  several  glacial  lobes  form  somewhat  distinct  areas  they 
are  discussed  together,  each  morainic  belt  being  traced  so  far  as  possible 
through  the  several  lobes.  The  lake  history,  although  closely  interwoven 
with  the  withdi-awal  of  the  Maumee-Erie  lobe,  is  taken  up  after  the  discus- 
sion of  the  moraines  of  that  lobe. 

SECTIOK  I.   EARET  WISCOjVSIK  DRIFT  OF  THE  MIAINO  LOBE. 

THE  OUTER   OR  HARTWELL  MORAINE. 
DISTRIBUTION. 

The  Hartwell  moraine  receives  its  name  from  the  village  of  HartAvell, 
Ohio,  which  stands  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  morainic  loop,  in  ]Mill  Creek 
Valley,  a  few  miles  north  of  Cincinnati.  The  general  course  of  tlie  moraine 
may  be  seen  by  reference  to  PL  XL  From  Hartwell  it  leads  northeast- 
ward, leaving  Mill  Creek  Valley  at  Sharonville,  and  rising  to  elevated  land 

^Preliminary  report  on  the  terminal  moraine  of  the  second  Glacial  epoch,  by  T.  C.  Chamlierlin: 
Third  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  1883,  pp.  291-402. 


U.  S.  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


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LIST 

COUNTIES 


INDIANVV 


^L\P  OF  THE  MAUMEE -MIAMI  GL.\CIAL  LOBE 


ny  PI^\NK  LEATiRKTT 


OUTER  MORAINE  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  305 

near  Pisgah.  From  Pisgah  it  passes  down  into  Turtle  Creek  Valley  jnst 
above  its  jiTnction  with  the  Little  Miami  Valley  near  Kings  Mills.  It  then 
crosses  a  high  tract  south  of  Lebanon  and  comes  to  the  Little  Miami  Valley 
below  Waynesville.  Near  this  village  it  connects  Avith  the  outer  or  Cuba 
moraine  of  the  Scioto  lobe. 

From  the  junction  of  the  Hartwell  with  the  Cuba  moraine  there  extends 
northward  along  the  borders  of  the  Little  Miami  Valley,  across  Greene 
Count}^,  a  system  of  morainic  ridges  which  may  constitute  an  interlobate  belt 
of  the  same  age  as  the  moraine.  Farther  north,  in  Champaign  and  Clark 
counties  (see  PI.  II),  there  are  drift  ridges  which  are  perhaps  of  more  recent 
date  than  this  moraine,  yet  older  than  the  outer  moraine  of  the  late  Wis- 
consin series.  They  accordingly  seem  referable  to  the  early  Wisconsin 
drift,  and  are  discussed  in  connection  with  the  Hartwell  moraine.  They 
lie  mainly  east  of  Mad  River,  and  occupy  a  belt  extending  from  that  river 
eastward  several  miles.  At  the  north,  near  the  border  of  Champaign  and 
Logan  counties,  they  are  overridden  by  a  moraine  of  late  Wisconsin  age. 

The  moraine  curves  abruptly  northwestward  from  Hartwell,  and  follows 
the  southwest  border  of  the  Mill  Creek  lowland  tract  to  the  Great  Miami 
River  below  Hamilton,  there  being  a  series  of  low  knolls  and  ridges  of  drift 
along  this  route,  while  the  uplands  to  the  south  have  a  plane-surfaced  drift, 
probably  Illinoian,  and  a  coating  of  loess-like  silt. 

In  the  Great  Miami  Valley  fresh-looking  drift  and  sharph'  morainic 
features  appear  near  New  Baltimore  (Sater  post-office),  and  a  belt  of 
morainic  type  leads  westward  from  there  to  New  Haven  (Preston  post-oihce). 
There  are  feeble  morainic  features  between  New  Haven  and  Philanthropy, 
but  the  prominent  hills  and  large  valleys  of  preglacial  age  are  so  much 
larger  that  the  morainic  swells  are  rendered  inconspicuous  by  the  contrast. 
The  drift  in  eastern  Hamilton  and  southwestern  Butler  counties  failed  to 
fill  the  valleys  or  even  to  modify  greatly  the  preglacial  drainage,  though 
there  is  much  more  drift  and  the  knolls  are  sharper  in  the  valleys  than  on  the 
uplands.  The  moraine  enters  Indiana  near  Philanthropy  (Scipio  post-office), 
having  conspicuous  features  just  south  of  the  village.  Its  course  in  Franklin 
County,  Ind.,  is  northwestward  tlu'ough  Mount  Carmel  to  East  Whitewater 
River,  which  it  crosses  north  of  Brookville  just  above  its  mouth.  The 
moraine  here  swings  toward  the  north,  following  the  west  side  of  the  river 
into  Fayette  County  and  widening  near  the  latitude  of  Connersville  to  cover 

MON    XLI 20 


306  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

nearly  the  whole  tract  between  the  two  Whitewater  rivers.  From  Conners- 
ville  northward  it  is  closely  associated  with  the  outer  moraine  of  the  East 
White  River  lobe,  and  the  combined  moraines  occupy  the  western  half  of 
Wayne  County.  In  northern  Wayne  County  these  moraines  are  overridden 
by  a  later  one  and  their  northward  continuation  is  completely  concealed. 
It  is  scarcely  probable,  however,  that  they  extended  farther  north  than 
the  summit  of  the  highland  tract  in  Wayne  and  Randolph  counties,  for  it 
seems  natural  that  the  Miami  and  East  Wliite  River  lobes  would  have 
completel)^  coalesced  in  the  low  country  to  the  north  of  these  highlands. 

Wayne  Couut)^  j^^'^^^^^ts  features  to  which  it  is  necessary  to  direct 
especial  attention,  otherwise  there  may  be  a  misunderstanding  of  the  inter- 
pretation concerning  the  course  of  the  moraine.  The  western  part  of  the 
county  is  traversed  by  a  series  of  large  ridges  and  broad  valleys,  trending 
north-northeast  to  south-southwest,  the  height  of  the  ridges  being  75  to  125 
feet  and  their  breadth  several  miles,  while  the  valleys  present  a  usual 
breadth  of  about  one  mile.  The  drift,  as  a  rule,  has  considerable  depth, 
both  on  the  ridges  and  in  the  valleys.  On  the  ridges  or  ujolands  the  wells 
indicate  that  the  rock  surface  is  generally  as  low  as  in  the  valleys,  and  so 
far  as  collected,  the  evidence  all  favors  the  view  that  the  relief  of  the  ridges 
is  due  rather  to  drift  accumulation  than  to  rock  substrata. 

But  it  is  scarcely  probable  that  it  was  the  last  ice  invasion  which  deter- 
mined the  main  outlines.  The  course  of  the  moraine  under  discussion  is 
such  as  to  carry  it  into  the  valleys  as  well  as  over  the  ridges  of  the  western 
part  of  Wayne  County,  yet  it  scarcely  touches  either  a  large  ridge  in  the 
east-central  part  that  lies  between  East  Fork  and  Nolands  Fork,  or  the 
uplands  west  of  the  W^est  Fork  of  Whitewater  River.  There  seems  little 
doubt,  therefore,  that  these  reliefs  are  referable  to  pre- Wisconsin  agencies. 
This  determination  raises  the  double  question,  whether  the  earlier  ice 
invasion  produced  the  succession  of  ridges  and  valleys  here  displayed  or 
whether  it  produced  a  plane-surfaced  deposit  which  was  carved  into  ridges 
and  valleys  by  the  streams  which  drained  this  district  in  the  Sangamon  or 
the  Peorian  or  both  of  these  interglacial  stages  preceding  the  Wisconsin 
glaciation.  The  contours  of  these  ridges  and  valleys  apparently  support 
the  view  that  the  drift  surface  as  left  by  the  ice  was  nearly  plane,  and  that 
a  large  amount  of  sculpturing  was  accomplished  in  the  interglacial  stages 
just  mentioned. 


OUTER  MORAINE  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  307 

RELIEF. 

The  highest  points  along  the  crest  attain  an  altitude  of  perhaps  50  feet, 
while  the  sags  and  lower  parts  of  the  moraine  stand  but  10  to  20  feet  above 
the  outer  border  district.  The  average  relief  is  estimated  to  be  about  30 
feet.  On  the  inner  border  it  is  even  less,  there  being  a  sheet  of  drift  con- 
nected with  the  moraine  which  reduces  its  relief  on  that  border  to  but  10  to 
20  feet. 

KANGE    IN   ALTITUDE. 

The  range  in  altitude  depends  largely  upon  the  differences  in  the  level 
of  the  underlying  surface.  The  effect  of  the  drift  accumulation  has  been  to 
reduce  rather  than  to  increase  the  inequalities  of  surface,  many  of  the  pre- 
glacial  valleys  being  deeply  filled  with  drift  while  the  neighboring  ridges 
are  thinly  coated  by  it.  For  example:  In  Mill  Creek  Valley,  at  Lockland, 
where  the  moraine  has  almost  its  lowest  altitude,  the  entire  di-ift,  older  and 
newer,  has  a  depth  of  about  180  feet  below  the  level  of  the  creek;  but  on 
the  upland  ridges  its  depth  is  seldom  over  50  feet  and  often  is  so  slight  that 
shallow  wells  and  cisterns  reach  the  rock.  However,  in  Fayette,  Wayne, 
and  Randolph  counties,  Indiana,  there  is  (including  the  earlier  or  Illinoian 
drift)  100  feet  or  more  of  drift  on  the  uplands. 

The  following  table  indicates  approximately  the  range  in  altitude,  though 
possibly  portions  of  the  uplands  contain  higher  points  than  appear  in  the 
table.  It  includes  altitudes  along  ridges  in  the  reentrants  between  the 
lobes: 

Altittides  along  the  outer  morcmie  of  the  Miatni  lohe. 

Feet  above  tide. 

Highlands  in  Logan  County,  Ohio 1,  200-1,  500 

Near  West  Liberty,  on  uplands - 1,  200-1, 300 

Near  West  Liberty,  in  Mad  River  Valley 1, 100 

East  of  Urbana,  on  uplands - 1, 050-1, 100 

Springfield,  on  moraine,  near  Standpipe,  about 1, 075 

West  of  Yellowsprings 1, 000-1, 025 

West  of  Xenia -  -  - 940-975 

In  Spring  Valley - --- 760-825 

East  of  Waynesville 875-900 

South  of  Lebanon - 875-900 

Northwest  of  Deerfield,  in  Turtle  Creek  Valley 675-725 

Miltomson  and  vicinity - 900-925 

Pisgah  (highest  point  in  village)  about 960 

Mill  Creek  Valley,  between  Sharonville  and  Hartwell 570-600 

Between  Mill  Creek  and  Great  Miami  Kiver,  about 750 

Lowland  tract  southwest  of  Venice,  about 600 


308  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Feet  above  tide. 

Mount  Carmel,  Ind. ,  about - 1, 020 

Summit  on  Brookville  and  Connersville  Pike,  near  tollgate,  4  miles  from  Brookville 

(barometric)   -  - - 1,  050 

Alguina,  about - 1, 025 

Whitewater  Valley  at  Connersville 850 

Harveys  station  (in  valley  of  Martindale  Fork) 958 

Morainic  hills  east  of  Harveys : 1, 065 

Highlands  of  northern  Wayne  and  southern  Randolph  counties 1,  200-1,  250 

The  range  in  altitude  between  Mill  Creek  Valley  and  the  highlands  of 
Logan  County  is,  therefore,  nearly  1,000  feet.  The  range  in  the  altitude 
of  the  rock  surface  slightly  exceeds  1,000  feet,  the  altitude  being  less  than 
400  feet  in  Mill  Creek  Valley,  and  fully  1,400  feet  in  Logan  County,  near 
Bellefontaine. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

The  moraine  has,  as  a  rule,  a  gently  undulating  surface,  but  as  its 
features  vary  from  place  to  place  a  detailed  description  will  be  given, 
beginning  in  southern  Logan  County,  Ohio,  where  moraines  of  early 
Wisconsin  age  first  come  into  view  outside  the  later  ones,  the  moraine  is 
carried  thence  south  and  west 

Sharp  ridges  with  north-south  trend,  separated  by  narrow  gravel 
plains,  appear  in  southern  Logan  and  northern  Champaign  counties.  There 
are  two  of  these  ridges  in  southern  Logan  County,  and  a  third  one  sets  in 
in  northern  Champaign  County,  which  at  its  northern  end  lies  west  of  the 
others,  but  which,  owing  to  the  disappearance  of  the  other  ridges,  becomes 
within  2  to  3  miles  to  the  south  the  outermost  and  main  ridge.  These 
ridges  are  of  variable  height  and  stand  20  to  100  feet  above  the  bordering 
gravel  plains.  Farther  south,  in  the  vicinity  of  Kings  Creek,  the  ridging 
becomes  less  sharp  and  the  moraine  consists  mainly  of  low  knolls  10  to  25 
feet  high,  though  it  includes  occasional  larger  ones  50  to  75  feet  in  height. 
From  Kings  Creek  southward  to  Springfield  it  is  spread  out  over  a  breadth 
of  about  3  miles,  while  north  from  that  creek  the  united  breadth  of  the 
ridges  would  scarcely  amount  to  2  miles.  With  increase  of  breadth  there 
comes  a  softening  of  contour,  and  much  of  this  portion  of  the  moraine 
consists  of  swells  only  10  to  20  feet  high,  among  which  are  numerous 
shallow  basins.  Near  the  eastern  border  of  the  moraine,  and  apparently 
connected  with  a  gravel  plain  lying  outside  (east)  of  it,  there  are  irregular 
sags  and  depressions,  formed  perhaps  by  the  escape  of  water  from  beneath 
the  ice  sheet.     In  the  midst  of  the  gravel  plain  there  are  occasional  drift 


OUTER  MORAINE  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  309 

knolls  rising',  in  some  instances,  40  to  50  feet  above  the  surface.  Whether 
they  are  the  product  of  this  lobe  or  of  the  Scioto  lobe  was  not  determined. 
Within  the  city  of  Springfield  morainic  features  are  developed,  a  well- 
defined  ridge  passing  the  standpipe  and  thence  southwestward  through  the 
southeastern  part  of  the  city.  There  is  a  distinct  ridging  in  a  northeast- 
southwest  direction,  and  along  the  crests  and  slopes  are  knolls  15  to  30  feet 
in  height.  The  moraine  loses  much  of  its  strength  in  the  southern  part  of 
Springfield  Township,  though  numerous  gravel  knolls  extend  toward  Selma. 
From  Springfield  Township  southwestward  to  the  Little  Miaini  River  there 
is  a  gently  undulating  till  tract,  dotted  with  occasional  gravelly  knolls,  but 
not  a  well-defined  moraine.  A  conspicuous  group  of  knolls  occurs  near 
the  county  line  about  2  miles  northwest  of  Yellow  Springs,  the  most  promi- 
nent knoll  (Polhemus  Hill)  standing  nearly  75  feet  above  the  bordering 
country.  This  knoll  is  elliptical,  with  a  northwest-southeast  direction, 
having  a  length  of  about  one-fourth  and  a  width  of  one-eighth  mile.  Other 
knolls  in  its  vicinity  are  15  to  25  feet  in  height  and  of  sharp  contour.  Just 
west  of  Yellow  Springs  is  an  elliptical  knoll  with  north-south  trend  which 
rises  about  30  feet  above  the  bordering  country.  It  is  40  to  50  rods  in 
length  and  20  to  25  rods  in  width.  On  the  north  blutf  of  Little  Miami 
River,  near  the  line  of  Beaver  Creek  and  Xenia  townships,  there  is  a  prom- 
inent knoll  at  least  75  feet  in  height.  Toward  the  west,  between  this  hill 
and  Beaver  Creek  Valley,  the  undulations  are  sharper  than  to  the  north  and 
the  topography  again  appears  morainic.  Sharp  gravelly  knolls  and  ridg-es 
15  to  30  feet  high  are  common,  and  occasionally  an  esker-like  linear  gravel 
ridge  is  found  among  the  knolls;  till  swells  with  gentle  slopes  also  occur. 
North  of  Xenia,  between  Wilberforce  and  the  Little  Miami  River,  there  are 
several  other  sharp  gravelly  knolls  20  to  50  feet  high.  East  and  south 
from  Xenia  for  several  miles  there  is  only  a  gently  undulating  till  tract. 
West  of  Xenia,  at  the  west  side  of  a  gravel  plain  known  locally  as  "Cherry 
Bottoms,"  several  prominent  knolls  form  a  group  about  one-half  mile  long 
from  north  to  south  and  one-fourth  mile  from  east  to  west.  The  highest 
points  are  50  to  60  feet  above  the  plain.  Knolls  are  numerous  south  and 
west  from  this  group,  but  they  are  onlj^  10  to  20  feet  high.  East,  south, 
and  north  from  Spring  Valley  the  drift  on  the  uplands  consists  of  gravelly 
or  sandy  knolls  and  ridges  20  to  25  feet  in  height  which  wind  and  interlock 
in  morainic  fashion.     This  seems  to  be  an  interlobate  tract  of  the  same  age 


310  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

as  the  Hartwell  moraine.  It  is  probable  that  for  5  or  6  miles  south  from 
Spring  Valley  the  Miami  portion  of  the  interlobate  moraine  lies  between 
Csesars  Creek  and  the  Little  Miami  River,  while  the  Scioto  portion  lies  east 
of  the  creek,  the  position  of  the  creek  being-  determined  to  some  degree  by 
this  relation  to  the  ice  lobes. 

East  and  south  of  Lebanon  low  swells  occur  on  the  slopes  of  the  pre- 
glacial  ridges  and  in  valleys  or  lowland  tracts,  but  the  moraine  is  rather 
inconspicuous.  It  is  strikingly  in  contrast  Avith  the  neighboring  portion  in 
Turtle  Creek  Valley,  which  for  about  3  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  creek 
has  so  many  sharp  swells  and  gravel  knolls  that  the  valley  is  nearly  filled. 
The  highest  are  but  40  to  50  feet,  and  many  are  only  15  to  20  feet  in 
height,  but  they  are  closely  aggreg-ated  and  constitute  a  noticeable  feature. 
They  have  forms  independent  of  the  drainage,  present  or  past,  and  connect 
here  and  there  in  the  irregular  and  peculiar  manner  common  to  moraines. 

About  3  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Turtle  Creek  the  valley  becomes 
free  from  knolls  and  contains  a  broad,  swampy  lowland  plain  about  a  mile 
in  width.  This  plain  passes  northwest  into  the  Great  Miami  drainage  basin, 
the  lower  course  of  Dicks  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Grreat  Miami,  lying  in 
it.  The  freedom  from  knolls  gives  this  portion  of  the  valley  or  lowland 
strong  contrast  with  the  portion  occupied  by  the  moraine.  This  lowland 
tract,  which  was  first  discussed  by  Orton  in  a  report  of  the  Ohio  geological 
survey,^  appears  to  be  a  line  of  preglacial  drainage,  as  noted  in  Chapter  III. 

On  the  upland  tract  between  the  Little  Miami  River  and  Mill  Creek, 
in  southwestern  Warren,  southeastern  Butler,  and  northern  Hamilton  coun- 
ties, no  very  prominent  knolls  were  observed,  but  the  surface  has  many 
swells  with  gentle  slope,  and  the  drift  is  sufiiciently  heavy  to  greatly  mask 
the  preglacial  valleys  and  ridges.  In  the  vicinity  of  Pisgah  the  drift  has 
imusual  thickness  as  well  as  altitude,  and  there  are  knolls  of  morainic  tvpe 
10  to  20  feet  in  height.  They  cover  but  an  acre  or  two  each.  Such  drift 
knolls  continue  down  the  slope  into  Mill  Creek  Valley  at  Sharonville.  West 
of  Pisgah,  in  the  vicinity  of  Westchester,  tliere  are  some  larger  drift  knolls. 
One  just  west  of  the  Cleveland,  Columbus,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis 
Railway  and  north  of  the  Westchester  and  Pisgah  wagon  road  is  60  feet 
or  more  in  height.  It  is  in  a  lowland  tract,  as  are  nearly  all  the  other 
prominent  knolls  near  Westchester. 


1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  1878,  pp.  381-382. 


OUTER  MORAINE  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  311 

Mill  Creek  Valley  between  Sharoiiville  and  Hartwell  contains  many 
morainic  swells,  the  highest  of  which  stand  probably  30  feet  above  the 
general  level  of  the  valley,  but  the  majority  only  10  to  15  feet,  perhaps 
less.  At  Reading  the  drift  surface  consists  of  winding  ridges  of  gravel, 
20  feet  or  more  high,  but  directly  west,  in  Wyoming  and  Lockland,  it 
consists  in  the  main  of  conical  swells  of  till  10  to  30  feet  high,  but  few  of 
which  are  abrupt  or  sufficiently  prominent  to  be  worthy  of  notice.  Notwith- 
standing their  inconspicuousness  when  contrasted  with  the  bluffs  and  hills 
bordering  Mill  Creek  Valley,  these  knolls  constitute  a  marked  feature  when 
Mill  Creek  Valley  alone  is  taken  into  account.  South  of  Hartwell  and  also 
north  of  Sharonville  the  valley  has  a  smooth  plain  from  bluff  to  bluff,  aside 
from  some  low  hills  southeast  of  Glendale,  which  have  a  rock  nucleus. 
Much  of  it  above  Sharonville  is  a  marshy  tract  so  level  that  it  has  been 
difficult  to  drain,  and  a  portion  of  it  has  been  converted  into  ice  ponds. 
South  of  Sharonville,  where  the  moraine  appears,  the  valley  bottom  is 
undulatory,  affording  beautiful  sites  for  the  Cincinnati  suburbs  from  Wyo- 
ming to  Hartwell.  South  of  Hartwell  the  valley  is  again  free  from  drift 
knolls,  and  continues  so  to  its  mouth  at  Cincinnati.  The  knolls  between 
Hartwell  and  Sharonville,  like  those  in  Turtle  Creek  Valley,  appear  to  be 
in  no  way  dependent  upon  the  present  drainage  for  their  form,  but,  like 
morainic  swells  on  the  uplands,  they  present  a  topography  readily  distin- 
guishable from  the  drainage  erosion  type. 

The  drift  west  of  the  Great  Miami,  between  New  Baltimore  and  Venice 
(in  the  lowland  tract  mapped  by  Orton  as  an  old  valley),^  has  a  swell- and-sag 
till  topography.  The  undulations  are  slight,  seldom  reaching  a  height  of 
20  feet.  The  su^rface  is  bowlder  strewn,  and  is  not  coated  by  a  sheet  of  silt 
such  as  occurs  farther  south  and  west.  A  short  distance  southwest  of  New 
Haven  (Preston  post-office)  the  hills  set  in,  and  again  it  is  difficult  to  dis- 
tinguish a  morainic  belt,  though  knolls  occur  on  the  lowlands.  It  may  be 
remarked  in  passing  that  drift  knolls  are  not  often  seen  in  the  lowlands 
south  of  this  moraine,  either  in  Ohio  or  in  Indiana.  South  of  Philanthropy, 
near  the  State  line  of  Ohio  and  Indiana  and  on  the  west  side  of  Dry  Fork, 
is  the  most  prominent  drift  aggregation  in  this  part  of  the  morainic  belt. 
It  consists  of  a  ridge  of  gravel,  500  yards  or  more  in  length  and  abo'^it  200 
yards  in  width,  trending  northeast  to  southwest  and  standing  30  to  50  feet 

'  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  1, 1871,  p.  419.     Map-of  Hamilton  County. 


312  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

above  the  surrounding  country.  Several  small  knolls,  also  gra-'^elly,  are 
connected  with  it  at  the  sides.  Between  this  prominent  knoll  and  the  East 
Whitewater  River  there  are  on  the  uplands  low  till  swells  5  to  10  feet  high, 
while  knolls  of  gravel  10  to  20  feet  high  characterize  the  drift  in  the  valleys 
and  on  their  slopes.  West  of  East  Whitewater,  on  the  uplands  immediately 
north  of  Brookville  and  about  3  miles  from  the  city,  there  are  both  till  and 
gravel  knolls,  the  largest  having  a  height  of  about  20  feet.  The  knolls 
are  in  several  instances  elliptical,  but  there  appears  to  be  no  uniformity 
of  trend. 

On  the  inner  border  plain  north  from  these  knolls,  in  Franklin  County, 
few  knolls  occur  that  are  .as  much  as  10  feet  in  lieight.  In  southeastern 
Fayette  County  the  surface  is  very  uneven,  there  being  ridges  and  dry 
valleys  which  are  apparently  partially  masked  interglacial  drainage 
features.  In  various  positions  in  these  valleys  and  on  the  ridges  and  slopes, 
swells  10  to  20  feet  high  occur,  manj-  of  which  are  gravelly.  In  north- 
eastern Fayette  County  and  in  Wayne  County  there  are  few  knolls  that 
rise  to  a  height  of  more  than  10  to  15  feet,  the  only  prominent  exception 
noted  being  a  group  in  the  vicinitj^  of  Doddridges  Chapel,  Washington 
Township,  Wayne  Count}",  whose  highest  members  have  a  lieight  of  40  to 
50  feet.  In  northern  Wayne  County  abrupt  knolls  30  to  40  feet  in"  height 
are  common,  but  it  is  probable  that  these  belong  to  a  later  morainic  belt 
which  crosses  northern  Wayne  and  northeastern  Henry  County  in  an  east- 
west  direction. 

STKUCTURE    AND    THICKNESS    OF    DRIFT. 

The  soil  of  this  moraine  is  strikingly  in  contrast  with  that  of  the  tract 
south  of  it.  It  is  usually  dark  colored  and  loamy,  with  an  admixture  of 
pebbles  and  sand,  while  that  outside  is  a  light-colored  clay  or  silt  with 
scarcely  a  trace  of  sand  and  pebljles.  In  the  morainic  tract  there  are  also 
bowlders  on  the  surface  on  upland  tracts  as  well  as  along  streams,  but  in 
the  outer  border  district  none  occur  at  the  surface  except  along  valleys  or 
on  slopes  where  drainage  erosion  has  carried  away  the  silt  or  siu-face 
deposits  that  had  covered  them. 

Throughout  its  entire  course  this  moraine  consists  mainly  of  till,  but 
is  characterized  by  occasional  gravelly  knolls  among  the  till  swells.  The 
gravel  knolls  are  especially  frequent  where  the  moraine  crosses  A-alleys, 
being  present  in  nearly  every  good-sized  valley  within  the  morainic  belt, 


OUTER  MORAINE  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE. 


313 


but  they  occur  also  on  the  uplands.  A  good  illustration  of  such  knolls  in 
the  latter  situation  maj^  be  found  on  the  elevated  tract  north  of  Brookville, 
Ind.,  at  an  altitude  400  feet  above  the  Whitewater  Valley.  Here  two 
gravel  knolls  were  observed,  each  about  20  feet  in  height,  standing  in  the 
midst  of  the  till  swells  of  the  moi-aine  and  in  no  way  connected  with  drain- 
age lines.  Having  considei'ed  the  question  whether  tliose  which  occur  in 
the  valleys  may  not  have  been  sculptured  into  their  pi'esent  forms  by  post- 
glacial drainage  erosion,  the  writer  is  convinced  that  their  origin  is  inde- 
pendent of  the  present  streams.  They  were  neither  deposited  by  them  nor 
are  they  remnants  left  by  erosion.  They  usually  present  the  hummocky 
irregular  surface  characteristic  of  morainic  deposits.  Only  the  knolls,  how- 
ever, are  composed  largely  of  assorted  material,  the  low-lying  tracts  among 
them,  as  shown  by  well  borings,  being  frequently  iniderlain  by  till. 

We  may  now  pass  to  a  more  detailed  description  of  the  noteworthy 
illustrations  of  drift  structure  and  thickness.  The  discussion  begins  with 
the  tract  in  the  Scioto-Miami  reentrant  angle. 

At  West  Liberty,  Ohio,  in  the  valley  of  Mad  River,  a  gas  well  ^ene- 
trated  216  feet  of  drift,  largelj"  sand  and  gravel,  while  in  the  same  valley 
1^  miles  east  there  are  exposures  of  limestone  along  Mackocheek  Creek  at 
about  the  altitude  of  West  Liberty,  and  ledges  still  farther  east  rise  to  a 
height  of  100  feet  above  the  village,  or  1,200  feet  above  tide.  Wells  are 
often  obtained  at  25  to  50  feet  on  the  morainic  ridges,  after  penetrating  a 
stony  till. 

Several  deep  wells  have  been  made  in  the  vicinity  of  Urbana,  of  which 
the  following  tabulated  records  were  furnished  by  T.  F.  Moses,  formerly  of 
that  city: 

Ta7)le  qftvells  near  Urhana. 


Tannery  well 

Power  well , 

Glue  factory  well 
Sycamore  well  . . . 
Citizens,  No.  1  . . 


Feet. 
1,044 

1,001 

1,020 

1,000 

1,061 


150 
133 
102 
150 
150 


314  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Dr.  Moses  furnished  the  following  section  of  the  drift  in  the  tannery- 
well,  but  of  the  others  no  record  of  drift  structure  was  kept: 

Section  of  drift  in  the  tannery  vjell  at  Urhana. 

Feet. 

Soil,  subsoil,  etc 10 

Gravel  and  sand -  - 35 

Blue  clay  (pebbly) - 25 

Sand  and  coarse  gravel. 10 

Fine  gray  clay - - 35 

Coarse  gravel  mixed  with  clay 15 

Blue  bowlder  clay  -  _ 25 

Depth  to  limestone. . ; 150 

At  present  there  appears  to  be  no  means  of  determining-  how  much  of 
the  above  section  is  referable  to  the  Wisconsin  drift.  Four  miles  north  of 
Urbana,  on  the  north  side  of  Kings  Creek  and  on  the  moraine,  is  a  well  on 
George  Creffield's  farm  which  penetrated  1 03  feet  of  till  and  obtained  water 
from  a  gravel  bed  at  the  bottom.  At  a  farm  house  40  rods  east  of  Cref- 
field's is  a  well  93  feet  deep  which  did  not  reach  rock. 

In  the  southei'n  part  of  Urbana,  near  the  waterworks  and  west  of  the 
Erie  Railway,  a  gravel  pit  is  opened  in  a  knoll  to  a  depth  of  about  30 
feet.  It  has  deposits  of  till  at  the  top  and  the  south  end,  but  the  body  of 
the  knoll  consists  of  gravel  and  cobble  in  which  large  limestone  slabs  are 
included.  The  stones  are  nearly  all  limestone,  the  Archean  rocks  consti- 
tuting scarcely  1  per  cent.  A  few  fragments  of  shale  were  observed  which 
appear  to  have  been  derived  from  Devonian  strata. 

The  sections  just  given  from  the  vicinity  of  Urbana  represent  no  more 
variet)^  than  is  commonly  displa3^ed  in  the  wells  and  exposures  in  this  dis- 
trict. In  the  northern  part  of  Springfield  are  several  good  exposures  of 
the  drift  structure  which  are  found  to  show  both  till  and  gravel  in  a  single 
knoll.  The  most  extensive  one  is  on  the  north  side  of  Buck  Creek,  just 
east  of  the  Cincinnati,  Sandusky  and  Cleveland  Railway.  Its  length  is  100 
to  126  yards  and  its  depth  15  to  25  feet.  The  western  half  is  composed 
of  yellow  till,  exposed  to  a  depth  of  15  feet,  containing  a  few  thin  layers  of 
sand  horizontally  bedded.  The  eastern  half  shows  a  curious  alternation 
of  assorted  and  unassorted  material.  Tlie  bedding,  so  far  as  traceable,  is 
mainly  horizontal,  but  near  the  top  are  beds  which  have  a  dip  of  20° 
to  30°.  In  the  portions  where  bedding  is  not  distinct  there  is  a  mixture 
of  flinty  material  of  all  sizes  from  small  pebbles  up  to  bowlders  3  feet  in 
diameter. 


OUTER  MOKAINE  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  315 

A  well  boring  in  Buck  Creek  Valley  west  of  Market  street,  Spring- 
field, penetrated  about  100  feet  of  cobble  and  gravel  before  striking  rock. 
This  seems  remarkable,  since  the  valley  here  is  not  more  than  100  yards 
in  width,  and  has  rock  bluffs  on  either  side,  the  height  of  the  bluffs  being 
about  130  feet  above  the  rock  floor.  A  plain,  on  which  there  is  some 
cobble  and  coarse  gravel  and  an  occasional  large  bowlder,  borders  this 
rock-bound  channel  on  the  south.  South  of  this  plain,  at  an  altitude  per- 
haps 20  feet  higher  and  near  the  railroad  stations  and  post-office,  there  was 
originally  much  boggy  land  with  peat  underlain  by  sand.  South  of  the 
railroad  stations,  on  a  terrace-like  plain  25  to  30  feet  higher,  there  is  gravel, 
but  a  line  of  springs  issuing  near  the  base  of  this  bench  indicates  an  imper- 
vious substratum,  probably  clay,  at  that  level.  South  from  the  plain  just 
described  is  an  undulating  tract  unmodified  by  fluvial  action.  The  bench 
last  mentioned  apparently  represents  the  highest  terrace  and  stands  about 
75  feet  above  Buck  Creek.  North  of  Buck  Creek  the  uplands  in  the  city 
of  Springfield  rise  to  a  height  of  75  to  100  feet,  and,  as  stated  above,  con- 
tain till  as  well  as  assorted  material.  The  lower  plain  which  borders  the 
immediate  bluffs  of  Buck  Creek  was  apparently  occupied  by  a  stream 
leadino-  westward  after  the  Miami  lobe  had  withdrawn.  The  relationship 
of  the  upper  plain  to  the  glacial  deposits  is  not  determined. 

The  abandoned  or  concealed  valley  3  miles  west  of  Springfield,  to 
which  Orton  has  called  attention,^  lies  west  of  Mad  River  Valley  in  a  nearly 
plane  tract.  The  old  valley  led  directly  across  the  neck  of  land  around 
which  the  river  now  flows.  It  was  so  completely  filled  with  drift  that 
no  suspicion  of  its  existence  was  aroused  during  a  railway  survej^  across 
it,  and  it  was  discovered  in  the  attempt  made  by  the  railway  company  to 
tunnel  it.  It  was  then  found  that  the  drift  along  this  line  extends  at  least 
to  the  level  of  Mad  River.  The  deep  cutting  made  by  the  railway  exposes 
an  interesting  but  complex  section,  there  being  two  alternations  of  yellow 
and  blue  tills.  At  the  top  is  a  yellow  till  10  to  12  feet  thick  which  follows 
the  arching  surface  of  the  ridge,  beneath  which  is  a  bed  of  blue  till  2 
to  10  feet  thick,  its  thickness  being  greatest  under  the  crest  of  the  ridge. 
Under  this  is  a  bed  of  yellow  till  about  6  feet  in  thickness,  which  extends 
both  east  and  west  beyond  the  hmits  of  the  blue  till,  and  there  immediately 
underlies  the  upper  bed  of  yellow  till     Beneath  this  bed  is  the  main  deposit 

iGeoloay  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  pp.  460-461. 


316  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

of  blue  till,  which  is  here  exposed  to  a  depth  of  35  feet  without  reaching  its 
base.  In  the  blue  till  are  thin  horizontal  beds  of  sand  of  slight  extent. 
Near  the  western  end  of  the  same  railway  cutting  and  toward  the  top  of 
the  bank  there  is  a  slight .  exposure  of  beds  of  gravel  which  are  disturbed 
and  shoved  into  a  nearh-  A'ertical  position.  The  blue  till  beneath  these 
beds  is  also  disturbed  to  a  slight  depth,  as  if  by  a  vigorous  shove  from  the 
west.  This  disturbance  of  the  beds  is  readily  attributable  to  the  movement 
of  the  ice  sheet  across  them.  It  is  probable,  though  as  yet  scarcely  dem- 
onstrable, that  the  Wisconsin  drift  includes  onl)'  the  upper  yellow  and  blue 
till  sheets. 

About  3  miles  north  of  Xenia,  on  the  south  bluff  of  the  Little  Miami 
River,  is  a  sharp  di-ift  knoll  about  40  feet  in  height,  which  has  been  opened 
from  top  to  bottom;  indeed,  the  excavation  goes  about  16  feet  below  the 
base  of  the  knoll.  The  knoll  is  made  up  almost  entirely  of  gravel,  and  this 
gravel,  especially  in  the  central  and  southern  parts,  has  a  decided  southward 
dip  of  20°  to  30°  or  more.  At  the  level  of  the  base  of  the  knoll  the  gravel 
suddenly  ceases  and  below  it  there  is  a  level-topped  yellow  till  with  weath- 
ered and  leached  surface,  which  appears  to  be  a  buried  soil  or  old  land 
surface  upon  which  the  knoll  was  deposited.  The  gravel  being  Wisconsin, 
the  till  and  underlying  deposits  are  referred  with  some  confidence  to  pre- 
Wisconsiu  time.  The  till  has  a  thickness  of  about  10  feet.  Beneath  it  are 
sand  and  gravel  beds  in  arching  and  oblique  attitudes.  A  chain  of  knolls 
leads  westward  from  this  gi-avel  knoll  along  the  north  border  of  the  gravel 
plain  locally  known  as  "Cherry  Bottoms,"  and  then  southward  along  its 
west  side,  constituting  the  outer  border  of  the  uKiraine,  but  no  other  knolls 
have  been  opened  sufficiently  to  show  their  structure. 

No  records  have  been  olDtained  of  deep  wells  in  Greene  and  Warren 
counties,  Ohio,  except  at  the  Lebanon  gas  well,  where  the  drift  has  a  thick- 
ness of  126  feet.  The  drift  is  usually  not  tliick,  if  we  may  judge  by  the 
altitude  of  rock  outcrops  along  streams.  Probably  the  average  thickness 
on  uplands  in  these  two  counties  is  less  than  50  feet. 

At  the  time  of  a  visit  to  Turtle  Creek  Valley,  in  September,  1891,  the 
grading  for  a  new  railway  was  in  progress.  The  grading  begins  near  the 
point  where  the  moraine  touches  the  Little  Miami  gravel  plain  and  passes 
northward,  showing  the  structure  of  the  drift  to  a  depth  of  several  feet. 
There  is  a  slight  capping  of  silt  or  earthy  deposit  on  the  outer  face  of  the 


OUTER  MORAINE  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  ,317 

moraiiae,  which  blends  with  the  etirthy  deposit  that  caps  the  gravel  plain, 
but  within  one-half  mile  north  from  the  gravel  plain  the  moraine  becomes 
nearly  free  from  silt.  The  main  part  of  the  grading  is  through  ordinary 
till,  which  appears  to  extend  to  the  very  border  of  the  gravel  plain  and 
down  to  the  same  level.  A  large  percentage  of  the  pebbles  included  in 
the  till  are  striated.  There  are  but  few  Canadian  rocks  present,  the  majority 
of  pebbles  being  limestone  from  the  western  Ohio  region.  Knolls  in  this 
valley  contain  some  till,  but  are  composed  mainly  of  sand  and  gravel. 

In  the  moraine  west  of  Kings  Mills,  on  the  Little  Miami  bluff,  a  well  at 
Mr.  Hill's  residence  has  a  depth  of  60  feet.  It  is  mainly  through  gravel,  an 
exceptional  structure' for  the  upland  drift.  At  Pisgah,  in  southeastern  Butler 
County,  which  is  probably  the  most  elevated  point  in  this  part  of  the  county, 
the  drift  has  a  thickness  of  75  feet  or  more.  A  buried  soil  was  struck  in  the 
schoolhouse  well  at  this  village  below  blue  till  at  a  depth  of  45  feet.  This 
probably  separates  the  Wisconsin  from  earlier  de230sits  of  drift.  A  well  a 
short  distance  east  of  the  village,  on  land  owned  by  Mrs.  Webb,  was  sunk  to 
a  depth  of  75  feet  without  reaching  rock.  It  was  thought  by  citizens  of 
Pisgah  that  this  also  struck  a  black  soil,  but  no  witnesses  to  the  fact  were 
interrogated.  The  information  concerning  the  well  at  the  schoolhouse  was 
given  by  Mr.  Milton  Thompson,  a  farmer  living  near  Miltomson  station, 
who  was  present  when  the  soil  was  struck.  He  described  it  as  bla.ck  and 
containing  bits  of  wood.  On  Thompson's  farm  the  wells  are  about  40  feet 
deep,  and  do  not  reach  rock.     The  strata  penetrated  ai*e  as  follows: 

Section  of  wells  on  M.  Thompson^  farm^  near  Pisgah,  Ohio. 

Feet. 

Soil  and  yellow  pebbly  clay  (till) 10-15 

Blue  till,  not  very  hard 20-30 

Sand  bed  containing  water. 

On  the  east  bluff  of  Mill  Creek,  east  of  Sharonville,  J.  P.  T.  Miller's 
well  penetrated  about  40  feet  of  cemented  gravel,  and  there  are  outcrops  of 
cemented  gravel  in  the  ravines  m  that  vicinity.  It  is  not  improbable  that 
this  may  belong  to  the  earlier  drift  sheet,  though  located  in  the  moraine, 
since  in  that  vicinity  the  moraine  appears  to  consist  of  but  a  thin  sheet 
of  drift. 

Records  of  several  deep  borings  along  Mill  Creek  Valley — that  is,  the 
old- valley  of  the  Ohio  River — are  introduced  here.  Some  of  these  belong 
to  the  tract  lying  north  of  this  moraine.     They  serve  to  show  how  greatly 


318  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  glacial  drift  has  softened  the  outlines  of  this  still  rather  broken  region 
by  filling  up  its  valleys.  The  list  of  borings  begins  at  the  northern  end  of 
Mill  Creek  Valley,  where  it  joins  the  Great  Miami  Valley,  and  includes  a 
few  wells  in  the  latter  valley. 

At  Hamilton  a  pros23ect  boring  for  gas  penetrated  210  feet  of  drift, 
which  was  nearly  all  gravel  and  sand,  striking  rock  at  an  altitude  of  about 
390  feet  above  tide,  or  42  feet  below  low  water  in  the  Ohio  at  Cincinnati. 
A  well  at  Snyder's  paper  mill,  in  the  eastern  part  of  Hamilton,  penetrated  a 
bed  of  bowlder  clay  beneath  the  gravel,  as  follows: 

Section  of  \oell  at  Snyder's  paper  mill^  Saniilton,  Ohio. 

Feet. 

Gravel , - ,- 80 

Blue  bowlder  clay - 20 

Gravel - - 20 

Total - : 120 

A  well  at  the  Franklin  paper  mill  in  the  southern  part  of  Hamilton 
penetrated  a  blue,  pebbleless  clay  near  the  bottom,  as  shown  by  the 
following  section: 

Section  of  well  at  Franklin  paper  mill,  Hamilton,  Ohio. 

Feet. 

Cobble  and  gravel 2.5-.30 

Fine  gravel  with  some  sand - -         50 

Blue  clay  without  pebbles 2.5 

Sand  at  bottom. 

Depth  of  well - 102 

Wells  in  the  Grreat  Miami  Valley  5  to  6  miles  below  Hamilton,  near 
the  mouth  of  Indian  Creek,  strike  a  black  muck  under  the  gravels  of  the 
o-lacial  terrace  at  a  depth  of  60  to  65  feet,  the  altitude  at  the  well  mouths 
being  about  40  feet  above  the  river.  This  black  muck  probably  separates 
gravel  of  Wisconsin  age  from  earlier  deposits. 

The  exposures  in  Mill  Creek  A'^alley,  from  the  border  of  the  gravel  plain 
on  the  Miami  River  near  Hamilton  to  the  border  of  the  moraine  near  Read- 
ino-,  are  quite  uniforml}^  till,  or  deposits  such  as  would  be  produced  by 
o'lacial  action,  and  differ  markedly  from  the  gravel  deposits  that  follow 
the  Great  Miami  and  Ohio  rivers.  Three  miles  southeast  from  Hamilton,  in 
the  lowland  tract  near  the  canal,  a  gardener,  Joseph  Federlee,  made  a  Well 
110  feet  deep  which  did  not  strike  rock.     The  drift  consists  mainly  of  a  blue, 


OUTER  MORAINE  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  319 

pebbly  clay.  This  well  is  scarcely  one-fourth  mile  south  of  the  bluff  or 
upland  north  of  the  valley,  in  which  rock  rises  100  feet  or  more  above  the 
level  of  the  well  mouth.  A  small  gravel  knoll  directly  across  the  highway 
from  Federlee's  residence  has  been  opened  and  shows  calcareous  sand  and 
gravel  containing  many  limestone  pebbles  in  arching  beds.  A  mile  or  more 
east  of  this  place  the  Panhandle  Railway  makes  a  slight  cutting,  in  which  are 

exposed — 

Raihoay  cutting  in.  Mill  Creek  Valley. 

Yellow  till.  - ^"^ 

Horizontally  bedded  yellow  sand - 

Blue  sandy  till  at  base. 

Such  knolls  are  rare  and  much  of  the  valley  is  very  level,  but  these  few 
knolls,  taken  in  connection  with  the  well  sections,  indicate  that  there  is 
very  little  true  alluvium  in  the  valley,  and  that  here,  as  well  as  farther 
south  in  the  moraine,  the  filling  is  of  glacial  origin.  The  deposits  are  cer- 
tainly not  fluvial. 

At  a  blacksmith  shop  in  Port  Union  a  well  36  feet  deep  gave  the 
following  section : 

Section  of  well  at  a  Uachsmith  shoj)  in  Port  Union,  Ohio.  ^^^^ 

12 
Yellow  pebbly  clay 

Blue  clay " 

Blue-gray  sand,  caving  badly -  -  - 

Hard,  blue,  pebbly  clay 

Sand  and  water  at  bottom. 

In  Rialto,  at  a  paper  mill  beside  the  canal,  only  a  few  rods  from  the 
west  bluff  of  Mill  Creek  Valley,  a  well  over  100  feet  deep  and  several 
others  90  feet  deep  did  not  reach  the  bottom  of  the  drift.  In  all  of  these 
wells  the  greater  part  of  the  drift  is  reported  to  be  blue  clay,  the  sand  and 
gravel  being  interstratified  in  thin  beds.  Stones  were  frequently  encoun- 
tered, making  it  difficult  to  drive  the  wells.  In  one  well  they  were  so 
numerous  at  a  depth  of  90  feet  that  the  boring  was  abandoned.  North 
of  the  Rialto  station,  a  few  rods  east  of  this  paper  mill  and  farther  from  the 
bluff,  is  a  cutting  10  feet  in  depth,  which  exposes  yellow  till  with  blue  till 
at  the  base.  The  upper  portion  of  the  till,  to  a  depth  of  2J  to  3  feet, 
contains  fewer  pebbles  than  that  in  the  lower  portion  of  the  exposm-e.  In 
the  till  are  many  small  blocks  of  hmestone,  such  as  find  outcrop  on  the 
borders  of  the  valley,  and  these  are  but  little  waterworn,  while  many  are 
striated. 


320  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

A  mile  or  more  east  of  Rialto,  near  the  east  side  of  the  valley,  is  a  well 
about  35  feet  deep  located  on  a  knoll  perhaps  15  feet  in  lieig-ht.  It  passed 
through  assorted  material  in  its  upper  part,  but  the  lower  part  penetrated 
blue  pebbl}'  clay. 

In  Sharon ville  wells  penetrate  about  20  feet  of  till,  and  at  that  depth 
obtain  water  from  gravel.  On  Mr.  Ferris's  farm,  IJ  miles  west  of  Sharon- 
ville,  on  the  west  side  of  the  canal,  a  well  penetrated  the  following  beds: 

Section  of  Ferris  well  near  SJiaronville^  Ohio. 

Feet. 

Yellow  and  blue  clay,  thought  by  the  well  diggers  to  have  contained  pebbles  (dug) 61 

Sand  (bored  with  small  auger)  . .  _ _ 16 

Total - - .         77 

On  J.  Brown's  farm,  1  mile  southeast  of  Sharonville,  wood  was 
encountered  in  blue  till  at  a  depth  of  20  to  40  feet.  At  the  gas-well 
boring  in  Lockland,  in  the  valley  of  West  Mill  Creek,  the  surface  being 
fully  30  feet  lower  than  the  upjDer  lock  in  Lockland,  or  about  546  feet 
above  tide,  drift  was  penetrated  to  a  depth  of  190  feet,  showing  the  rock 
floor  of  the  valley  to  be  but  356  feet  above  tide.  This,  so  fai-  as  known  to 
the  writer,  is  the  lowest  altitude  of  rock  floor  yet  found  in  the  valley.  The 
exact  section  was  not  recorded,  but  Mr.  Latty,  of  Lockland,  who  was  inter- 
ested in  sinking  the  well,  made  the  following  statement  from  memory: 

Section  of  drift  in  a  gas  horing  at  LocMand,  Ohio. 

Feet. 

Alluvium - -  - 8 

Gravel - 12 

Blue  pebbly  clay -  -'-  - 22 

Alternations  of  sand,  gravel,  and  blue  clay,  in  beds  each  but  a  few  feet  thick _ . .       148 

Total  drift - - -  -  -  -       190 

At  Stearns  and  Foster's  cotton  mill  in  Lockland,  near  the  upper  lock, 
a  well  whose  surface  is  565  feet  above  tide  is  147  feet  in  depth,  and  did 
not  reach  rock,  but  terminated  in  sand  beneath  a  thick  bed  of  blue  clay. 
At  Wyoming  the  city  well  (whose  mouth  stands  600  feet  above  tide)  pene- 
trated 155  feet  of  drift  without  reaching  rock,  there  being  yellow  and  blue 
clay,  gravel,  and  bowlders  in  the  upper  84  feet,  and  sand  in  the  remaining 
71  feet. 

A  short  distance  south  of  Wyoming  and  Lockland,  on  the  west  side  of 
Mill  Creek  Valley,  the  Cincinnati,  Hamilton  and  Dayton  Railway  was,  at 
the  time  of  a  visit  in  October,  1889,  making  a  cutting  for  a  switch  between 


OUTER  MORAINE  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  321 

its  main  line  and  a  starch  factory  east  of  the  railway.  The  cutting  passes 
through  a  till  knoll  about  30  feet  high.  Yellow  till  covers  the  knoll  like 
a  blanket  to  a  depth  of  about  12  feet.  The  till  is  soft  and  has  no  silty 
covering.  Below  it  is  a  dark-blue  till,  also  soft,  having  pebbles  very  irreg- 
ularly distributed,  being  thickly  set  in  places,  but  in  other  places  nearly 
free  from  them.  Where  pebbles  are  wanting  the  material  has  the  appear- 
ance of  a  very  fine,  laminated,  sandy  clay.  In  the  deeper  part  of  the 
cutting  some  coarser  sand  of  yellowish  color  is  exposed.  Large  pieces  of 
wood  were  embedded  in  the  blue  till  at  a  depth  of  30  feet  beneath  the 
highest  part  of  the  knoll.  The  largest  piece  observed  was  about  a  foot  in 
diameter  and  3  to  4  feet  long.  It  was  very  soft  and  so  spongy  that  a  spade 
could  be  pushed  into  it  readily.  One  large  piece,  several  inches  in  diameter, 
had  a  curled  grain  and  an  irregular  surface  and  appeared  to  be  a  root. 

John  Bonsall  Porter,  formerly  engineer  of  the  Glendale  waterworks, 
informed  the  writer  that  several  of  the  suburbs  of  Cincinnati  have  obtained 
a  public  water  supply  by  sinking  tubular  wells  in  Mill  Creek  Valley. 
These  wells  ordinarily  penetrate  75  to  150  feet  of  blue  clay,  largely 
glacial,  beneath  which  is  sand  and  fine  gravel,  ^^fhich  has  been  penetrated 
in  some  cases  100  feet  without  entering  rock.  From  this  sand,  which 
Porter  regards  as  the  deposit  of  an  old  river,  an  unlimited  supply  of  good 
water  is  obtained.  The  wells  at  the  Glendale  plant,  in  the  center  of  Mill 
Creek  Valley,  2  miles  from  the  village,  pass  through  97  feet  of  "drift  and 
alluvium,"  then  strike  coarse  sand  of  dark  color,  which  in  one  case  wa^ 
penetrated  78  feet  without  reaching  rock.  The  altitude  at  the  bottom  of 
the  deepest  well  is  only  395  feet  above  tide,  or  about  40  feet  below  the  low- 
water  level  of  the  Ohio  at  Cincinnati.  The  water  stands  in  the  wells  at 
about  560  feet  above  tide,  or  practically  at  the  surface.  Other  villages 
using  wells  of  this  class  at  the  time  this  communication  was  received  (June, 
1895)  are  Wyoming,  Hartwell,  Reading,  Carthage,  St.  Bernard,  Norwood, 
Linwood,  and  Madisonville.  The  last  five  lie  outside  the  limits  of  this 
moraine.  The  wells  at  Norwood  reach  a  depth  of  235  feet,  but  those  at 
other  villages  fall  below  200  feet.  Whether  the  sand  found  in  the  lower 
part  of  these  wells  is  strictly  alluvial  and  earlier  than  the  glacial  deposits, 
or  whether  its  deposition  resulted  in  some  way  from  the  ice  invasion,  can 
not  perhaps  be  decided  at  present. 

It  may  perhaps  be  difficult  to  determine  how  much  of  the  drift  in  Mill 

MON  XLI 21 


322  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Creek  Valley  should  be  referred  to  the  "Vyisconsin  stage  of  glaciation.  It 
seems  probable,  however,  that  it  should  be  only  a  small  part.  It  may 
include  only  the  fresh-looking  surface  till,  such  as  is  exposed  in  the  railway 
cutting,  and  may  extend  but  little  below  the  level  of  the  flat  part  of  the 
valley. 

Along  the  Great  Miami  River  there  is  a  gravel-filled  valley  three- 
fourths  to  1^  miles  in  width,  of  which  the  upper  60  feet  of  filling,  as  noted 
above,  seems  referable  to  the  Wisconsin  outwash.  West  of  this  valley  the 
uplands  in  Hamilton  and  Butler  counties,  Ohio,  carry  a  thin  sheet  of  drift, 
but  the  lowlands  and  larger  valleys  carry  a  very  thick  deposit.  The  low- 
land tract  connecting  the  Great  Miami  with  Whitewater  River,  in  northwest- 
ern Hamilton  County,  though  utilized  probably  as  a  preglacial  and  possibly 
an  interglacial  drainage  line,  seems  not  to  have  been  thus  used  since  the 
Wisconsin  ice  invasion  Like  the  valley  of  Mill  Creek,  it  has  been  filled 
chiefly  with  till.  A  well  in  this  lowland,  at  Mr.  Guest's,  about  a  mile  east 
of  Preston  post-office,  passed  through  90  feet  of  till  and,  at  bottom,  10  feet 
of  sand  before  obtaining  water. '  The  well  surface  is  about  70  feet  above 
the  bed  of  Dry  Fork  at  Preston.  Ordinarily  Avells  in  this  till  tract  find 
water  at  40  feet  or  less,  there  being  deposits  of  water-bearing  sand  inter- 
bedded  with  the  till.  The  till  tract  presents  a  variable  surface  stracture,- 
such  as  is  displayed  in  the  majority  of  moraines  whose  main  component  is 
till,  there  being  many  places  where  sand  aud  gravel  immediately  underlie 
the  soil,  but  these  are  apparently  in  local  and  isolated  tracts. 

North  and  northwest  from  this  lowland  till  tract  are  uplands  standing 
200  to  300  feet  above  it.  On  these  uplands  the  prominent  ridges  and  hills 
have  a  very  thin  coating  of  drift,  but  the  lower  parts  of  tlie  uplands  are 
covered  with  a  sheet  of  till  of  moderate  thickness.  The  valleys  have  con- 
siderable gravel  either  flanking  their  slopes  or  aggregated  in  low  knolls  in 
their  bottoms,  but  the  main  Ijulk  of  the  drift  in  the  valleys  is  till,  the 
gravel  seeming  to  be  mostly  superficial.  These  hills  are  not  silt  covered  in 
Butler  County,  Ohio,  but  in  Franklin  County,  Ind.,  there  is  a  naiTow  belt 
along  the  north  side  of  the  Whitewater  which  resembles  the  tract  south 
of  that  stream  in  having  a  silt  3  to  4  feet  or  more  in  thickness  covering  an 
old  drift,  the  Wisconsin  drift  being  absent.  With  the  exception  of  this  nai'- 
row  belt,  which  seldom  reaches  back  5  miles  from  the  Whitewater  Valley, 
the  surface  portion  of  the  drift  of  northeastern  Franklin  County  is  a  fresh, 


OUTER  MORAINE  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  323 

pebbly  till  dotted  with  occasional  gravel  knolls.  The  drift  is  about  as  thin 
there  as  in  portions  of  the  county  outside  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin  drift. 
Many  wells  have  struck  rock  at  less  than  20  feet.  In  a  trip  along  the 
watershed  north  from  Mount  Carmel  the  thickness  of  the  drift  was  noted  at 
several  wells,  as  follows: 

Thickness  of  drift  in  wells  near  Mount  Carmel^  Ind. 

Feet. 

J.  A.  Applegate's  well 8 

Mr.  Merrill's  well 4 

George  Dixon's  well 20 

John  Schultz's  well 13 

George  Schultz's  well - 18 

Mr.  Howe's  well  (SE.  part  see.  21,  Bath  Tp.) 22 

North  part  of  sec.  21  (owner  not  ascertained) 16 

In  Howe's  well  there  wa^i — 

Section  of  dnrift  in  Howe  well. 

Feet. 

Till 15 

Sand  bed 2-3 

Clay 3^ 

Total 22 

At  Dixon's  a  cistern  12  feet  deep  penetrated  several  feet  of  till,  then 
passed  through  a  black  soil  about  2  feet  thick,  and  entered  a  whitish  clay. 
No  other  instance  of  a  buried  soil  came  to  the  writer's  notice  in  this  neigh- 
borhood. Although  the  drift  is  mainly  till,  several  gravel  knolls  have  been 
opened  in  the  valleys  northwest  of  Mount  Carmel.  Southeast  of  Mount 
Carmel  also,  near  Philanthropy,  there  is  a  large  gravel  knoll,  which  is 
described  on  a  previous  page.  On  the  uplands  west  of  the  East  White- 
water, 2  or  3  miles  north  of  Brookville,  there  are  two  gravel  knolls,  one  of 
which,  near  the  center  of  sec.  7,  T.  9,  R.  2  W.,  contains  a  gravel  pit  20 
feet  or  more  in  depth.  The  gravel  beds  are  in  arching  or  oblique  positions. 
The  well  at  a  schoolhouse  nearby,  in  the  same  section,  30  feet  deep,  was 
mainly  through  till  and  did  not  strike  rock.  Several  other  wells  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, 20  to  25  feet  deep,  do  not  strike  rock;  but  rock  outcrops  appear 
in  a  ravine  east  of  the  gravel  pit  at  a  level  scarcely  30  feet  below  its  base. 
The  variability  of  the  drift  is  shown  by  wells,  some  of  which  ai-e  mainly 
through  till,  while  others  are  in  gravel  much  of  their  depth.  Bowlders  are 
usually  abundant  in  the  vicinity  of  these  gravel  knolls.  The  valley  of 
Whitewater  River  does  not  contain  gravel  knolls  at  the  place  where  the  ice 
sheet  overhung  it  when  the  moraine  was  forming.     The  valley  at  this  point 


324         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

is  now  about  400  feet  deep,  and  was  perhaps  100  feet  deeper  previous 
to  the  deposition  of  glacial  gravels  by  streams  from  the  Wisconsin  ice 
margin. 

In  southern  Fayette  County,  near  Everton,  moraiuic  features  are  well 
displayed  and  the  structure  of  the  drift  is  variable.  Several  gravel  knolls 
occur  between  Everton  and  Alguina,  and  also  northwest  of  Everton,  but  the 
greater  part  of  the  drift  is  till,  both  at  the  surface  and  in  well  sections.  In 
northeastern  Fayette  and  southwestern  Wayne  counties  there  is  but  little 
gravel  on.  the  uplands.  The  soil  is  not  so  loose  and  loamy  as  is  usually  the 
case  in  morainic  belts,  and  is  called  by  the  residents  "cold  clay."  The 
thickness  of  drift  here  is  variable.  One  well  near  the  county  line,  a  mile 
or  more  east  of  Waterloo,  is  about  80  feet  deep,  and  does  not  strike  rock. 
About  4  miles  southeast  of  Waterloo  and  east  of  the  West  Whitewater 
there  are  rock  quarries.  Along  the  West  Whitewater  in  Fayette  and  Wayne 
counties  there  is  a  gravel  plain  one-half  mile  to  a  mile  wide,  which  has  a 
deep  deposit  of  glacial  gravel.  The  bottom  has  been  reached  only  in  the 
few  gas-well  borings  that  have  been  made  along  it.  Several  borings  along 
this  valley,  both  within  the  moraine  and  south  of  it,  that  reach  rock  are 
discussed  below,  beginning  near  the  head  of  the  stream  at  Dalton,  Wayne 
County,  on  Nettle  Creek,  one  of  the  main  tributaries.  At  Dalton  the  thick- 
ness of  drift  in  the  gas  well  is  2  40  feet  and  the  altitude  of  the  well  mouth  is 
about  1,100  feet.  There  was  a  slight  amount  of  gravel  at  the  surface,  but 
the  greater  part  of  the  drift  was  found  to  be  till,  mainly  of  a  blue  color. 
Dr.  E.  H.  Thurston,  of  Hagerstown,  gave  the  following  information  con- 
cerning wells  in  that  village,  the  altitude  of  which  is  about  1,000  feet: 
Eight  gas  wells  have  an  average  of  about  100  feet  of  drift,  the  least  amount 
being  78  feet.  The  upper  50  feet  is  largely  gravel,  the  remainder  till.  At 
Cambridge  (whose  altitude  is  about  940  feet)  two  wells  show  about  100 
feet  of  drift.  One  has  10  to  15  feet  of  gravel  at  top,  the  remainder  of  the 
drift  being  blue  till.  A  reliable  record  of  the  second  well  was  not  obtained. 
There  are  outcrops  of  rock  in  Whitewater  Valley  in  that  vicinity  at  about 
the  level  of  the  wells.  A  mile  west  of  Cambridge,  and  at  70  feet  higher 
altitude,  a  well  penetrated  160  feet  of  drift;  the  upper  and  lower  portions 
of  this  were  sand  and  gravel,  a  considerable  amount  of  till  intervening. 
At  Dublin,  2  miles  west  of  Cambridge,  and  at  an  altitude  115  feet  higher, 
a  gas  well  penetrated  300  feet  of  drift.     At  Connersville  several  deep  wells 


OUTER  MORAINE  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  325 

have  been  made  iu  prospecting  for  gas.  The  first  boring,  the  altitude  of 
which  is  about  850  feet,  penetrated  75  feet  of  drift,  nearly  all  sand  and 
gravel.     No  record  of  the  other  wells  could  be  obtained. 

Between  the  West  and  the  East  Whitewater  rivers,  in  Wayne  Count}-, 
the  record  of  but  one  well  iu  which  the  rock  is  reached  was  obtained.  This 
well  is  at  Centerville,  where  a  natural-gas  boring  penetrated  176  feet  of 
drift,  mainly  till.  A  little  gravel  was  passed  through  near  the  surface.  The 
altitude  is  about  the  same  as  the  Centerville  station,  995  feet  above  tide. 
Water  wells  in  this  district  often  go  down  about  to  the  level  of  the  bordering 
valleys  without  entering  rock. 

E.  R.  Quick,  of  Brookville,  has  collected  the  following  information 
concerning  the  drift  in  the  gas  wells  in  the  vicinity  of  that  city.  A  well  at 
a  warehouse  east  of  the  river,  near  the  forks  of  the  Whitewater,  altitude  630 
feet  above  tide,  penetrated  135  feet  of  drift,  all  sand  and  gravel.  A  well 
at  the  Franklin  County  Infirmary,  west  of  the  river,  penetrated  about  1 40 
feet  of  sand  and  gravel  and  struck  rock  at  about  2  feet  higher  altitude  than 
at  the  warehouse.  At  Mr.  Brocker's,  in  Brookville,  west  of  East  Fork,  at 
an  altitude  also  about  630  feet  above  tide,  a  well  has  135  feet  of  sand  and 
gravel.  Mr.  Kimball's  well,  near  the  station  in  Brookville,  altitude  666  feet 
above  tide,  penetrated  160  feet  of  drift,  thought  to  be  mainly  gravel. 
About  4  miles  below  Brookville  a  gas  boring  at  an  altitude  of  600  feet 
penetrated  154  feet  of  sand  and  gravel  before  striking  rock. 

BOWLDERS. 

There  are  not  many  svu-face  bowlders  associated  with  this  moraine  or 
the  inner  border  tract,  but  their  occasional  occurrence  on  the  surface  in 
places  where  there  has  been  scarcely  any  erosion  distinguishes  this  moraine 
and  the  district  north  of  it  from  the  older  drift  tract  toward  the  south,  on 
whose  uplands  the  bowlders  are  concealed  by  silt. 

One  very  large  gneiss  bowlder  on  Mr.  Perrine's  land,  near  the  "Rock 
schoolhouse,"  about  3  miles  southeast  from  Lebanon,  was  mentioned  by 
Orton.^  It  measured  17  by  13  by  8  feet,  and  slopes  outward  at  the  base  as 
though  still  larger  under  ground.  Near  the  road  between  Waynesville  and 
Harveysburg,  on  the  elevated  uplands,  the  writer  observed  a  bowldei-  about 
8  feet  in  diameter  and  3  to  4  feet  high.  By  far  the  largest  transported  rock 
mass  ever  reported  from  Ohio  is  that  which  Orton  mentions  in  his  report 

I  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  339. 


326  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

on  Warren  County.^  It  is  a  larg-e  mass  of  Clinton  limestone,  covering 
about  three-fourths  of  an  acre  and  having  a  thickness  of  16  feet.  It  is 
found  east  of  Little  Miami  River  near  Freeport,  and  is  2  to  3  miles  out- 
side the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin  drift.  It  overlies  Illinoian  till  and  other 
drift  material.  It  was  thought  by  Orton  to  have  been  derived  from  the 
outcrops  west  of  the  river,  but  in  the  writer's  opinion  it  was  more  probably 
derived  from  the  northeast.  This  opinion  is  based  on  the  fact  that  the 
strise  at  Wilmington,  a  few  miles  to  the  east,  that  underlie  the  Illinoian  drift, 
and  are  therefore  connected  with  an  ice  movement  as  early  as  this  bowlder 
transportation,  have  a  southwestward  bearing. 

STRIJE. 

Observations  of  strise  are  not  rare  in  the  district  covered  by  the  Miami 
lobe,  there  being  thirty-tliree  recorded  within  this  district  south  of  the 
Wabash  moraine.  None  have  been  observed  outside  the  moraine  under 
discussion,  but  between  this  moraine  and  the  next  succeeding  one  there  are 
seventeen  observations.  Of  these  four  are  in  Wayne  County,  Ind.,  and 
bear  west  of  south  toward  the  western  limb  of  the  moraine;  tlu-ee  are  in 
Butler  County,  Ohio,  and  bear  southward  toward  the  point  of  the  morainic 
loop;  the  remainder  are  in  the  district  between  the  Great  and  Little  Miami 
rivers,  and  bear  southeastward  toward  the  eastern  limb  of  the  moraine. 
The  glaciation,  therefore,  harmonizes  well  with  the  disti-ibution  of  this 
moraine,  the  striae  in  nearly  every  instance  being  directed  toward  the 
moraine.  Plummer,  many  years  ago,  discussed  strise  discovered  by  him 
near  Richmond."  They  are  of  interest,  not  only  because  of  their  value  in 
indicating  the  direction  of  ice  movement,  but  also  because  they  are 
apparently  the  first  strise  ever  reported  from  that  State.  They  are  found 
in  a  quan-y  of  blue  limestone  on  the  west  side  of  a  small  stream  tributary  to 
tlie  East  Whitewater,  2  miles  north  of  Richmond.  A  very  hard  clay  rested 
on  the  striated  surface,  and  above  this  deposit  were  gravel,  sand,  clay,  and 
soil,  the  whole  occupying  15  feet.  The  bearing  of  the  strise  is  S.  20°  W. 
Plummer  gives  the  following  description  : 

The  g-rooves  vary  from  a  mere  scratch  to  furrows  an  inch  or  more  wide,  and 
with  one  or  two  exceptions  running  exactly  parallel  with  each  other.  The  average 
depth  of  these  grooves  is  perhaps  one-eighth  of  an  inch,  and  their  breadth  and 
shallowness  give  to  the  surface  of  the  rock  a  vittated  appearance. 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  285. 

''  Suburban  Geology  of  Richmond,  Indiana,  by  John  T.  Plummer:  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  1st  series,  Vol. 
XLIV,  1843,  pp.  281-313. 


STRI^  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  327 

Other  interesting  observations  on  the  drift  formations  are  reported  by 
Pluminer  in  equally  graphic  manner.  They  relate  to  the  occurrence  of 
silts  containing  blue  spots  thought  to  be  "  tanno-gallate  of  iron,"  from 
which  he  made  an  ink ;  also  to  organic  remains  in  the  drift,  and  to  the 
number  and  kinds  of  bowlders  on  the  surface. 

The  following  observations  of  striae  in  Indiana  are  recorded  in  the 
State  geological  reports  for  1859  and  1878  :  On  page  43  of  the  earlier 
report,  striae  near  Cambridge  in  a  quarry  in  NE.  J  of  sec.  33,  T.  16  N., 
R  12  E.,  about  a  mile  west  of  Whitewater  River,  are  said  to  have  a 
bearing  from  north  of  northeast  to  south  of  southwest.  In  the  later  report 
(pp.  184-185),  striffi  at  the  falls  of  the  west  fork  of  East  Whitewater,  near 
the  locality  noted  by  Plummer,  north  of  Richmond,  have  a  bearing  of 
S.  40°  W.  Stria;  in  the  bed  of  Nolands  Fork,  near  Centerville  (p.  216  of 
same  report),  bear  slightly  west  of  south. 

In  Butler  County,  Ohio,  striae,  whose  bearing  is  nearly  north  to  south,^ 
were  observed  by  G.  F.  Wright  about  4  miles  east  of  Hamilton  on  the 
southeast  bluff  of  the  Great  Miami.  Concerning  these  striae  Wright 
remarks : 

These  are  of  additional  interest  as  showing  the  degree  to  which  the  ice  move- 
ment at  this  point  was  independent  of  the  local  topography.  The  strias  here  observed 
were  upon  the  south  side  of  the  Miami  River  (whose  general  course  is  here  northeast 
and  southwest),  and  75  feet  above  low-water  mark.  The  direction  of  the  stri^  is 
diagonal  to  that  of  the  valley,  which  is  here  a  mile  or  more  in  width,  but  nearly  at 
right  angles  to  the  general  course  of  the  glacial  boundary,  about  20  miles  to  the  south. 

Orton  personally  mentioned  to  the  writer  that  he  had  observed  striae 
on  the  uplands  northeast  of  Oxford  which  have  a  bearing  nearly  south. 

About  3  miles  southwest  of  Middletown,  on  the  west  bluff  of  the  Great 
Miami,  is  a  glaciated  exposure  in  which  the  striae  bear  S.  8°  E.  (magnetic). 

In  Warren  County,  Ohio,  about  3  miles  northeast  of  Springport,  on 
elevated  uplands  at  Brown's  quarry,  striae  bear  S.  48°  E.  (magnetic). 

Three  miles  west  of  Waynesville  the  bearing  is  S.  48°  E.,  while  3 
miles  northwest,  near  the  village  of  Lytle,  the  bearing  is  S.  70°  E. 

Orton's  map,  opposite  page  413,  Vol.  I,  Geology  of  Ohio,  indicates 
striae  in  the  vicinity  of  Lytle  bearing  S.  66°  E.  and  S.  54°  E.,  while  near 
Centerville  the  map  shows  striae  bearing  S.  80°  E.  In  the  vicinity  of 
Yellow  Springs  and  Springfield,  and  below  Springfield,  along  Mad  River 


'  See  Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  .58,  1890,  pp.  4] -42. 


328  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

bluffs,  observations  made  b)^  Orton,  and  later  ones  by  Cliamberlin,  give  the 
strife  a  bearing  S.  8°-12°  E. 

About  4  miles  east-northeast  of  Urbana,  in  a  quarry  south  of  Long's 
station,  there  are  exposures  of  striae  which  bear  about  E.  10°  N.  The  east- 
ward movement  is  clearly  indicated  on  the  rock  surface,  whose  prominences 
show  plainly  that  their  west  side  is  the  stoss  side.  This  bearing  is  nearly 
at  a  right  angle  to  a  moraine  in  which  this  quarry  is  situated,  whose  trend 
in  that  vicinit}^  is  from  slightly  west  of  north  to  east  of  south  (see  Pis. 
II  and  XI). 

INNER  BORDER  DISTRICT. 

The  district  which  lies  between  the  Hartvvell  moraine  and  the  next  later 
one  (the  outer  moraine  of  the  late  Wisconsin  series)  comprises  only  a  few 
counties  in  southwestern  Ohio  and  southeastern  Indiana.  Its  extent  may 
be  seen  by  reference  to  the  map  of  the  Maumee-Miami  lobe  (PI.  XI). 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

The  features  are  somewhat  diversified.  The  Ohio  portion  is  hilly, 
except  near  the  border  of  Indiana  in  Preble  and  Butler  counties.  The  hills 
have  rock  within  a  few  feet  of  the  surface;  the  main  drainage  lines  remain 
essentially  the  same  as  in  preglacial  times.  The  valleys  of  this  region, 
especially  those  of  streams  like  Fourmile,  Sevenmile,  and  Indian  creeks,  are 
characterized  by  a  peculiar  filling  with  till.  The  till  is  several  times  as  deep 
as  on  the  uplands,  and  is  level  topped  or  nearly  so,  giving  the  appearance 
of  a  terrace  when  viewed  from  the  uplands.  In  the  lower  portions  of  these 
streams  the  till  has  been  channeled  to  a  depth  of  75  to  100  feet,  and  forms 
an  inner  and  lower  bluff.  Above  these  lower  bluffs  of  till  stand  the  rocky 
upland  tracts  200  to  300  feet  or  more  higher  than  the  streams.  The  plane 
surface  which  the  till  presents  in  these  valleys  is  perhaps  no  more  remarka- 
ble than  that  of  upland  plains.  Had  the  amount  of  drift  been  sufficient  to 
have  nearly  filled  the  valleys  the  plane  surface  would  scarcely  suggest  a 
terrace. 

Two  valleys  in  this  inner  border  district,  Mill  Creek  Valley  and  a  val- 
ley leading  from  the  Little  Miami  at  Kings  Mills  to  the  Great  Miami  at 
Middletown,  resemble  the  valleys  above  mentioned  in  liaving  level-topped 
plains  in  them,  but  a  view  of  tliese  plains  from  bordering  uplands  does  not 
suggest  a  terrace,  since  the  small  streams  now  occupying  tliem  have  scarcely 


INNER  BORDER  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  329 

begun  the  excavation  of  a  valley,  and  the  size  of  the  plain  is  much  more 
out  of  proportion  to  that  of  the  present  streams  than  the  plains  along  Four- 
mile,  Sevenmile,  and  Indian  creeks. 

In  northeastern  Franklin,  in  Union,  and  southeastern  Wayne  counties, 
Indiana,  and  in  a  naiTOw  belt  in  southwestern  Preble  and  northwestern 
Butler  counties,  Ohio,  the  uplands  are  strikingly  in  contrast  with  those  just 
described.  Instead  of  being  hilly  the  surface  is  level  and  poorly  di'ained, 
and  the  valleys  do  not  have  the  depth  and  size  of  those  draining  the  adjoin- 
ing tracts  in  southwestern  Ohio.  The  valleys  are  nearly  all  of  postglacial 
age,  the  preglacial  drainage  being  obscured  except  in  the  main  lines,  such 
as  the  Whitewater  River  and  lower  portions  of  the  tributaries  of  that  stream 
in  northeastern  Franklin  County,  Ind. 

There  is  but  little  surface  undulation  in  this  level  tract,  the  till  swells, 
as  a  rule,  being  scarcely  5  feet  in  height.  There  is,  however,  a  ridge-like 
accumulation  in  Union  County  that  merits  notice,  though  its  significance 
was  not  determined.  The  writer's  attention  was  directed  to  it  because  of  its 
prominence  on  the  profile  of  the  Cincinnati,  Hamilton  and  Indianapolis 
Railway,  which  had  been  examined  by  him  before  he  visited  that  district. 
The  profile  led  to  the  suspicion  that  the  ridg-e  is  a  moraine,  but  upon 
reaching  the  ground  it  proved  so  inconspicuous  a  feature  that  the  suspicion 
was  scarcely  confirmed.  It  has  as  smooth  a  surface  as  the  bordering'plains, 
and  might  be  crossed  by  the  traveler  without  appreciation  of  its  real  height. 
The  profile  gives  the  following  data: 

Profile  ovei'  ridge  in  eastern  Union  County,  Ind. 


Location. 

Distance  from 
Hamilton. 

Altitude. 

East  base 

Miles. 
23.00 
23.  875 
24.60 

Feet. 
475.0 

Crest 

509.9 

West  base 

470.5 

The  slope  on  the  east  continues  to  College  Corners  and  on  the  west  to 
the  creek  west  of  Lotus,  but  is  less  rapid  than  on  the  ridge.  The  trend  of 
the  ridge  is  nearly  north-south,  but  it  dies  away  in  either  direction  within 
a  mile  or  two  from  the  railway.  It  has  been  penetrated  about  30  feet  by 
wells  and  no  I'ock  strata  have  been  struck. 


330  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


STRUCTURE    OF    THE    DRIFT. 


The  drift  of  this  inner  border  district,  like  that  forming  the  moraine, 
consists  larg-ely  of  typical  till,  which  has  a  clayey  matrix  with  liberal 
admixture  of  pebbles.  Theire  are  a  few  gravel  knolls  and  ridges  on  uplands 
and  also  along  valleys.  Portions  of  the  valley  filling  present  a  horizontal 
bedding  in  which  sandy  partings  separate  till  beds  or  beds  of  stony  clay; 
but  the  greater  part  of  the  filling,  like  that  on  the  upland,  appears  to  be 
typical  till  without  distinct  horizontal  bedding. 

Wright  has  given  views  of  two  exposures  of  the  till  in  the  valley  plain 
of  Fourmile  Creek,  in  Bulletin  No.  58,  which  are  here  reproduced  in  PI. 
XII,  A  and  B.  The  till  represented  in  the  first  view  is  a  typical  deposit, 
which  is  nearly  level  topped  and  is  banked  against  the  base  of  a  high,  rocky 
bluff  that  within  a  mile  toward  the  south  rises  to  300  feet  or  more  above 
the  creek.  The  exposure  in  the  second  view  presents  lamination,  and  in 
places  there  is  clear  evidence  of  water  bedding.  The  large  stones  appear 
to  have  been  dropped  by  ice  into  a  stream  which  had  only  a  sluggish  cur- 
rent. The  eastern  part  of  Oxford  is  on  a  flat-surfaced  till  plain,  along  the 
same  creek,  whose  surface  stands  fully  100  feet  below  the  high  rocky  bluff" 
on  which  the  rest  of  the  town  is  situated  and  nearly  100  feet  above  the 
creek  bed. 

There  is  scarcely  an  exposure  of  rock  along  the  postglacial  valley  of 
Fourmile  Creek  from  the  junction  of  the  three  forks  above  Oxford  to  its 
mouth.  The  record  of  but  one  well  was  obtained  along  this  valley.  This 
well  is  at  Bi-azil  Inman's,  about  1  mile  above  the  mouth  oi  the  creek.  It  is 
104  feet  deep,  and  penetrates  90  feet  of  till,  below  which  it  is  in  sand  and 
gravel.  It  is  reported  that  "snail  shells"  and  small  twigs  were  pumped  out 
from  the  sand  near  the  bottom  of  the  well. 

What  percentage  of  drift  in  the  valleys  is  of  the  age  of  the  moraine 
under  discussion,  and  what  of  the  earlier  or  Illinoian  age,  can  scarcely  be 
determined  from  the  facts  at  command.  The  freshness  of  the  exposed  por- 
tion of  the  drift  along  Fourmile,  Sevenmile,  and  Indian  creeks  leads  the 
writer  to  consider  it  of  the  same  age  as  the  moraine.  The  shells  and  twigs 
i-eported  above,  which  were  pumped  from  sands  beneath  the  till  near  the 
mouth  of  Fourmile  Creek,  may  be  of  interglacial  age,  and  mark  the  line 
between  the  Wisconsin  and  the  earlier  drift  sheet.     The  occupancy  of  Mill 


.1.     bECTiull    L-r    TILL   AT    LANE'b    M.LL   IILAH    UARRTOWN,   OHIO. 


1        h<PObURE   OF   TILL  bOME    MILEb    EAST   OF    LANEb    M    LL  SECTION. 


INNER  BORDER  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  331 

Creek  Valley,  in  Hamilton  County,  and  also  the  abandoned  valley  connect- 
ing the  Little  and  Great  Miami  valleys,  in  Warren  County,  by  this  moraine 
and  the  freshness  of  the  drift  there  exposed,  indicate  that  the  upper  portion 
at  least  was  deposited  contemporaneously  with  the  moraine.  However,  the 
well  sections  in  Mill  Creek  Valley  south  of  the  moraine  seem  to  suggest 
that  much  of  the  filling  may  have  taken  place  in  the  earlier  advance. 

As  above  noted,  there  is  some  uncertainty  whether  the  lowland  tract 
connecting  the  Little  and  Great  Miamis  through  western  Warren  County 
contains  a  deep  buried  channel  or  waterway  capable  of  carrying  a  stream 
from  one  valley  to  the  other,  for  the  reason  that  rock  is  struck  at  slight 
depth  in  wells  in  the  western  part  of  the  swampy  tract  connecting  these 
streams.  A  well  at  Mrs.  Stewart's,  on  the  east  side  of  the  county  line  road 
(between  Warren  and  Butler  counties),  struck  rock  at  13  feet,  and  one  at 
Mr.  Schwab's,  about  one-half  mile  farther  north,  at  20  feet.  These  are 
both  in  the  valley,  the  latter  being  near  its  center,  the  former  near  the  south 
side.  Such  meager  evidence  does  not,  however,  preclude  the  possibility 
of  a  deep  channel  existing  in  this  low  belt,  though  it  throws  doubt  on  its 
occurrence. 

A  few  records  of  wells  were  obtained  in  the  Indiana  portion.  Mr. 
Burt,  a  well  driller  residing  at  Liberty  Ind.,  who  has  made  wells  on  the 
drift  ridge  near  Liberty,  noted  above,  reports  that  they  penetrated  yellow 
and  blue  till  to  a  depth  of  about  30  feet,  and  then  entered  a  black  earth 
into  which  they  were  carried  for  a  foot  or  two,  the  deepest  well  being  33 
feet.  In  a  well  on  the  east  slope  at  Mr.  Bamon's.  one-half  mile  north  of 
Cottage  Grove,  Mr.  Burt  found  many  bowlders  about  30  feet  below  the 
sui-face.  Possibly  an  old  land  surface  or  stream  bed  was  reached  at  this 
well.  Two  otlier  wells  were  reported  by  Mr.  Burt  which  may  have  passed 
into  a  drift  older  than  Wisconsin  in  their  lower  portion.  At  Beechy  Mire 
post-office  Mr.  Lybrook's  well  entered  a  yellow  clay  below  the  blue  till  at 
a  depth  of  33  feet.  At  Salem,  about  3  miles  southeast  of  Liberty,  Mr.  Burt 
made  a  well  which  passed  through  the  following  beds : 

Sectif/n  of  a  loell  southeast  of  Liberty^  Ind. 

Feet, 

Yellow  till  8-10 

Blue  till 25 

Yellow  clay,  not  noticeably  pebbly,  at  bottom  of  well. 


332  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

At  Weibels  Corners,  4  miles  northeast  of  Liberty,  Mr.  Bui-t  made  a 
well  in  wliich  tlie  blue  clay  below  the  surface  yellow  till  was  peculiarly 
soft,  sticky,  and  free  from  pebbles,  so  that  it  could  be  unrolled  from  the 
auger  like  putty.  In  Liberty,  at  the  Pyle  House,  a  bed  of  muck  and  leaves 
was  struck  by  the  same  well  driller  about  35  feet  from  the  surface,  below 
a  blue  till.  Between  the  muck  and  the  underlying  rock  was  a  sand  bed  15 
feet  in  thickness. 

In  Liberty  two  gas  wells  have  been  made,  of  which  one,  on  high  ground 
in  the  east  part  of  town,  penetrated  about  90  feet  of  drift;  the  other,  on  low 
ground  in  the  west  part,  of  town  (29  feet  below  the  level  of  the  railroad 
station,  or  940  feet  above  tide),  penetrated  70  feet  of  drift,  mainly  till.  The 
drift  in  these  wells  is  much  thicker  than  the  average  on  uplands  in  Union 
County.  In  the  southeastern  part  of  the  county  the  thickness  averages 
scarcely  10  feet  over  a  tract  comprising  several  square  miles;  and  the  large 
creeks  in  the  county,  which  have  cut  channels  30  to  50  feet  below  the  level 
of  the  uplands,  usually  reach  the  rock.  It  is  probable  that  the  average 
thickness  is  not  more  than  50  feet. 

In  southeastern  Wayne  County,  also,  the  deeper  ravines  reach  the  rock 
at  50  to  60  feet  below  the  upland  plain,  which  in  the  ^dcinity  of  the  village 
of  Boston  is  very  level. 

Two  short  gravel  ridges,  which  should  perhaps  be  classed  as  eskers, 
were  observed  in  the  north  part  of  Warren  County,  Ohio,  east  of  Springboro. 
The  longer  one  has  a  length  of  about  a  mile  and  trends  west-northwest  to 
east-southeast,  while  the  shorter  one  has  a  length  of  about  one-half  mile  and 
trends  north  to  south.  The  shorter  one  has  its  southern  terminus  in  Clear 
Creek  Valley  about  a  mile  east  of  the  eastern  terminus  of  the  longer  one, 
the  latter  being  situated  entirely  in  Clear  Creek  Valley.  The  bearing  of 
striae  in  that  vicinity,  as  shown  above,  ranges  from  about  southeast  to  S. 
70°  E.  The  longer  ridge,  therefore,  approaches  more  nearly  the  direction 
of  the  strise  than  does  the  shorter  one,  but  neither  is  strictly  in  harinony 
with  them.  At  the  southern  end  of  the  shorter  ridge  a  spur  leads  off  abruptly 
to  the  east  for  a  few  rods  and  there  dies  away.  This  turn  of  tlie  southern 
end  of  the  shorter  ridge  and  the  bedding  in  the  longer  ridge  indicate  that 
the  direction  taken  by  the  water  which  formed  the  ridges  was  eastward,  or 
the  reverse  of  the  present  course  of  drainage  along  Clear  Creek.  No  delta 
deposit  nor  eastward  continuation  of  gravel  deposits  was  found  beyond  the 


INNER  BORDER  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  333 

shorter  ridge.  There  are  gravel  knolls  along  the  Little  Miami  Valley,  near 
Waynesville,  about  5  miles  to  the  east,  but  the  distance  from  the  gravel 
ridges  is  so  great  that  it  is  doubtful  if  the  same  stream  that  formed  either  of 
of  them  also  formed  the  gravel  knolls. 

The  longer  ridge  is  interrupted  nea,r  its  eastern  end  by  a  slight  gap  (a 
feature  not  unusual  in  eskers).  Its  greatest  height  is  30  to  40  feet,  while 
portions  are  20  feet  or  less.  Its  width,  including  slopes,  is  100  to  200  yards. 
Its  surface  is  soixiewhat  irregular,  as  if  there  had  been  uneven  deposits  of 
englacial  drift  upon  it  after  the  body  of  the  ridge  had  been  formed.  This 
view  finds  support  in  the  fact  that  in  Bennett's  gravel  pit,  which  opens  the 
ridge  to  view  near  its  eastern  end,  there  is  a  change  from  gravel  to  till  in 
passing  from  the  center  to  the  north  slope  of  the  ridge,  the  till  here  being 
confined  to  the  lower  portion  of  the  slope.  The  exposures  are  not  suffi- 
cient to  show  whether  or  not  the  till  in  places  reaches  the  crest  of  the  ridge. 
Bennett's  pit  shows  great  variations  in  the  bedding  of  the  gravel,  in  dip  and 
thickness,  as  well  as  in  coarseness  of  material.  The  lower  part  of  the  pit 
is  more  largely  gravel  than  the  upper,  there  being  beds  of  nearly  clear 
sand  near  the  top  of  the  ridge. 

The  shorter  ridge  has  a  height  of  10  to  12  feet  and  breadth  of  50  to  100 
yards,  including  slopes.  It  is  opened  at  Blackford's  pit,  its  cross  section 
being  well  shown.  The  surface  beds  arch  over,  but  the  deeper  beds  are 
horizontal  beneath  the  center  of  the  ridge.  This  arching  of  the  surface 
beds  may  have  been  produced  in  the  manner  suggested  by  Russell,^  in  his 
article  on  the  glaciers  of  the  Mount  St.  Elias  region.  The  view  is  there 
expressed  that  gravel  ridges  of  this  class  are  built  up  in  horizontal  beds  in 
tunnels  in  or  beneath  the  ice  sheet,  and  that  upon  the  disappearance  of  the 
ice  walls  the  material  next  the  borders  is  left  unsustained,  and  therefore 
settles  down,  giving  the  arched  appearance  to  the  surface  beds.  This  short 
ridge  has  a  much  smoother  surface  than  the  larger  one  and  apparently  has 
no  capping  of  till.  At  Blackford's  pit  it  is  composed  mainly  of  gravel  of 
medium  coarseness,  there  being  but  little  sand  and  but  few  cobblestones 
intermixed.  In  both  ridges  the  pebbles  are  composed  largely  of  limestone 
rocks,  not  a  small  percentage  being  the  local  rocks. 

Near  the  mouth  of  Clear  Creek,  in  Franklin,  and  for  a  mile  or  more 
southeast  from  that  village,   drift  knolls   are  numerous.     They  range  in 

>  I.  C.  Russell:  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  March,  1892. 


334  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

height  from  10  feet  up  to  fully  60  feet  anr)  are  sharp  and  nearly  conical. 
They  are  all  in  a  lowland  tract  on  the  south  side  of  the  valley,  their  bases 
being-  but  40  to  .50  feet  above  Clear  Creek,  while  tlie  uplands  on  the  south 
ris*}  to  a  height  of  fully  200  feet  above  the  creek.  Occasional  gravel  knolls 
occur  along  Clear  Creek  Valley  between  this  group  and  the  western  end  of 
the  large  gravel  ridge.  They  appear  to  contain  much  g-ravel  and  may  owe 
their  presence  in  this  lowland  tract  to  the  same  stream  which  formed  the 
ridge,  though  the  method  of  deposition  is  even  more  problematical  than 
that  of  the  ridge. 

CHARACTER  OF  THE  OUTWASH. 

In  the  district  outside  the  Hartwell  moraine  thi-ee  quite  distinct  classes 
of  deposits  appear  above  the  consolidated  rocks:  First,  the  earlier  or 
Illinoian  drift  which,  covering  the  uplands,  extends  south  to  the  g'lacial 
boundary;  second,  the  silt  deposits  which  cover  the  Illinoian  drift  and 
extend  into  the  unglaciated  districts;  third,  the  morainic  outwash,  including 
the  gravel  aprons  and  such  valley  drift  as  seems  to  be  connected  with  the 
moraine.  The  first  and  second  ha^^ng  been  considered,  it  remains  only  to 
discuss  the  third  class.  In  connection  with  this  the  gravel  aprons  and 
valley  drift  in  the  reentrants  are  also  considered. 

In  the  reentrant  between  the  Scioto  and  Miami  lobes  there  is  a  com- 
plex series  of  gravel  plains.  Probably  all  are  of  somewhat  later  date  than 
the  Hartwell  moraine,  and  the  latest  are  of  late  Wisconsin  age.  The  broad 
gravel  plain  leading  down  Mad  River  is  evidently  of  late  Wisconsin  age, 
the  source  of  the  gravel  being  in  the  late  Wisconsin  moraine,  which  encir- 
cles the  head  of  the  river.  East  from  the  valley  of  Mad  River  there  are 
other  gravel  plains,  which  are  somewhat  older  than  the  one  along  the  stream. 
One  which  leads  from  West  Liberty  southward  past  King's  Creek  Station 
to  Urbana,  connecting  both  at  the  north  and  south  with  Mad  River,  stands 
but  little  above  the  Mad  River  gravel  plain  and  may  also  belong-  to  the  late 
Wisconsin  series.  It  appears  to  be  an  outwash  from  a  weak  moraine  lying 
between  it  and  Mad  River  Valley. 

East  from  this  gravel  plain  there  is  a  prominent  moraine,  noted  above, 
which  extends  from  southern  Logan  County,  southward  past  Urbana,  to 
Springfield,  as  indicated  on  the  glacial  maps,  PI.  II  and  XL  On  the  east 
side  of  this  moraine  a  gravel  plain  appears  which  leads  southward  near  the 
east  border  of  the  Mad  River  di-ainag-e  basin  to  the  headwaters  of  tlie  Little 


OUTWASH  FROM  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  335 

Miami,  in  a  course  singularly  out  of  harmony  with  the  present  system  of 
drainage,  its  course  being  directly  across  Mackocheek,  Long,  Buck,  and 
Beaver  creeks.  It  connects  with  the  Little  Miami  Valley  east  of  Spring- 
field near  Thorpe  station  and,  swinging  to  the  southwest,  follows  down  that 
valley.     The  width  ranges  from  a  half  mile  or  less  up  to  nearly  2  miles. 

There  is  a  marked  southward  descent  along  this  gravel  belt,  the  alti- 
tude above  tide  being  near  Kennard  1,185  feet,  east  of  Urbana  about  1,150 
feet,  at  Catawba  station  1,090  feet,  at  New  Moorefield  1,060  feet,  and  at 
the  point  of  connection  with  the  Little  Miami  drainage  near  Thorpe  about 
1,030  feet.  The  general  elevation  of  this  gravel  belt  is  about  100  feet 
above  the  gravel  plain  along  the  neighboring  jjortion  of  Mad  River  Valley, 
and,  as  it  is  distant  from  that  valley  only  3  to  6  miles,  through  much  of  its 
course  within  the  present  Mad  River  drainage  basin,  the  descent  toward 
Mad  River  is  more  rapid  than  along  the  line  which  the  old  stream  followed. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  eastern  tributaries  of  Mad  River  now  pass 
directly  across  this  old  line  of  drainage. 

The  course  selected  by  the  old  stream  appears  to  have  been  just  out- 
side the  Miami  ice  lobe  at  a  time  when  Mad  River  Vallej^  was  buried 
beneath  the  ice.  The  moraine  which  lies  west  of  the  gravel  plain  beai's 
out  this  interpretation,  for  it  seems  to  be  of  the  same  age  as  the  gravel 
plain,  and  knolls  in  places  come  down  to  the  level  of  and  merge  into  the 
plain.  The  eastward-bearing  striae  near  Urbana  also  show  that  the  Miami 
ice  lobe  extended  about  to  this  gravel  plain.  On  the  east  side  of  this 
plain  there  is  a  blufflike  border  which  indicates  that  the  drift  on  that  side 
was  exposed  for  erosion  and  hence  is  probably  somewhat  oldei-  than  that  on 
the  west.  Its  freshness,  however,  is  such  as  to  place  it  within  the  early 
Wisconsin  glacial  stage. 

The  gravel  plain  has  been  eroded  to  a  markedly  greater  degree  by  the 
streams  that  cross  it  than  the  late  Wisconsin  terraces  on  the  same  streams. 
It  has  been  cut  down  from  a  level  20  or  30  feet  and  occasionally  50  feet 
above  the  late  Wisconsin  terraces,  while  those  terraces  are  seldom  50  feet 
above  the  present  stream.  There  is  also  a  broader  excavation  above  the 
level  of  the  late  Wisconsin  terraces  than  below,  which  makes  the  contrast 
still  more  striking.  As  erosion  in  gravel  is  a  comparatively  slow  process 
under  ordinary  conditions,  these  features  seem  to  indicate  that  an  interval 
of  considerable  length  separates  this  gravel  deposit  from  the  late  Wisconsin 
gravels  along  Mad  River  and  its  tributaries. 


336  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

It  seems  probable  that  the  ice  sheet  had  meked  away  from  the  portion 
of  the  Little  Miami  Valley  below  the  point  where  this  belt  of  gravel  con- 
nects with  the  river  before  the  gravel  deposition  occurred,  for  latitude  and 
the  heat  radiated  from  an  extensive  land  surface  would  favor  melting  there, 
while  the  ice  sheet  still  held  its  ground  in  the  part  of  the  reentrant  to  the 
north. 

There  are  gravel  aprons  associated  with  morainic  knolls  and  ridges 
along  this  part  of  the  Little  Miami  which  are  probably  somewhat  older  than 
the  long  belt  of  gravel  just  discussed.  The  most  conspicuous  is  the  plain 
immediately  west  of  Xenia,  known  as  "Cherry  Bottoms."  There  is  also  a 
small  gravel  plain  east  of  Spring  Valley.  The  Cherry  Bottoms  plain 
rises  toward  the  moraine  which  borders  it  on  the  north  and  west,  and  fits 
about  its  knolls  and  ridges.  It  also  contains  numerous  basins  along  the 
border  next  the  moraine.  This  gravel  plain  is  now  drained  southward  to 
the  Little  Miami,  through  a  valley  utilized  by  the  Little  Miami  Railway  in 
rising  from  the  river  valley  to  Xenia.  It  is  not  certain  whether  the  glacial 
waters  followed  this  route  or  passed  southward  to  Cfesars  Creek  along  the 
ice  margin;  jjerhaps  both  routes  were  used  in  the  course  of  the  formation  of 
the  moraine. 

The  small  gravel  plain  east  of  Spring  Valley  stands  at  its  western 
border  more  than  100  feet  above  the  Little  Miami  River.  There  is  a  bed 
of  gravelly  knolls  along  this  border  which  overlook  Spring  Valley  and 
serve  as  a  water  parting  between  the  Little  Miami  and  Csesars  Creek;  and 
south  from  there  a  till  ridge  causes  the  water  to  run  from  within  one-half 
mile  ot  the  bluff  of  the  Little  Miami  eastward  to  Caesars  Creek.  It  is 
probable  that  the  glacial  waters  which  formed  this  gravel  plain,  like  those 
of  the  present  system  of  drainage,  escaped  through  Csesai-s  Creek. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  Little  Miami,  1  to  2  miles  below  Spring  Valley, 
there  is  a  small  gravel  plain  which,  though  it  lies  near  the  inner  border  of 
the  moraine,  was  probably  formed  by  waters  of  glacial  age.  It  stands 
fully  100  feet  above  the  river,  extends  back  about  one-half  mile  from  the 
bluff,  and  is  a  mile  or  more  in  length.  There  seems  to  be  no  terrace  of 
corresponding  height  along  the  Little  Miami  below  this  plain.  Its  origin  is 
therefore  not  clearly  understood. 

Near  the  mouth  of  Csesars  Creek  there  are,  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river,  gravel  beds  at  levels  about  150  feet  above  the  stream  but  they  are 


OUTWASH  FROM  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  337 

not  clearly  outwash  deposits,  being  disposed  in  arching  and  oblique  beds. 
One  gravel  pit  exhibits  beds  which  dip  sharply  eastward  toward  the  bluffs. 

Gravel  terraces  apparently  of  glacial  age  are  well  defined  along  the 
Little  Miami,  below  the  point  where  the  moraine  crosses,  but  they  are 
surprisingly  low  down,  the  general  altitude  of  the  upper  terrace  being  but 
50  feet  above  the  river.  In  the  vicinity  of  Kings  Mills  the  moraine  comes 
down  to  the  borders  of  this  terrace  at  the  low  altitude  just  named,  thus 
indicating  that  no  higher  glacial  terrace  exists  which  can  be  correlated  \A'ith 
this  moraine.  Upon  approaching  the  Ohio  the  river  descends  more  rapidly 
than  the  terrace;  as  a  consequence  the  same  terrace  that  stands  50  feet  at 
Kings  Mills  stands  about  100  feet  above  the  river  at  its  mouth.  The  altitude 
of  the  terrace  at  the  point  where  the  river  leaves  the  moraine  (near  the 
mouth  of  Caesars  Creek)  is  about  730  feet  above  tide,  while  at  the  mouth 
of  the  stream  it  is  but  530  feet,  a  fall  of  200  feet  in  40  miles  The  present 
bed  of  the  river  falls  250  feet  in  this  distance.  The  material  embraced  in 
the  terraces  vai'ies  greatly  within  short  distances,  showing  a  range  from  fine 
pebbles,  well  rounded,  up  to  coarse  subangular  blocks,  but  the  variations 
may,  in  many  instances,  be  readily  accounted  for.  For  example,  at  Love- 
land  the  terrace  is  loaded  with  local  limestone  slabs  which  are  thought  to. 
have  been  brought  in,  in  jiart  at  least,  by  the  freshets  on  a  tributary  which 
enters  the  river  there  from  the  east.  Instances  were  noted  where  blocks 
of  local  limestone  were  derived  from  projecting  points  a  short  distance 
upstream,  and  it  is  possible  that  the  blocks  at  Loveland  were  in  part 
derived  from  such  sources. 

In  many  instances  the  coarseness  of  the  material  varies  in  accordance 
with  the  curve  of  the  stream,  being  much  coarser  on  the  outer  than  on  the 
inner  curve.  Where  unaffected  by  these  local  influences  the  material  in 
the  terrace  consists  of  well-rounded  gravel  with  but  a  slight  intermixture  of 
sand  or  earthy  material.  The  pebbles,  like  those  in  the  moraine,  consist 
largely  of  local  rocks,  the  Canadian  rocks  forming-  less  than  5  per  cent  of 
the  material.  The  gravels  present  a  remarkably  fresh  appearance,  the 
surface  of  limestone  pebbles  slightly  embedded,  as  well  as  those  at  some 
depth,  being  scarcely  at  all  oxidized,  while  pebbles  of  crystalline  rocks 
seldom  show  signs  of  disintegration.  In  these  respects  the  pebbles  are 
decidedly  in  contrast  with  those  of  gravels  in  the  earlier  drift  whose  lime- 
stones, when  slightly  embedded,  are  deeply  oxidized  and  whose  crystalline 

MON  XLI 22 


338  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

pebbles  are  to  a  large  extent  disintegrated.  The  calcareous  material  with 
which  the  waters  that  percolate  this  terrace  are  charged  forms  a  slight 
cementation  of  portions  of  the  terrace  from  which  the  water  is  removed  by 
evaporation. 

The  terraces  of  the  Little  Miami  were  probably  built  up  in  part  by 
glacial  streams  from  the  vicinity  of  Kings  Mills,  where  the  ice  sheet  came 
down  to  the  borders  of  the  valley,  as  well  as  from  the  point  where  the 
moraine  crosses  the  stream  near  the  mouth  of  Cfesars  Creek,  and  from  the 
Scioto  lobe  along  Todds  Fork.  It  is  not  known  whether  glacial  terraces 
lead  in  from  the  East  Fork,  that  stream  not  having  been  examined.  On 
account  of  these  numerous  lines  of  discharge,  the  lower  portion  of  the  Little 
Miami  Valley  and  the  portion  of  the  Ohio  Valley  immediately  belo\\^  the 
mouth  of  the  Little  Miami  were  greatly  filled  by  gravel,  there  being  in  the 
city  of  Cincinnati  a  filling  from  a  level  somewhat  below  the  present  stream 
to  a  level  about  110  feet  above  it,  the  greater  part  of  which  is  gravel  with 
but  a  slight  admixture  of  sand  and  earthy  material. 

As  above  noted,  statements  that  the  rock  floor  of  the  (3hio  A^alley  at 
Cincinnati  stands  120  to  200  feet  below  the  present  bed-'  are  probably  due 
to  confounding  the  terrace  with  the  river  bed,  which  would  make  a  difter- 
ence  of  about  110  feet.  After  careful  inquiry  the  writer  could  learn  of  no 
wells  withhi  the  city  limits  which  show  the  rock  floor  to  be  lower  than  75 
feet  below  low-water  mark.  Records  of  wells  were  obtained  at  various 
parts  of  the  city  showing  the  distance  to  rock  in  the  midst  of  the  valley  as 
well  as  on  its  borders,  as  follows: 

East  End  Gas  Works,  near  north  bluff,  penetrated  130  to  135  feet  of 
drift,  striking  rock  at  70  to  75  feet  below  low- water  mark. 

West  End  Gras  Works,  in  midst  of  valley,  penetrated  118  feet  of  drift, 
striking  rock  at  58  feet  below  low-water  mark. 

Storr's  distillery  (formerly  Graff's),  west  of  Mill  Creek,  near  mouth, 
has  one  well  that  struck  rock  at  40  feet  below  low-water  mark,  while 
thirteen  others  failed  to  strike  rock,  though  terminating  at  levels  40  to  50 
feet  below  low-water  mark. 

The  pier  on  the  Ohio  side  of  the  suspension  bridge  rests  on  rock  at 
about  40  feet  below  low-water  mark,  while  the  middle  pier  of  the  Chesa- 
peake and  Ohio  Railway  bridge  was  reported  by  Joseph  F.  James  to  rest 

^See  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  1873,  p.  433;  also  Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  58,  1890,  pp.  79-80. 


OUTWASH  FROM  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  339 

on  rock  at  a  level  about  60  feet  below  the  river  bed.  The  well  at  the 
Hotel  Emory  penetrated  150  feet  of  drift  and  is  thought  to  be  on  rock  at 
the  bottom  40  to  50  feet  below  low-water  mark.  A  well  on  Sixth  street, 
between  Horn  and  Harriet  streets,  in  the  midst  of  the  valley,  struck  rock  at 
only  10  feet  below  low-water  mark.  On  the  Kentucky  side,  west  of  the 
Licking  River,  the  rock  comes  down  to  the  river  bank,  and  the  middle  pier 
of  the  Ludlow  bridge  rests  on  the  rock  at  the  level  of  the  present  river  bed 
(J.  F.  James). 

No  accurate  records  were  obtained  between  Cincinnati  and  Lawrence- 
bui-g,  Ind.,  along  the  supposed  new  course  of  the  Ohio.  Rock  is  struck  in 
Lawrenceburg  at  about  40  feet  below  the  river,  the  rock  floor  being  reported 
by  the  State  geologist  of  Indiana  to  have  an  altitude  368  feet  above  tide. 

The  valley  of  Mill  Creek  afiPorded  a  line  of  escape  for  waters  from  the 
point  of  the  glacial  lobe,  biit  it  seems  to  have  been  less  vigorous  than  that 
along  the  Little  Miami.  Well  sections  at  Ivorydale  and  Cumminsville,  and 
observations  along  the  creek,  show  that  with  the  exception  of  a  few  feet  at 
the  surface  the  drift  is  largely  clay.  There  is  a  deposit  of  surface  gravel 
along  the  west  side  of  the  creek  as  far  north  as  Hartwell,  above  w^hich, 
in  the  villages  of  Wyoming  and  Lockland,  there  is  till.  On  the  east  side 
of  the  creek  the  gravel  extends  up  at  least  to  Reading.  Not  far  above  this 
village  the  whole  width  of  the  valley  is  occupied  by  a  deposit  of  till.  The 
gravel,  therefore,  appears  to  head  in  the  moraine.  Sandy  deposits  on  the 
east  border  of  Mill  Creek  Valley,  in  the  vicinity  of  Bond  Hill,  as  above 
noted,  may  prove  to  be  the  product  of  flooded  stages  of  the  glacial  stream 
that  issued  from  the  ice  sheet  near  Reading. 

In  the  Great  Miami  Valley  there  is  a  heavy  accumulation  of  gravel, 
having  a  breadth  of  1  to  3  miles,  and  a  depth,  in  the  deepest  part  of  the 
valley,  of  about  200  feet.  The  surface  portion  of  this  gravel  probably  was 
deposited  during  the  formation  of  later  moraines  and  the  deep  portion  at  the 
Illinoian  or  earlier  Wisconsin.  Similarly,  on  the  Whitewater  River,  there 
is  a  great  accumulation  of  gravel  whose  surface  portion  apparently  was 
deposited  in  large  part  at  the  time  when  later  moraines  were  being  formed, 
since  the  gravel  plain  extends  to  these  later  moraines.  However,  there  has 
been  found  no  evidence  that  the  escape  of  waters  was  not  copious  in  each 
of  these  valleys  at  the  time  the  outer  moraine  was  forming.  If  the  valley 
was  built  up  to  a  higher  stage  at  this  time  than  when  later  moraines  were 
forming  the  remnants  of  its  terraces  have  escaped  notice. 


340  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

SECTI0:N^  II.     EARLY  WISCONSIaST  DRIFT  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE. 

INTRODUCTORY   STATEMENT. 

The  Scioto  lobe,  as  indicated  iii  PL  XIII,  covered  nearly  one-half  of 
the  glaciated  portion  of  Ohio,  and  occupied  the  ground  between  the  Grand 
River  lobe  on  the  east  and  the  Miami  lobe  on  the  west.  It  was  differentiated 
into  an  eastern  and  western  portion  by  a  highland  tract  near  Mansfield, 
but  in  the  former  portion  the  lobation  was  slight  compared  with  that  in  the 
latter,  and  the  striae  indicate  that  it  had  not  such  perfect  divergent  movement 
as  is  commonly  displayed  by  glacial  lobes.  It  is  therefore  classed  as  a 
shoulder  or  lateral  extension  of  the  main  lobe. 

The  outline  of  this  lobe  and  its  shoulder,  together  with  the  bearing  of 
the  striae,  show  a  striking  dependence  upon  the  physical  features  of  the 
region,  the  movement  being  greatly  extended  along  the  axis  where  low 
altitude  and  a  smooth  surface  prevailed,  and  but  slightly  extended  over 
elevated  and  hilly  districts  which  border  the  basin.  A  feature  of  much 
significance  is  found  in  the  winding  course  of  the  axial  movement,  which 
shows  a  tendency  to  accommodate  itself  to  the  lowest  parts  of  the  district 
traversed.  This  is  well  shown  by  the  striae.  In  passing  from  the  western 
end  of  the  Lake  Erie  Basin  to  the  Scioto  Basin  the  movement  changed  from 
a  southwestward  to  a  southward  course.  Within  the  Scioto  Basin  the 
movement  was  slightly  east  of  south  to  the  vicinity  of  Columbus,  beyond 
which  it  turned  southwestward,  there  being  a  lower  and  smoother  tract  of 
country  in  that  direction  than  down  the  Scioto.  At  its  terminus  at  the 
outer  moraine  in  Clinton  and  Highland  counties  it  fronted  nearly  south- 
west. This  winding  course  of  the  axial  movement  is  in  accord  with  the 
view  that  previous  to  the  last  ice  invasion  the  topography  was  similar  to 
what  it  is  now.  Indeed,  all  the  striking  peculiarities  of  outline  which  this 
glacial  lobe  presents — the  reentrant  angle  at  the  highlands  between  the 
Grand  River  and  Scioto  lobes,  the  shelf  at  the  highlands  near  Mansfield, 
the  long  lobe  in  the  Scioto  Basin,  the  winding  course  of  the  ice  tongue 
in  passing  from  the  Lake  Eiie  Basin  to  the  extremity  of  the  lobe,  and 
the  reentrant  angle  at  the  highlands  between  the  Scioto  and  Miami  lobes — 
seem  to  be  dependent  upon  topography  that  was  essentially  the  same 
previous  to  this  ice  invasion  as  it  is  now.  No  doubt  considerable  abra- 
sion resulted  from  each  of  the  ice  invasions,  but  no  evidence  has  been 


OUTER  MORAINE  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  341 

found  to  support  the  view  that  it  was  markedly  greater  in  the  basins  than 
on  the  elevated  hilly  tracts  that  border  them.  On  the  contrary,  evidence 
against  great  excavation  is  found  in  the  district  south  of  the  glacial 
boundary  near  the  southern  extremit}^  of  this  glacial  lobe  where  the  two 
types  of  topography  are  nearly  as  nauch  in  contrast  as  within  the  glaciated 
district,  there  being  east  of  the  meridian  of  Hillsboro,  Ohio,  and  Maysville, 
Ky.,  a  more  elevated  and  more  hilly  district  than  there  is  west  of  that 
meridian.     For  further  discussion  of  topographic  featui'es  see  Chapter  II. 

THE  OUTER  OR  CUBA  MORAINE. 

An  earlier  moraine  than  the  outer  one  described  by  Chamberlin^  was 
discovered  by  the  writer  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  district  covered  by 
the  Scioto  lobe.  It  is  apparently  to  be  classed  with  the  early  Wisconsin 
series,  while  the  one  described  by  Chamberlin  seems  to  belong  to  the  late 
Wisconsin  series.  So  far  as  recognized,  it  lies  outside  the  later  ones  only 
in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  district,  though  it  may  possibly  have  cor- 
relatives in  portions  of  the  tangled  systems  of  moraines  formed  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  lobe.  The  name  Cuba  is  taken  from  a  village  that 
.  stands  on  the  crest  of  the  moraine  near  the  middle  of  the  morainic  loop. 

DISTRIBUTION. 

On  the  north  side  of  "Beech  Flats,"  in  Pike  County,  and  near  the 
eastern  line  of  Highland  County,  Ohio,  this  moraine  becomes  clearly  sepa- 
rated from,  and  distinctly  developed  outside  of,  the  later  ones.  It  is  readily 
traced  westward  along  the  south  side  of  Rocky  Fork,  from  the  mouth  to 
the  source  of  that  stream,  the  villages  of  Cynthiana,  Carmel,  and  Marshall 
being  situated  near  its  southern  margin  and  Hillsboro  just  north  of  it.  Its 
breadth  is  1  to  2  miles.  In  the  vicinity  of  Hillsboro  the  creek  winds  among 
sharp  gravelly  knolls,  which  have  a  contour  strikingly  different  from  the 
remainder  of  the  belt,  and  which  may  prove  to  belong  to  the  earlier  drift 
sheet.  Northwest  of  Hillsboro  the  moraine  for  several  miles  is  not  well 
developed,  but  a  mile  or  two  southeast  of  New  Vienna  it  reappears  in  con- 
siderable strength.  From  that  point  it  takes  a  westward  course,  its  outer 
margin  being  in  surveys  2357,  753,  4656,  4233,  and  4234,  Highland  County. 
Continuing  westward  into  Clinton  County  its  margin  at  the  East  Fork  of 


'  Third  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  1883,  pp.  339-341. 


342  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Little  Miami  River  is  at  the  crossing  of  the  Martinsville  and  Hillsboro  pike. 
From  this  stream  westward  to  Martinsville  the  pike  runs  near  the  south 
margin  of  the  moraine,  keeping  the  outer  border  plain  constantly  in  view. 
Martinsville  is  itself  on  the  south  slope.  West  from  that  village  the  moraine 
leads  thi'ough  Ctiba,  its  southern  edge  being  followed  by  the  East  Fork  of 
Cowans  Creek  to  its  junction  with  Todds  Fork,  near  Clarksville.  From 
this  point  it  swings  rapidly  northward  and,  assuming  a  course  slightly  west 
of  north,  comes  to  Caesar  Creek,  near  Harveysburg,  where  it  connects 
with  the  eastern  limb  of  the  outer,  or  Hartwell,  moraine  of  the  Miami  lobe. 
The  interlobate  moraine,  as  above  noted  (p.  30.5),  extends  up  the  Little 
Miami  Valley  across  Greene  County.  This  belt  exhibits  its  greatest  breadth 
near  Cuba,  where  for  a  few  miles  it  has  a  width  of  4  or  5  miles;  usually 
its  width  is  but  1  or  2  miles. 

RELIEF. 

North  of  Beech  Flats,  in  Pike  County,  and  in  southeastern  Highland 
County,  the  moraine  is  of  a  subdued  type,  and  stands  only  10  to  25  feet 
higher  than  the  north  border  of  these  flats.  Toward  the  west  sharp  gravel 
hills,  80  to  100  feet  in  height,  set  in,  among  which  are  low  tracts  no  higher 
than  the  tracts  outside  (south)  of  the  moraine  and  but  little  higher  than  the 
valley  of  Rocky  Fork,  which  lies  on  the  north.  As  already  stated,  these 
gravel  hills  may  belong  to  the  earlier  drift  sheet  instead  of  this  moraine. 
Both  north  and  south  of  this  portion  of  the  moraine  there  are  rocky  hills 
bearing  scarcely  any  drift,  which  stand  much  higher  than  the  moraine. 
The  moraine  is,  therefore,  not  so  conspicuous  a  feature  as  it  would  be  on 
plane  tracts,  such  as  are  found  in  northwestern  Ohio  or  even  on  those  in  the 
adjoining  counties,  Clinton  and  Fayette,  where  there  are  few  rocky  hills. 
In  the  northwestern  part  of  Highland  and  in  eastern  Clinton  counties  it 
rises  quite  abruptly  above  the  flats  that  border  it  on  the  south,  in  many 
places  a  rise  of  20  feet  being  made  in  as  many  rods,  while  the  crest  of  the 
moraine  is  30  to  60  feet  above  the  outer  border  plain.  The  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  Railroad  profile  shows  at  Martinsville  a  rise  of  15  feet  in  5  chains  and 
a  rise  of  62  feet  in  52  chains  in  its  passage  from  the  plain  to  the  crest  of  the 
moraine.  West  of  Martinsville  there  is  a  more  gradual  rise  to  the  moraine 
from  the  outer  border  plain  than  that  noted  east  of  the  village,  about  30 
feet  in  a  mile  being  the  usual  rise  in  the  vicinity  of  Cuba.  North  of 
Clarksville  it  stands   30  to  50  feet    above   a  plane  tract  along  its  outer 


OUTER  MORAINE  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  343 

border,  drained  by  a  small  stream  known  as  Flat  Fork,  and  presents  an 
abrupt  relief.  North  from  the  point  where  it  touches  Csesars  Creek,  near 
Harveysburg,  it  is,  as  noted  above,  so  closely  associated  with  the  correla- 
tive Miami  moraine  as  to  be  distinct  only  at  intervals.  Near  Xenia  the 
eastern  part  of  the  interlobate  belt  rises  boldly  above  the  country  west  of 
it,  but  its  altitude  there  is  due,  in  large  part,  to  the  underlying  rock,  since  it 
lies  upon  the  western  edge  of  the  Niagara  escarpment.  On  the  Xenia  and 
New  Jasper  pike,  leading  eastward  from  the  court-house  in  Xenia,  there 
is  an  ascent  of  about  100  feet  in  2  miles,  where  a  summit  is  reached.  A 
mile  or  more  farther  east,  and  only  40  to  50  feet  lower,  are  outcrops  of 
rock.  The  inner  border  relief  of  the  interlobate  belt  in  this  vicinity  is  30 
to  40  feet.  In  Chnton  County  the  inner  border  rehef  is  scarcely  noticeable 
except  in  rare  instances;  it  seldom  exceeds  26  feet,  and  rises  for  a  mile  or 
more  to  attain  this  height. 

RANGE    IN    ALTITUDE. 

The  altitude  ranges  between  900  and  1,200  feet  above  tide,  being 
greatest  in  the  vicinity  of  New  Vienna,  as  shown  by  the  table  below: 

Altitudes  .along  tJie  Cuba  -moraine. 

"  Feet 

above  tide. 

Marshall  (Ohio  Geologieal  Survey) \,Q2i\. 

Near  New  Vienna  (Baltimore  and  Ohio  Southwestern  Railroad) 1, 180 

Near  Martinsville  (Baltimore  and  Ohio  Southwestern  Railroad) 1, 106 

Ogden,  in  valley  ( Cincinnati  and  Muskingum  Valley  Railroad ) 901 

East  of  Xeuia  (aneroid) 1'  10^ 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

The  topography  of  the  moraine  is  of  a  gently  undulatory  type,  swells 
exceeding  10  feet  in  height  not  being  numerous,  while  those  with  a  height  of 
15  to  20  feet  are  rare.  It  is  undulatory,  however,  in  this  slight  degree,  and 
thus  differs  from  the  plains  toward  the  south,  which  have  extensive  tracts  so 
level  that  the  water  which  falls  in  the  spring  often  stands  on  the  surface 
until  evaporated  by  summer  drought.  The  distinctive  characters  of  this 
moraine  are  its  relief  above  the  flat  land  which  borders  it,  as  was  noted 
above,  and  its  general  freedom  from  silt  such  as  covers  the  flat  land.  Were 
it  not  for  these  its  classification  as  a  moraine  might  be  doubtful,  for  in  the 
matter  of  drift  swells  it  certainly  has  not  a  pronouncedly  morainic  expres- 
sion; but  a  consideration  of  these  features  and  of  its  connections  makes 


344  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

it  evident  that  it  marks  a  part  of  the  margin  of  a  glacial  lobe.  The  sharp 
gravel  knolls  which  appear  near  the  line  of  the  moraine  in  the  vicinity  of 
Hillsboro  apparently  belong  to  the  lUinoian  or  earlier  ice  invasion,  as 
already  indicated. 

In  eastern  and  central  Highland  County  the  moraine  presents  m  its 
outer  portion  gentle  swells  of  till,  5  to  15  feet  in  height,  each  covering  areas 
of  1  to  10  acres  or  more.  Northwest  from  the  Maysville  Railway,  in  sur- 
vey 2480,  small  gravelly  knolls  10  to  20  feet  or  more  in  height  abound, 
several  of  which  are  in  view  from  the  Cincinnati  pike  west  of  Hillsboro. 
From  surve}^  2480  northward  to  survey  2351,  a  distance  of  about  4  miles, 
there  are  no  well-defined  morainic  features. 

In  northwestern  Highland,  in  Clinton,  and  in  Greene  counties  there 
is,  aside  from  the  main  ridge,  which  stands  20  to  40  feet  above  the  outer 
plain,  a  moderate  number  of  small  knolls  and  gentle  swells  10  to  20  feet  in 
height.  The  majority  of  these  swells  are  conical,  or  but  slightly  elliptical. 
When  elliptical,  the  trend  of  the  longer  axis  is  usually  in  line  with  the 
moraine,  whose  trend  there  is  from  east  of  north  to  west  of  south. 

STRUCTURE    AND    THICKNESS    OF    DRIFT. 

In  the  main  the  drift  consists  of  till,  but,  like  most  other  moraines  and 
also  the  intermorainic  drift  sheets,  considerable  variation  is  frequently  found 
within  short  distances,  owing  to  the  presence  of  local  beds  of  assorted 
material  which  occur  at  various  depths.  It  is  from  these  beds  that  the 
wells  of  the  region  usually  derive  their  water  supply.  But  in  Highland 
County,  in  the  Wcinity  of  Hillsboro  and  thence  down  Rocky  Fork,  as  has 
been  noted,  large  gravel  knolls  occur.  The  gravel  in  these  knolls  is  largely 
composed  of  limestone  pebbles,  and  much  of  it  near  Hillsboro  is  cemented, 
and  in  general  it  has  the  aged  appearance  of  the  earlier  drift.  It  shows 
strata  in  various  attitudes,  but  where  opened  extensivel}"  horizontal  stratifi- 
cation predominates. 

The  lower  limit  of  this  sheet  of  drift  is  in  places  shown  by  a  buried 
land  surface,  having  a  soil  and  peaty  deposits.  The  buried  soil  is  found  at 
Marshall,  as  has  been  noted  by  Orton,  and  many  wells  reported  to  the 
writer  in  Martinsville  and  some  at  Wilmington  strike  it.  It  is  well  exposed 
along  a  ravine  in  the  south  part  of  Wilming'ton,  as  described  below. 

The  buried  soil,  wherever  noted  in  Highland  and  Clinton  counties,  is 


OUTER  MORMNE  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  345 

usually  but  20  to  25  feet,  rarely  40  feet,  from  the  surface,  and  it  is  thouglit 
to  constitute,  as  a  rule,  the  surface  of  the  older  or  lUiuoian  drift  sheet. 
Apparently  this  slight  depth  represents  the  usual  thickness  of  the  early 
Wisconsin  drift  in  this  region,  for  it  is  not  over  25  feet  on  the  moraine  at 
Martinsville  and  Marshall,  and  may  be  even  less  on  the  inner  plain. 

At  Martinsville  many  wells  strike  considerable  vegetal  material,  wood, 
soil,  etc.,  at  about  20  feet,  but  occasionally  as  low  as  40  feet.  Wells  in  this 
village  40  to  45  feet  deep  do  "not  reach  rock.  In  some  wells  inflammable 
gas  issues  at  a  depth  of  from  30  to  40  feet,  and  is  perhaps  derived  from  the 
vegetal  deposits  of  the  drift.  The  drift  there  is  mainly  till,  both  above  and 
below  the  buried  soil. 

Orton  has  reported  tliat  at  Marshall  11  out  of  20  wells  scruck  a  buried 
soil  or  vegetal  material  at  slight  depth.  The  drift  at  this  place  extends 
deeper  than  the  horizon  of  the  soil,  since  wells  25  to  30  feet  deep  on  low 
ground,  as  well  as  those  on  knolls,  fail  to  reach  rock. 

Near  Wilmington  the  distance  to  rock  on  surfaces  having  no  marked 
difference  in  altitude  ranges  from  a  mere  trace  up  to  80  feet  or  more,  there 
being  an  outcrop  of  rock  just  east  of  the  city,  while  on  ground  equally  low 
within  the  city  hmits  60  feet  of  drift  is  not  uncommon,  and  the  gas-well 
boring  north  of  the  city,  on  ground  but  little  higher,  penetrates  about  80 
feet  of  di-ift.  The  late  L.  B.  Welch,  of  Wilmington,  has  ascertained  that 
wells  in  Wilmington,  where  drift  is  60  feet  deep,  penetrate  about  equal 
amounts  of  older  drift  and  newer,  and  the  older,  i.  e.,  that  below  the  buried 
soil,  is  drier  and  much  more  difficult  to  penetrate  than  the  newer,  probably 
because  of  a  partial  cementation.  Excellent  exposures  of  the  buried  soil 
are  found  along  Lytles  Creek  in  the  south  part  of  Wilmington.  The  soil 
is  2  to  6  feet  in  thickness  and  of  very  dark  color.  It  is  overlain  by  15  or 
20  feet  of  Wisconsin  till  and  underlain  by  about  the  same  amount  of  lUi- 
noian  till.  There  is  a  small  amount  of  white  clay  resting  on  the  soil,  but  in 
most  of  the  exposures  the  clay  was  removed  before  the  Wisconsin  till  was 
laid  down,  so  that  the  till  commonly  rests  directly  on  the  soil.  The  till 
below  the  black  soil  is  oxidized  to  a  depth  of  10  or  12  feet,  below  which  it 
is  of  a  blue  color.  It  is  on  Lytles  Creek,  a  few  rods  below  the  place 
where  the  buried  soil  is  exposed,  that  striae  were  found  beneath  the  Illinoian 
drift.  They  bear  S.  32°  W.,  or  in  about  the  same  direction  as  the  Wisconsin 
ice  movement.     As  above  noted  (p.  326),  they  bear  strongly  upon  the  inter- 


346  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

jDretation  of  the  direction  in  which  the  Chnton  liinestone  of  the  "  Betty 
Heidy  "  quarry  was  transported. 

Welch  has  found  many  Devonian  fossils  in  the  drift  near  Wilmington, 
which  accord  with  the  strise  and  the  Wisconsin  moraines  in  indicating-  a 
southwestward  movement  of  the  ice  sheet,  for  the  principal  outcrops  of 
Devonian  strata  are  to  the  nttrtheast. 

Wells  in  Wilming'ton  also  strike  a  bed  containing  molluscan  shells 
beneath  about  25  feet  of  till  and  above  the  hard  till  of  the  Illinoian  drift. 
They  were  probably  in  the  white  clay  referred  to  the  lowan  stage.  Welch 
collected  a  considerable  number  of  these  shells,  which  await  identification, 
though  they  seem  to  be  larg-el)^  Succinea  avara.  He  also  examined  expo- 
sures of  the  buried  soils  and  found  seeds  of  Sagittarius  and  the  bulrush  of 
northern  ponds;  also  pieces  of  wood,  one  of  which  shows  beaver  cuttings; 
and  another  was  thought  by  him  to  show  evidence  of  charring  by  fire.  Of 
these  specimens  the  writer  has  seen  the  first-named  piece  of  wood  and  the 
collection  of  shells  from  below  the  till.  The  wood  appears  to  be  cedar. 
The  shells  are  all  minute,  being  scarcely  one-eighth  inch  in  diameter,  and 
were  in  their  original  matrix  of  fine  silt. 

In  Greene  County  there  are  few  deep  wells  along  the  moraine,  water 
being  usually  found  at  20  feet  or  less.  The  following  records  of  deep 
wells  are  the  only  ones  obtained. 

At  C.  W.  McDonald's,  on  the  Xenia  and  Wilmington  pike,  about 
2  miles  south  of  Xenia,  a  well  52  feet  in  depth  does  not  reach  rock.  It 
was  thought  by  Mr.  McDonald  to  be  mainly  tlu-ough  till.  At  a  school- 
house  about  IJ  miles  southwest  of  Paintersville,  on  the  plain  east  of  the 
moraine,  a  well  was  dug  which  has  the  following  section,  as  reported  by 
D.  H.  Oglesbee,  who  assisted  in  dig-giug  it: 

Section  of  SGhoolliOuse  well  near  Paintersville^  Ohio. 

Feet. 

1 .  Yellow  till 8-10 

2.  Blue  till - 40 

3.  Dry  sand - - 10-12 

4.  Hard,  dry  clay  of  bluish  color,  penetrated 20 

The  well  was  abandoned  at  about  80  feet.  Another  well  jnade  subse- 
quently at  the  same  schoolhouse  obtained  water  at  125  feet,  which  over- 
flows, but  the  writer  was  unable  to  obtain  a  detailed  section.  Oglesbee  is 
of  the  opinion  that  it  did  not  I'each  the  bottom  of  the  drift. 


INNER  BORDER  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  347 

BOWT.DERS. 

There  are  few  bowlders  either  on  the  moraine  or  on  the  inner  border 
plain,  but  what  is  lacking  in  number  is  partly  made  good  in  size.  A  gneiss 
bowlder  on  the  farm  of  the  Clinton  County  infirmary,  about  200  yards 
south  of  the  Wilmington  and  New  Vienna;  pike,  measures  47  feet  in  circum- 
ference 1^  feet  above  its  base.  Its  highest  point  stands  9  feet  8  inches 
above  ground,  and  it  is  evidently  sunk  into  the  ground  to  some  depth.  It 
has  a  diameter  from  north  to  south  of  neaily  20  feet,  but  from  east  to  west 
it  is  scarcely  10  feet.  It  contains  a  few  very  coarse  crystals  of  feldspar 
several  inches  in  diameter,  and  coarse  masses  of  quartz,  but  the  crystals  are 
generally  fine.  A  short  distance  south  of  the  ci'ossing  of  the  Midland  Rail- 
way by  the  Wilmington  and  Cuba  pike,  thei'e  is  a  limestone  bowlder  1 1  or 
12  feet  long  and  6  or  7  feet  wide  standing  about  1  foot  above  ground.  It 
contains  Favosites  and  cyathophylloid  corals  (species  and  geological  horizon 
not  determined).  A  number  of  small  bowlders  1  to  2  feet  in  diameter, 
mainly  granite,  were  observed  between  Cowans  Creek  and  Cuba.  They 
are  more  numerous  there  than  elsewhere  on  this  moraine,  but  they  consti- 
tute no  serious  hindrance  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  Nearly  all  the 
bowlders  observed  are  well  rounded;  this  is  especially  true  of  the  smaller 
ones.  Pebbles  are  generally  quite  rare  on  this  moraine  to  a  depth  of  a 
foot  or  more,  but  the  moraine  has  not  such  a  continuous  deposit  of  silt  as 
occurs  on  tlie  outer  border  plain. 

INNER   BORDER   PHENOMENA. 

In  Greene  County  there  is  a  plane  tract  between  the  Cuba  moraine  and 
a  neighboring  later  moraine.  In  Clinton  County  there  is  a  generally  plane 
surface  between  these  moraines,  but  just  east  of  Wilmington  there  is  a 
small  drift  ridge  trending  from  northwest  to  southeast.  It  has  a  more  or  less 
distinct  continuation  in  both  directions,  but  joins  the  Cuba  moraine  at  the 
nortliwest  in  northwestern  Clinton  County,  and  at  the  southeast  a  short 
distance  southeast  of  Wilmington.  Its  surface  is  about  30  feet  above  the 
tracts  east  and  west  of  it,  where  the  Washington  and  Wilmington  pike 
crosses,  but  as  a  rule  it  is  scarcely  so  prominent.  Its  width  where  most 
prominent  is  less  than  a  mile.  The  surface  of  the  crest  is  gently  undu- 
latory,  with  oscillations  of  10  to  15  feet,  more  or  less.  These  undulations, 
though    slight,   are    in    contrast  with    those  of  the  smoother  till  tract    on 


348  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

either  side,  which  scarcely  exceed  5  feet.  In  Highland  County  the  inner 
border  district  is  hilly,  but  the  drift  has  usually  a  plane  surface ;  occasional 
knolls  and  ridges  of  small  size  and  limited  extent  appear. 


The  bearings  of  the  striae  are  on  the  whole  in  harmony  with  the 
distribution  of  the  moraine,  since  they  form  a  diverging  series  bearing 
southward,  southwestward,  and  westward  to  meet  the  moraine  nearly  at 
right  angles.  While  the  majorit}^  may  have  been  formed  at  the  Wisconsin 
invasion,  one  exposure  is  certainly  of  lUinoian  age,  as  indicated  above. 
Observations  were  made  as  follows: 

1.  On  the  south  bluff  of  Lees  Creek,  near  the  top  of  the  hill,  140  to 
150  feet  above  the  creek  valley.  Exposed  in  a  ditch  on  the  west  side  of 
the  East  Monroe  and  Hillsboro  pike,  bearing  S.  12°  W.  (magnetic).  The 
rock  surface  rises  rapidly  toward  the  south,  affording  an  excellent  surface 
for  the  glacier  to  work  upon.  The  stria-  take  the  form  of  numerous  fine 
lines. 

2.  On  Bull  Run,  a  tributary  of  Hardins  Creek,  in  survey  2518,  about 
one-fourth  mile  east  of  the  Leesbiu'g  and  New  Petersburg  pike,  bearing 
S.  9°  W.  (magnetic).  The  rock  is  a  hard  brown  limestone,  perhaps  siliceous 
in  part.  The  exposure  is  in  the  bed  of  the  stream,  and  tlie  glaciation  con- 
sists of  shallow  grooves  one-half  mch  or  more  in  width,  and  of  fine  lines, 
all  ha\'ing,  so  far  as  determined,  the  same  bearing. 

3.  In  the  second  railway  cutting  w6st  of  Leesburg  in  a  ditch  at  the 
side  of  the  track,  on  brown  limestone,  bearing  S.  18°  W.  (magnetic).  The 
strige  consist  of  fine  lines,  parallel  so  far  as  observed.  In  a  cutting  between 
this  place  and  Leesburg  the  railway  has  removed  layers  of  rock  to  a  depth 
of  several  feet.  Mr.  Hilliard,  of  Leesburg,  states  that  he  has  observed  striae 
in  this  cutting  bearing  west  of  south.  Orton  has  reported  striae  on  a  hill  to 
the  south,  the  altitude  being  75  feet  or  more  above  the  level  of  the  exposure 
in  the  railway  cutting.^ 

4.  In  Clinton  County  two  striated  exposures  were  noted.  One  is  on  the 
Clinton  limestone,  in  the  bed  of  Lytles  Creek  in  the  southwest  part  of  Wil- 
mington, bearing  S.  32°  W.  (magnetic). 

5.  The  other  is  just  below  the  railroad  bridge  west  of  Ogden  on  a  low 

1  Rept.  Ohio  Geol.  Survey,  1870,  p.  265. 


STRI^  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  349 

bench  of  rock  at  the  west  side  of  the  creek  bed,  bearing  S.  37°  W.  It 
consists  of  a  multitude  of  fine  lines  on  a  blue  fossiliferous  limestone  of 
Lower  Silurian  age. 

6.  Chamberlin  has  reported  striae  on  Andersons  Fork  southwest  of 
Reesville,  beaiing  S.  45°-56°  W.^ 

7.  On  the  east  side  of  the  Wilmington  and  Xenia  jiike  near  the  top  of 
the  north  bluff  of  Caesars  Creek,  in  Greene  County,  are  several  o-laciated 
exposures,  bearing  S.  40°  W.  (magnetic). 

8.  Near  New  Jasper,  Greene  County,  in  Bickett's  quarry,  south  of  the 
Xenia  and  New  Jasper  pike,  the  rock  surface  is  planed  to  glassy  smoothness 
and  covered  with  striae,  the  majority  of  which  bear  W.  5°  N.,  but  they  range 
from  W.  2°  N.  to  W.  20°  N.  (magnetic).  The  westward  movement  was 
determined  by  the  examination  of  a  cherty  prominence  in  the  stone,  the 
east  side  being  the  stoss  side. 

9.  At  ConkKn's  quarry,  near  New  Jasper,  a  shoi-t  distance  east  of 
Bickett's  quarry,  on  the  bank  of  Caesars  Creek,  bearing  of  nearly  all  tliii 
striae  about  W.  17°  N.  This  rock,  because  of  its  hardness,  is  not  jjlaned 
down  like  that  in  Bickett's  quarry.  There  are  many  depressions  and  furrows 
so  striated  as  to  indicate  a  westward  movement,  the  strongest  striation  and 
heaviest  planing  being  on  the  west  side  of  such  furrows  as  were  too  deep 
for  the  ice  to  striate  to  the  bottom. 

OUTER   BORDER   PHENOMENA. 

The  earlier  drift  and  its  silt  capping  having  been  discussed,  it  remains 
only  to  discuss  the  fluvial  plains.  There  are  two  streams,  Todds  Fork  and 
the  East  Fork  of  Little  Miami,  which  lead  from  the  moraine  under  discussion 
into  the  outer  border  district,  and  whose  valleys  were  available  for  the  escape 
of  glacial  waters  at  the  time  the  moraine  was  forming.  The  East  Fork  was 
not  examined  for  evidences  of  glacial  streams,  but  Todds  Fork  was  found  to 
carry  remnants  of  a  gravel  terrace  which  is  apparently  of  the  same  age  as 
tlie  moraine.  At  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine  just  above  Clarksville  the 
terrace  is  well  exhibited,  occupying  nearly  the  whole  width  of  a  broad 
valley.  Its  connection  with  the  moraine  is  not  so  close  as  in  certain  other 
streams  which  the  writer  has  examined  within  the  glaciated  district,  but  this 
may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  the  moraine  does  not  fill  the  valley,  but  simply 
dots  the  slope  with  scattering  knolls. 


'  Third  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  1883,  p.  .340. 


350  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

This  much  is  certain,  however,  that  gravel  deposits  are  rare  above  the 
moraine  and  very  abundant  below  it.  The  height  of  the  terrace  at  the 
border  of  the  moraine  is  about  30  feet  above  Todds  Fork,  and  it  is  about 
the  same  at  Clarksville.  At  a  railway  switch  about  midway  between 
Clarksville  and  Hicks  station  it  rises  40  feet  or  more  above  the  creek.  In 
the  vicinity  of  Hicks  station  it  is  40  to  50  feet,  while  along  the  nortli- 
flowiug  portion  of  the  creek,  1  to  li  miles  above  its  mouth,  the  terrace 
stands  about  60  feet  above  the  creek.  It  continues  down  Little  Miami 
River,  being  well  exposed  in  the  south  bluff  for  2  miles  below  Moitow.  The 
descent  of  the  terrace  near  its  head  is  about  the  same  as  that  of  the  creek, 
18  to  20  feet  per  mile,  but  farther  down  it  is  less  rapid.  From  CIarks%-ille 
to  the  exposure  a  mile  above  the  mouth  of  the  creek,  its  descent  is  about 
130  feet  in  10  miles.  The  fall  of  the  present  stream  in  the  same  distance 
is  160  feet. 

The  Cincinnati  and  Muskingum  Valley  Railway  has  opened  a  gravel 
pit  in  the  terrace  near  its  head,  about  a  mile  above  Clarksville.  It  exposes 
3  or  4  feet  of  sandy  gravel  at  top,  beneath  which  is  gravel  with  but  little 
sand  intermingled,  exposed  to  a  depth  of  about  20  feet.  It  is  horizontally 
bedded  and  contains  many  pebbles  3  to  4  inches  in  diameter.  Much  of  the 
gravel  is  well-rounded  local  limestone,  but  Canadian  rocks  ai-e  not  rare. 
At  Clarks^dlle  a  well  on  the  terrace  at  the  Hadley  House,  20  feet  in  depth, 
did  not  reach  the  bottom  of  the  gravel.  It  was  described  by  ]\Ir.  Hadley 
as  containing  coarse  gravel  with  pebbles  3  to  4  inches  in  diameter,  thin  beds 
of  fine  gravel  being  interbedded  with  the  coarse.  Mr.  A.  W.  Thomas  has 
a  well  on  the  lot  adjoining  the  Hadley  House  which  reached  the  bottom 
of  the  gravel  and  entered  a  blue  shale  at  20  feet. 

At  the  exposure  near  the  mouth  of  T'odds  Fork  the  upper  20  feet 
consists  of  well-rounded  gravel  containing  Canadian  as  well  as  local  pebbles. 
Few  pebbles  exceed  3  inches  in  diameter,  and  there  is  much  fine  gravel  and 
sand  intermixed  with  the  larger  pebbles.  There  is  no  silty  capping  here 
such  as  occurs  near  Clarksville.  Below  the  gravel  for  about  20  feet  there 
is  a  poorly  assorted  material  in  which  man}^  slabs  of  local  limestone  occur, 
and  beneatli  this  is  about  20  feet  of  blue  till.  The  till  apparently  fills  a 
narrow  gorge  in  the  rock  strata,  for  a  few  rods  up  stream  from  the  dep(.)sit 
of  blue  till  limestone  strata  are  exposed  Avhich  rise  to  the  level  of  the  top 
of  the  deposit. 


DRIFT  OF  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.  351 

SECTIOIS^   III.    PKOBABL,E    EAR£,X  WISCONSI?f   DRIFT   OF    THE   GRAXD 

RIVER   LOBE. 

As  indicated  in  the  discussion  of  the  drift  border,  a  portion  of  the 
extraraorainie  drift  in  eastern  Ohio  and  western  Pennsylvania,  notably 
that  in  Columbiana  County,  Ohio,  and  Beaver  County,  Pa.,  appears  to  be 
as  recent  as  the  early  Wisconsin,  while  that  in  counties  to  the  east  seems 
to  be  much  older,  Kansan  or  pre-Kansan  in  age.  The  portion  thought  to 
be  of  early  Wisconsin  age  extends  only  a  short  distance,  nowhere  more 
than  10  miles,  beyond  the  strong  outer  moraine  of  late  Wisconsin  age.  It 
is  rarely  aggregated  in  knolls  or  ridges,  thus  differing  markedly  from  the 
hummocky  surface  of  that  moraine.  It  fills  the  valleys  and  lowlands  to 
considerable  depth,  but  on  ridges  and  hills  it  is  represented  only  by  scatter- 
ing pebbles  and  occasional  thin  deposits  of  till.  The  till  is  often  present  in 
considerable  amount  on  the  north  side  of  ridges  nearl)^  to  the  crest,  while 
the  south  side  at  similar  altitudes  is  almost  destitute  of  drift.  The  till  is  of 
a  clayey  constitution,  like  that  of  the  early  Wisconsin  farther  west. 

The  chief  reason  for  assigning  this  part  of  the  extramorainic  drift  to 
a  later  stage  than  the  old  drift  farther  east  is  found  in  its  comparative  fresh- 
ness. It  is  but  little  more  weathered  than  the  late  Wisconsin  drift  of  the 
neighboring  moraine.  A  response  with  acid  can  usually  be  obtained  at  a 
depth  of  but  5  or  6  feet  The  bowlders  also  are  but  little  more  weathered 
than  those  on  the  surface  of  the  late  Wisconsin  moraine.  Thej^  are  strik- 
ingly in  contrast  with  the  rotten  and  deeply  weathered  bowlders  and 
pebbles  which  characterize  the  old  drift  of  northwestern  Pennsylvania. 

The  grounds  for  separating  this  extramorainic  drift  from  the  late  Wis- 
consin are  perhaps  open  to  question.  It  has  impressed  the  writer,  and  also 
Professor  Chamberlin,  as  somewhat  more  weathered  than  that  of  the  neigh- 
boring late  Wisconsin  moraines.  The  fact  that  it  is  so  strikinglj-  different 
in  topography  has  also  been  considered  a  matter  of  some  consequence.  It 
also  seems  natural  that  this  lobe,  as  well  as  the  Scioto  and  Miami  lobes,  should 
have  extended  farther  in  the  early  Wisconsin  than  in  the  late  Wisconsin 
stage.  But  the  reference  to  the  early  Wisconsin  is  only  provisional.  This 
drift  may  yet  prove  to  be  the  product  of  an  advance  but  little  earlier  than 
that  which  formed  the  bulky  late  Wisconsin  moraine. 


CHAPTEK   XT. 

THE   INTERVAL   BETWEEN   THE  EARLY   AND    LATE 
WLSCONSIN  DRIFT. 

The  Hartwell-Criba  moraine  and  its  associated  sheet  of  drift,  and  the 
morainic  tracts  in  the  reentrant  between  the  Scioto  and  Miami  lobes,  appear 
to  be  the  only  outlying  representatives  of  the  early  Wisconsin  drift  m  this 
region,  the  remainder  of  the  series  being  concealed  beneath  the  moraines 
and  drift  sheets  wliich  are  here  referred  to  the  late  Wisconsin  series.  The 
eAddence  of  an  interval  between  the  deposition  of  the  early  Wisconsin  drift 
and  the  formation  of  the  outer  inoraine  of  the  late  Wisconsin  series  is  well 
shown  ill  the  elevated  land  lying  between  the  Miami  and  Scioto  lobes,  where, 
as  above  noted,  the  outer  moraine  of  the  Miami  lobe  and  the  outwash 
gravel  associated  with  it  had  been  trenched  by  streams  prior  to  the  formation 
of  the  neighboring  late  Wisconsin  moraines  of  the  Miami  and  Scioto  lobes. 
Professor  Chamberliii  noted  this  channeling  and  interpreted  it  as  evidence 
of  an  interval  while  making  a  reconnaissance  of  western  Ohio  in  1883, 
and  the  writer  gave  it  further  attention  a  few  years  later.  The  cutting  of 
the  broad  valley  of  Mad  River,  about  2  miles  in  average  width  and  25  to 
50  feet  in  depth,  was  referred  b}-  Chaniberlin  t(i  this  interval,  as  were  also 
similar  chaiinels  of  its  tributaries.  In  the  late  Wisconsin  stage  the  ice  came 
down  about  to  the  valley  of  Mad  River  on  the  west  and  covered  the  upper 
portion  of  the  western  tributaries.  The  sheet  of  drift  deposited  at  this 
later  advance  only  partially  fills  some  of  the  tributaries,  but  its  knolls  dot 
the  slopes  and  bottoms  of  the  interglacial  channels,  thus  repeating  the 
phenomena  of  the  early  Wisconsin  moraine  in  valleys  of  the  Whitewater 
system  noted  above  (p.  306). 

On  the  east  side  of  the  Mad  River  drainage  basin  there  are  similar 
phenomena  associated  with  the  outer  late  Wisconsin  moraine  of  the  Scioto 
lobe.  This  moraine  descends  into  valleys  cut  in  the  early  Wisconsin  drift 
of  that  region.  The  details  are  given  in  connection  with  the  discussion  of 
that  moraine  (p]i.  382  et  seq.). 

3n2 


TIME  BETWEEN  EARLY  AND  LATE  WISCONSIN.  353 

It  should  perhaps  he  stated  that  Mad  River  and  its  tributaries  do  not 
follow  to  any  great  degree  preglacial  lines,  the  concealed  rock  surface,  if 
we  may  judge  from  well  data,  being  nearly  as  elevated  along  the  A'alleys  as 
beneath  bordering  uplands.  The  evidence  appears  decisive  that  the  valleys 
are  interglacial  and  not  preglacial. 

The  evidence  of  an  interval  is  less  striking  on  the  south  and  west 
border  of  the  Miami  lobe  than  that  on  the  east,  just  noted.  On  the  Great 
Miami,  the  valley  gravels  leading  away  from  the  later  sheet  of  drift  have 
filled  its  channels  about  to  the  level  of  the  early  Wisconsin  terraces.  On 
some  of  the  western  tributaries  of  the  Great  Miami  the  gravels  of  the  later 
invasion  lie  in  trenches  cut  into  the  drift  of  the  early  Wisconsin,  but  the 
trenching  is  not  conspicuous,  probably  because  of  the  small  size  of  the 
interglacial  streams  and  their  moderate  rate  of  fall.  In  Whitewater  Valley 
the  gravel  of  the  late  Wisconsin  has  been  built  up  about  to  the  level  of  the 
early  Wisconsin  gravel,  rendering  it  difficult  to  separate  the  two.  On  the 
whole,  the  interval  between  the  early  and  late  Wisconsin  appears  much 
briefer  than  the  Sangamon  interglacial  stage,  and  somewhat  briefer  than 
the  Peorian. 

The  difference  in  the  erosion  features  of  the  early  Wisconsin  sheet  and 
those  of  the  outer  moraine  of  the  late  Wisconsin  appear  no  more  striking 
than  between  the  Shelbyville  and  the  Valparaiso  moraines  of  the  Illinois 
glacial  lobe ;  indeed,  the  difference  in  the  outwash  seems  scarcely  so  strik- 
ing. It  is,  however,  siich  a  difference  as  would  naturally  be  found  in  passing 
from  the  outer  part  of  the  early  Wisconsin  to  the  outer  part  of  the  late 
Wisconsin  in  Illinois,  and  is  greater  than  is  found  in  that  State  in  passing 
from  the  northern  or  later  part  of  the  early  Wisconsin  to  the  southern  or 
outer  part  of  the  late  Wisconsin.  From  this  it  is  inferred  that  the  Hartwell- 
Cuba  moraine  is  a  correlative  of  either  the  Bloomington  or  the  Shelbyville 
moraine  of  the  Illinois  lobe,  rather  than  the  Marseilles.  However,  the 
precise  correlation  of  this  moraine  with  a  moraine  of  the  Illinois  lobe  has 
not  been  attempted. 

MON  XLI 23 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE  MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  LATE  WISCONSIN 

STAGE. 

SBCTIOK  I.    IN  THE  MIAMI  LOBE. 

THE    MORAINES. 
GENERAL    STATEMENT. 

Under  this  name  is  discussed  a  series  of  moraines  whose  members  in 
part  coalesce  and  therefore  are  more  easily  described  tog-ether  than  sepa- 
rately. This  system  where  best  differentiated  comprises  thi-ee  moraines. 
Of  these  the  outer  two  were  examined  by  Chamberlin,  and  are  briefly 
described  in  his  paper  in  the  Third  Annual  Report.^  The  third  or  inner  one 
lies  but  a  few  miles  north  from  the  second,  and  is  distinct  from  it  only  in 
the  midst  of  the  terminal  loop.  The  entire  system,  including  the  narrow 
plains  lying  between  the  moraines,  has  nowhere  a  width  exceeding  18  miles, 
and  where  the  members  are  closely  associated  the  width  is  reduced  to  10 
miles  or  less. 

DISTRIBUTION. 

At  the  head  of  the  reentrant  angle  near  Bellefontaine,  Ohio,  this 
morainic  system  connects  with  the  correlative  system  of  the  Scioto  glacial 
lobe.  The  eastern  limb  follows  and  constitutes  the  western  bluff  of  Mad 
River  from  the  source  of  the  stream  east  of  Bellefontaine,  southward  nearly 
to  the  latitude  of  Urbana,  the  several  members  being  united  into  a  single 
great  belt.  It  then  leaves  the  river  to  the  east  for  a  few  miles  and  passes 
southwestward  through  New  Carlisle,  near  which  it  begins  to  separate  into 
distinct  members.  The  outer  member  crosses  Mad  Ri^-er  near  its  mouth  and 
follows  nearly  the  east  bluff  of  the  Great  Miami  from  Dayton  about  to  Frank- 
lin. Here  it  swings  westward,  crossing  the  Great  Miami  Valley  near  Carlisle, 
and  passing  south  of  Germantown  and  north  of  West  Elkton,  enters  the 
valley  of  Sevenmile  Creek  at  Camden.  It  then  swings  abruptly  northward, 
passing  near  Sugar  Valley,  West  Florence,  and  West\alle,  striking  the  State 
line  between  New  Paris,  Ohio,  and  Richmond,  Ind.     Near  the  State  line  it 

'  Terminal  moraine  of  the  second  Glacial  epoch,  by  T.  0.  Chamberlin:  Third  Ann.  Rept.  U.  S. 
Geol.  Survey,  pp.  334-335. 


MAIN  MOEAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  355 

is  joined  by  the  other  members  of  the  system.  In  Indiana  the  united  belt 
passes  north  of  west  across  northern  Wayne  and  southern  Randolph  coun- 
ties into  northeastern  Hem-y  County,  where  it  connects  witli  the  correlative 
moraine  of  the  East  White  lobe. 

The  outer  member  is  quite  distinct  around  the  southern  end  of  the 
loop  from  near  Dayton  to  the  State  line  and  has  a  width  of  2  to  3  miles. 
Throug-hout  the  remainder  of  its  course  it  is  more  closely  associated  with  the 
later  members,  but  it  does  not  appear  to  be  overridden  by  the  later  ones 
except  in  the  extreme  northern  portion  of  the  eastern  limb,  and  possibly  in 
the  reentrant  angle  between  the  Miami  and  East  White  lobes,  in  Henry 
County,  Ind. 

The  middle  member  is  clearly  recognized  throughout  its  entire  length 
by  the  remarkably  large  number  of  bowlders  which  it  carries.  It  lies  in 
the  midst  of  tlie  morainic  system,  passing  from  the  liead  of  Mad  River 
(east  of  Bellefontaine)  southwestward  near  Spring  Hills,  Mosquito  Lake, 
St.  Paris,  Christiansburg,  and  West  Charlestown,  and  crossing  the  Miami 
River  just  above  Dayton.  It  then  makes  a  gentle  curve  around  the 
southern  end  of  the  loop,  passing  about  3  miles  north  of  Germantown, 
and  touching  the  villages  of  Farmersville,  Enterprise,  and  West  Alexandria, 
and  the  northern  part  of  the  city  of  Eaton.  From  Eaton  it  follows  the 
northeast  side  of  Sevenmile  Creek  northward  to  its  source  near  Ebenezer, 
and  continues  northwest  past  Brinley  and  Brafifettsville,  coming  to  the 
State  line  just  north  of  the  village  of  Whitewater,  Ind.  In  Indiana  it  passes 
through  Bethel  and  touches  Arba,  lying  mainly  south  of  the  village.  It 
crosses  the  Grand  Rapids  and  Indiana  Railway  2  to  4  miles  south  of  Lynn, 
and  comes  to  the  Big  Four  Railway  near  Bloomingsport  and  continues 
near  the  line  of  that  railway  to  Losantville,  then  passes  north  into  Henry 
County,  connecting  near  Blountsville  with  the  correlative  moraine  of  the 
East  White  lobe.  The  usual  width  of  this  member  where  distinct  is  2 
miles  or  less. 

The  inner  member  is  not  so  strong  as  the  others  and  forms  a  distinct 
belt  for  only  a  few  miles  in  the  point  of  the  terminal  loop.  Its  inner 
border  is  usually  sufficiently  in  contrast  with  the  plains  nortli  of  it  to  admit 
of  mapping,  but  in  places  it  passes  into  them  by  insensible  gradations. 
The  position  of  this  inner  border  may  be  indicated  approximately  by  lines 
connecting  the  following  towns:  Degraff,  Quincy,  Palestine,  Fletcher, 
Troy,  Harrisburg,  Pyrmont,  Sonora,  Ithaca,  and  Fort  Jefferson,  Ohio;  and 


356 


GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


SiDartanburg,  Suowhill,  Huntsville,  and  Windsor,  Ind.  The  width  of  the 
inner  member,  where  distinct,  is  2  to  3  miles,  being  greater  than  that  of 
the  middle  member. 

RELIEF. 

Throughout  the  terminal  loop  the  outer  member  of  the  system  has  a 
general  relief  of  20  to  30  feet,  while  its  highest  points  rise  to  a  height  of  50 
feet  or  more  above  the  outer  border  district.  It  can  scarcely  be  entered  at 
any  point  from  the  outer  border  district  without  making  a  perceptible,  and 
throughout  much  of  the  border  an  abrupt,  rise.  In  the  reentrant  portions 
the  relief  is  less  easily  determined,  since  the  moraine  breaks  up  into  shai-p 
knolls  more  than  in  the  terminal  loop.  On  the  inner  border  the  rise  into  the 
moraine  is  somewhat  less  and  is  also  more  gradual  than  on  the  outer  border. 

The  middle  and  inner  members  of  this  system  have  a  relief  above 
bordering  districts  nearly  as  great  as  that  of  the  outer  member,  but  the  rise 
is  less  abrupt;  they  are  consequently  less  conspiciious  topographic  features. 

RANGE    IN    ALTITUDE. 

The  eastern  limb  of  this  morainic  system  has  a  range  in  altitude  of 
about  850  feet,  and  the  western  limb  nearly  400  feet.  The  rock  surface 
has  equally  great  range,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  following  table  of  altitudes: 

TcMe  of  altitudes  along  the  moraine. 


Uplands  east  of  Belief  ontaine 

Hogue  Summit 

West  Liberty,  in  valley 

Spring  Hills,  on  uplands 

JMosquito  Lake,  in  valley 

St.  Paris,  on  uplands 

Little  Mountain,  near  St.  Paris 

New  Carlisle,  in  valley 

Osborne,  in  valley 

Uplands  in  east  part  of  Dayton 

Dayton,  in  valley 

Carlisle,  in  valley 

Uplands  south  of  Germantown 

Camden,  in  valley 

Uplands  in  northwest  Preble  County,  Ohio,  and    in  Wayne  and 
Randolph  counties,  Ind --- --- 

a  Barometriu. 


Drift  surface 
(above  tide). 

Rock  surface 
(above  tide). 

Fed. 

Feet. 

1,350-1,540 

1, 150-1,  400  ± 

1,540 

1,150 

1,100 

883 

a  1,150 

760-1,  000  ± 

a  1,100 

? 

1,238 

700-870 

1,326 

? 

883-915 

? 

830 

625 

1, 000-1, 100 

1, 000  ± 

750 

525  ± 

696 

500  ± 

a  1,000 

950  d= 

839 

658 

1, 175-1, 225 

1,050-1,100 

MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  357 


TOPOGRAPHY. 


The  outer  member  of  this  morainic  system  has,  on  the  whole,  stronger 
expression  than  the  middle  and  inner  members,  but  it  is  less  plentifully 
supplied  with  bowlders.  The  knolls  and  ridges  in  each  of  the  members  are 
of  characteristic  morainic  types. 

Since  the  eastern  limb  is  not  clearly  differentiated  into  distinct  members 
it  may  be  discussed  as  a  unit.  At  its  northern  end  it  is  strongly  morainic 
throughout  its  entire  width,  consisting  of  sharp  knolls  and  winding  ridges 
10  to  50  feet  in  height,  thickly  strewn  with  bowlders  and  enclosing  basins 
5  to  20  feet  in  depth.  The  Hogue  Summit,  2  miles  east  of  Bellefontaine, 
which  is  reported  to  be  the  highest  point  in  Ohio  (1,540  feet  above  tide),^ 
is  a  morainic  knoll  having  a  height  of  about  40  feet  and  covering  8  or  10 
acres.     Other  knolls  in  that  vicinity  rise  to  within  20  or  25  feet  of  the  same 

altitude. 

In  southern  Logan  County  and  in  Champaign,  Clark,  and  Miami 
counties  the  features  of  the  moraine  are  extremely  variable.  In  its  eastern 
or  outer  part  are  occasional  clusters  of  very  sharp  and  prominent  knolls 
30  to  75  feet  in  height,  illustrations  of  which  may  be  seen  3  to  4  miles 
northwest  of  West  Liberty  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Spring  Hills,  also  west 
of  St.  Paris  and  in  Honey  Creek  Valley  west  of  New  Carhsle;  but  much 
of  this  eastern  part  is  characterized  by  a  subdued  morainic  topography, 
with  knolls  and  ridges  only  10  or  15  feet  in  height,  among  which  shallow 
basins  are  inclosed,  nearly  the  entire  surface  being  undulatory.  In  the 
western  or  inner  part  of  the  eastern  limb  a  somewhat  different  topography 
appears,  knolls  10  to  25  feet  in  height  dotting  the  sui-face  of  an  otherwise 
nearly  plane  tract,  and  occupying  but  a  small  fraction  of  it.  Basins  are  rare 
compared  with  the  outer  part  of  the  moraine.  Bowlders  are  very  abundant 
both  on  the  knolls  and  the  plane-surfaced  tracts. 

Where  the  moraine-headed  terraces  or  gravel  plains  connect  with  the 
moraine,  as  in  Mad  River  Valley  near  West  Liberty,  and  again  east  of  New 
Carlisle,  on  Glade  and  Muddy  creeks  near  Northville,  and  on  Nettle  Creek 
near  Millerstown,  the  morainic  knolis  come  down  to  the  gravel  plains  and 
occasionally  occur  like  islands  on  them.  The  latter  statement  is  especially 
true  of  the  district  east  of  New  Carlisle,  where  morainic  knolls  and  ridges 


1  See  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  482. 


358  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

20  to  40  feet  liigli  occur  out  to  distances  of  a  mile  or  more  in  the  gravel 
plain.  Thev  appear  to  have  been  built  up  at  the  time  the  gravel  plain  was 
occupied  by  glacial  waters,  having  been  no  evidence  found  that  they  were 
cut  into  by  glacial  streams.  However,  the  materials  comprising  the  knolls 
are  such  as  are  subject  to  landslides,  creeping,  and  rapid  erosion,  and  it  has 
been  so  long  since  the  gravel  plains  were  occupied  by  streams  that  erosion 
marks  may  have  been  obliterated. 

The  several  members  of  the  morainic  system  are  sufficiently  distinct 
around  the  southern  end  of  the  loop  to  make  it  advisable  to  discuss  them 
separately.  The  portion  of  the  outer  member  lying  south  of  Mad  River, 
along  the  east  bluff  of  the  Grreat  Miami,  has  greater  strength  than  is 
displayed  elsewhere  by  this  member.  There  is  in  places  a  well-defined 
ridging  in  a  north-northeast  to  south-southwest  dnection,  i.  e.,  in  line  witli 
the  trend  of  the  moraine,  the  ridges  succeeding  each  other  at  intervals 
of  one-half  mile  or  more  and  standing  15  to  30  feet  above  the  intervening 
tracts.  One  ridge  was  noted,  however,  in  which  the  trend  was  nearly  east 
to  w^est.  It  lies  2^  miles  north  of  Centerville,  is  about  a  mile  in  length 
and  one-fourth  mile  in  width.  Its  highest  points  reach  an  altitude  of  50 
to  60  feet  above  the  bordering  district.  From  this  ridge  northward  to  Mad 
River  Valley  the  moraine  has  sharper  knolls  than  it  has  toward  the  south, 
there  being  many  whose  height  is  40  to  50  feet  and  whose  slopes  are  but 
20  to  30  rods  in  length.  The  outer  border  of  the  moraine  in  this  portion 
of  the  belt  is  somewhat  irregular,  and  patchy  developments  of  morainic 
topography  occur  for  a  mile  or  more  east  of  the  main  ridges. 

In  the  Great  Miami  Valley  this  moraine  is  very  feebly  develoj^ed, 
but  in  the  vicinity  of  Carlisle  low  ridges  occur,  among  which  are  basins 
and  irregular  depressions. 

On  the  uplands  between  the  Great  Miami  and  Sevenmile  Creek  the 
moraine  consists  of  a  broad  basement  ridge  standing  20  to  40  feet  above  the 
outer  border  tract  and  having  a  width  of  1^  to  3  miles.  On  its  crest  and 
slopes  are  minor  ridges  and  knolls  10  or  15  feet  in  height,  among  which  sags 
and  irregular  depressions  are  inclosed. 

In  Sevenmile  Creek  Valley  the  moraine  is  only  feebly  developed,  but 
where  the  moraine  crosses  the  valley  a  decided  change  in  structure  occurs, 
there  being  a  well-defined  gravel  plain  south  of  the  moraine,  while  north  of  it 
there  is  scarcely  any  gravel,  the  valley  of  the  creek  being  cut  in  till  depos- 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  359 

its.  From  Sevenmile  Creek  northwestward  into  Indiana  the  moraine 
presents  a  main  ridge  standing  15  to  30  feet  above  the  outer  border  plain, 
on  whose  crest  and  slopes  there  are  small  knolls  and  ridges.  The  outer 
portion  of  the  moraine  has  a  uniformly  undulatorj^  surface,  while  the  inner 
slojDC  has  clusters  of  knolls  around  which  the  surface  is  nearly  plane. 

In  northern  Wayne  and  northeastern  Henry  counties,  Indiana,  groups 
of  knolls  occur,  but  at  least  half  the  surface  is  very  gently  undulating.  The 
highest  knolls  are  only  about  25  feet  in  height,  but  some  of  them  appear 
prominent  because  of  very  abrupt  slopes. 

Returning  to  the  Grreat  Miami  Valley  and  taking  up  the  middle  mem- 
ber, we  find  it  crossing  the  stream  just  above  Dayton;  indeed,  its  outer  border 
extends  into  the  northwest  portion  of  the  city,  known  as  Dayton  View.  It 
is  well  developed  near  the  mouth  of  Stillwater  River,  where  it  consists  of 
gravelly  knolls  rising  to  a  height  of  25  to  40  feet  above  the  river  bottoms. 
The  moraine  is  feebly  developed  on  the  uplands  between  the  Stillwater 
and  Miami  south  of  Chambersburg,  consisting  of  low  swells  10  feet  or  less 
in  height,  on  which  bowlders  are  numerous.  On  the  highlands  west  of 
Dayton,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Soldiers'  Home,  the  moraine  has  very  feeble 
development,  but  southwest  of  these  highlands,  in  the  lowland  tract  south 
of  Liberty,  it  is  well  defined,  with  knolls  closely  aggregated  and  thickly 
strewn  with  bowlders.  The  height  of  the  knolls  is  slight,  being  but  10  or 
15  feet.  From  this  lowland  tract  northwestward  to  Ebenezer  (iaear  the 
State  line)  the  moraine  has  scarcely  any  knolls  exceeding  15  feet  in  height, 
and  but  few  have  sharp  contour.  The  largest  and  sharpest  knolls  observed 
is  a  group  3  miles  northwest  of  Eaton,  which  contain  knolls  20  feet  in 
height.  Along  the  outer  border  are  many  bowlders,  but  the  topography 
there  is  often  less  sharply  morainic  than  it  is  a  mile  or  so  north  of  the 
bowlder  belt.  For  several  miles  east  of  the  State  line  and  throughout  much 
of  its  course  in  Indiana  this  member  has  a  strong  expression,  containing 
knolls  25  to  30  feet  in  height,  among  which  are  basins  and  irregular  depres- 
sions, the  surface  being  thickl)^  strewn  with  bowlders.  Its  exjDression  is 
stronger  than  the  portion  of  the  outer  member  adjacent  to  it  on  the  south 

The  inner  member  of  this  morainic  system  is  represented  in  eastern 
Indiana  and  western  Ohio  by  irregularly  grouped  drift  knolls  of  sharp  con- 
tour, separated  by  wide  stretches  of  nearh^  plane-surfaced  drift,  all  liberally 
strewn  with  bowlders,  though  not  in  such  numbers  as  the  middle  member. 


360  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

It  is  ver}^  strongly  developed  along  the  valleys  also,  and  since  these  valleys 
trend  nearly  at  right  angles  with  the  general  course  of  the  moraine  they 
present  the  appeai-ance  of  spurs  leading  northward  from  the  moraine. 

The  most  conspicuous  of  these  valley  belts  noted  leads  from  New 
Madison  northward  past  Fort  Jefferson  nearly  to  Greenville.  It  includes 
gravel  ridges  which  have  the  outline  of  eskers,  but  they  are  interrupted  at 
frequent  intervals  and  replaced  by  sharp  morainic  knolls;  consequenth'  it 
seems  legitimate  to  consider  them  as  part  of  the  moraine.  The  highest 
knolls  and  ridges  rise  50  to  60  feet  above  the  bordering  low  ground,  but 
the  majority  are  but  15  to  25  feet  in  height.  The  topography  from  this 
valley-morainic  belt  eastward  is  markedly  smoother  than  it  is  to  the  west- 
ward, much  of  it  being  nearly  level.  In  this  eastern  district  basins  are 
usually  numerous.  They  are  small,  being  but  3  to  6  feet  in  depth,  and 
occupy  only  an  acre  or  so  each.  A  short  distance  east  of  Fort  Jefferson 
the  inner  border  of  the  moraine  turns  abruptly  southward  and  follows 
Millers  Fork  of  Twin  Creek,  passing  through  Ithaca  and  just  east  of  West 
Sonora  and  Euphemia.  This  portion  of  the  moraine  contains  only  low 
swells  10  feet  or  less  in  height,  but  its  surface  is  all  more  or  less  undulatory. 
Near  Euphemia  the  moraine  leaves  Twin  Creek  and  bears  eastward  past 
Pyrmont  and  Air  Hill,  having  in  this  portion  of  its  course  numerous  swells 
8  to  10  feet  in  height,  which,  though  low  as  compared  with  those  in  some 
portions  of  the  moraine,  present  a  sufficiently  strong  contrast  to  the  flat 
tracts  on  the  north  to  make  it  easily  traceable.  From  Air  Hill  the  moraine 
passes  northeastward,  crossing  Stillwater  River  near  Little  York.  It  con- 
sists mainly  of  low  swells  8  to  10  feet  in  height,  but  on  the  west  bluff  of 
Stillwater  River,  about  a  mile  northeast  of  Taylorsburg,  a  chain  of  sharp 
gravelly  knolls  and  ridges  occurs,  whose  highest  points  stand  30  to  40  feet 
above  the  bordering  portions  of  the  moraine.  The  chain  trends  with  the 
moraine  in  a  northeast-southwest  course.  In  Stillwater  Valley  there  is, 
near  Little  York,  an  undulatory  lowland  standing  about  70  feet  above  the 
river,  on  which  a  slight  capping  of  till  and  numerous  bowlders  occur,  with 
heavy  beds  of  gravel  beneath. 

On  the  uplands  between  Stillwater  and  the  Great  Miami  the  moraine 
has  feeble  expression,  with  swells  only  5  to  10  feet  high,  but  is  very 
liberally  strewn  with  bowlders,  and  the  bowlders  also  abound  northward 
over  the  bordering  plains.     In  the  Great  Miami  Valley,  just  below  Tippe- 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  361 

canoe,  there  are  sharp,  gravelly  knolls  and  ridges  varying  from   10   feet 
up  to  40  or  50  feet  in  height. 

From  the  Miami  River  northward  this  inner  member  has  been  described 
as  a  portion  of  the  eastern  limb  of  the  morainic  system. 

THICKNESS   OF   THE    DRIFT. 

In  the  eastern  limb  of  this  morainic  system  the  thickness  of  the  drift 
has  a  known  range  from  a  mere  trace  up  to  530  feet,  with  an  average 
of  probably  200  feet.  The  thickness  on  the  uplands  is  greater  in  Cham- 
paign and  Logan  counties  than  farther  south.  The  rock  surface  is  much 
more  uneven  than  the  drift  surface,  the  effect  of  the  drift  being  to  fill  up 
the  valleys  and  lowlands  to  about  the  level  of  the  preglacial  ridges. 

The  greatest  amount  of  drift  yet  penetrated  in  Ohio  is  found  in  an 
attempted  gas-well  boring  at  St.  Paris,  where,  after  penetrating  to  a  depth 
of  530  feet,  the  well  was  abandoned  without  reacliing  the  rock.  Within 
3  miles  south  of  this  well,  and  at  about  the  same  altitude  as  its  mouth,  a 
limestone  quarry  has  been  opened.  The  thickness  of  drift  in  the  gas-well 
borings  at  De  Graff  ranges  from  33  to  300  feet,  and  at  Bellefontaine  from 
a  thin  coating  up  to  150  feet. 

In  the  Great  Miami  Valley  there  may  be  a  continuous  deep  channel, 
though  it  must  be  narrow,  since  the  river  in  places  has  a  rock  bed,  and  rock 
is  near  the  surface  throughout  much  of  the  valley  bottom.  The  drift  in 
this  valley  has  the  following  ascertained  thickness:  Near  Piqua,  170  feet; 
at  Troy,  133  feet;  at  Dayton,  247  feet;  at  Miamisburg,  181  feet;  and  at 
Hamilton,  210  feet  There  may  be  points  in  the  valley  where  it  is  even 
thicker  than  at  Dayton. 

On  the  uplands,  between  the  Great  Miami  and  Sevenmile  Creek,  the 
thickness  is  usually  between  25  and  50  feet,  but  in  the  valley  of  Sevenmile 
Creek  a  boring  at  Camden  shows  180  feet,  and  borings  near  Eaton  show 
75  to  80  feet  of  drift.  Between  Sevenmile  Creek  and  the  State  line  the 
thickness  on  the  uplands  ranges  from  30  or  40  feet  up  to  100  feet  or  more. 
In  eastern  Indiana  the  thickness  ranges  from  50  feet  or  less  up  to  fully  250 
feet,  with  an  average  thickness  of  100  feet  or  more. 

What  proportion  of  this  drift  was  deposited  previous  to  the  formation 
of  the  morainic  system  under  discussion  is  difficult  to  estimate,  there  being, 
so  far  as  known,  no  widespread,  well-defined  soil  or  weathered  zone  separ- 
ating the  late  Wisconsin  drift  from  the  early  Wisconsin.     Indeed,  very  few 


362  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

instances  of  buried  soils  have  come  to  notice  in  this  region.  A  comparison 
of  the  thickness  of  the  drift  in  the  district  lying  outside  (south)  of  the 
moraines  with  that  covered  by  them,  leads  to  the  conclusion  that  at  least 
one-half  the  drift  was  previously  deposited.  This  constitutes  probably  the 
most  reliable  method  of  making  an  estimate.  It  must,  however,  be  con- 
sidered a  rude  approximation,  for  it  is  probable  that  the  ice  sheet  gathered 
up  and  redeposited  a  portion  of  the  drift  that  it  overrode. 

STEUCTUKE    OF    THE    DRIFT. 

The  portions  of  the  moraine  characterized  by  a  gently  ridged  or  a 
swell-and-sag  topography  contain  much  more  till  than  assorted  material, 
while  the  sharpl}^  ridged  tracts  and  the  prominent  knolls,  so  far  as  opportu- 
nity foi  examination  has  been  afforded,  contain  a  preponderance  of  assorted 
material.  However,  there  are,  on  the  gently  undulating  till  tracts,  numer- 
ous places  where  gravel  appears  at  the  surface  both  in  the  knolls  and  the 
intervening  depressions,  while  wells  indicate  that  beds  of  assorted  material 
are  interstratified  with  or  deposited  in  pockets  within  the  till.  In  the 
sharp  .  gravelly  ridges  and  knolls  the  presence  of  till  is  not  uncommon 
and  it  sometimes  constitutes  a  considerable  part  of  the  material.  While, 
therefore,  the  structure  admits  of  division  into  two  classes,  there  appear 
numerous  abrupt  changes  in  structu.re  such  as  are  characteristic  of  morainic 
deposits. 

An  interesting  section  of  a  sharp  gravel  knoll  on  an  elevated  portion  of 
the  moraine  may  be  seen  li  miles  southwest  of  St.  Paris.  The  knoll  is 
elongated  in  an  east-northeast  to  west-southwest  direction  and  was  originally 
very  abrupt  at  its  eastern  end,  rising  within  10  to  15  rods  to  a  height  of  75 
feet,  wliile  toward  the  west  it  had  a  gradual  slope.  The  excavation  began 
in  the  eastern  end  and  has  been  carried  past  the  highest  part  of  the  knoll, 
leaving  only  the  western  slope.  The  portion  removed  contained  considerable 
well  assorted  sand,  gravel,  and  cobble,  but  the  portion  remaining  presents 
an  interesting  combination  of  beds,  there  being  deposits  of  cobble,  gravel, 
and  till,  intergrading  with  each  other,  which  are  curiously  disturbed  and 
contorted  in  their  bedding.  The  gradual  slope  on  the  west  side  of  tlie  knoll 
forbids  the  supposition  that  the  beds  owe  their  disturbance  and  contortions 
to  recent  landslides,  and  leaves  it  probable  that  their  form  and  position  are 
due  to  the  molding  and  pressure  exerted  by  the  ice  sheet. 

Sections  of  lowland  gravel  knolls  may  be  seen  in  the  vicinity  of  New 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  363 

Carlisle,  where  an  old  valley,  probably  interglacial,  is  partially  filled  by 
the  moraine.  Near  the  railway  station  in  New  Carlisle  there  is  a  gravel  pit 
in  which  no  till  appears.  The  gravel  is  in  various  positions — oblique, 
arching,  and  horizontal — and  varies  greatly  in  coarseness  within  short 
distances.  Southeast  of  the  station  there  is  a  cutting  in  which  gravel  and 
cobble  appear  near  the  top,  beneath  which  is  a  yellow  till  10  or  12  feet  in 
depth,  and  beneath  this  blue  till.  The  gravel  and  cobble  increase  in  thick- 
ness in  passing  northwestward,  owing  to  the  dropping  off  of  the  till.  It 
seems  probable  that  the  till  belongs  to  an  earlier  ice  advance  than  that 
which  produced  the  gravelly  hillocks  that  cap  it,  presumably  the  early 
Wisconsin.  West  of  New  Carlisle  there  are  extensive  excavations  showing 
a  large  preponderance  of  assorted  material  in  oblique  and  arching'  as  well 
as  horizontal  attitudes.  In  one  instance  the  knoll  is  capped  by  till  and 
bowlders,  while  the  nucleus  is  of  assorted  material. 

A  good  exposure  of  the  structure  of  nearly  plane-surfaced  upland  drift 
appears  at  the  Beavertown  quarries  3  to  4  miles  southeast  of  Dayton. 
There  is  being  removed  here  about  20  feet  of  drift,  consisting  of  an  almost 
continuous  capping  of  yellow  till  5  to  10  feet  in  thickness,  beneath  which 
are  deposits  of  poorly  assorted  gravel  and  sand  horizontally  bedded.  In 
places  these  gravelly  deposits  reach  to  the  limestone,  but  fully  as  often  a 
thin  bed  of  till  intervenes.  The  surface  of  this  lower  till  is  uneven,  and  the 
gravel  rests  unconformably  upon  it.  The  lower  beds  of  gravel  being- 
horizontal,  are  shut  off  where  the  till  rises  above  their  level.  This  break 
between  the  lower  till  and  the  overlying  deposits  may  indicate  a  lapse  of 
considerable  time  between  their  depositions,  though  it  is  not  known  but  that 
the  erosion  of  the  surface  of  the  lower  till  was  rapidly  accomplished  by 
the  same  streams  which  deposited  the  overlying  gravel  and  sand. 

A  series  of  interesting  sections  of  plane-surfaced  lowland  till  appear 
along  Twin  Creek  in  the  ^dcinity  of  Germantown,  in  a  district  lying  between 
the  outer  and  middle  members  of  this  morainic  system.  These  are  of 
especial  interest,  since  in  one  locality  a  peat  bed  outcrops  beneath  the  till. 
Attention  was  first  called  to  the  exposures  just  below  (east  of)  Germantown 
in  1870,  by  Orton,  who  gave  at  that  time  an  account  of  the  deposits  of  peat 
beneath  the  till.^  More  recently  Wright^  has  called  attention  to  the  same 
deposits  and  added  some  interesting  observations  on  the  occurrence  of 
sheets  of  till  that  perhaps  mark  successive   advances  and  retreats  of  the 

1  Am.  Jour.  Sci. ,  2d  series,  Vol.  L,  1870,  pp.  54-57.      ^  Bull.  U.S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  58, 1890,  pp.  96-98. 


364  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

ice  slieet,  and  has  published  a  photograph  showing  the  section  of  drift  over- 
lying the  peat,  which  is  here  reproduced  (PL  XIV,  A).  In  this  section  the 
peat  is  greatly  concealed  by  talus  from  the  till,  but  is  exposed  in  one  place 
up  to  a  level  several  feet  above  the  stream.  Among  other  interesting  facts, 
Orton  called  attention  to  the  occurrence  of  cedar  berries  and  fragments  of 
coniferous  wood  in  the  peat  and  of  undecomposed  sphagnous  mosses,  grasses, 
and  sedges  in  its  uppermost  layers.  Beneath  the  peat  is  a  gravelly  deposit, 
in  view  only  at  the  eastern  or  right  end  of  the  exposure,  and  there  it  is  in 
beds  which  dip  westward  at  an  angle  of  about  30°,  soon  passing  with  the 
peat  below  the  level  of  the  creek  bed.  Wright  remarks,  concerning  this 
deposit,  that  "the  appearance  is  that  of  a  saucer-shaped  deposit  of  peat, 
such  as  would  form  in  a  kettle  hole,  and  whicli  was  subsequently  filled 
and  covered  over  with  the  advance  of  the  glacier." 

At  the  time  of  the  writer's  visit,  in  1889,  no  exposure  of  the  underlying 
gravel  could  be  found,  and  no  further  data  concerning  it  can  be  given  than 
appear  in  the  reports  by  Orton  and  by  Wright.  It  is  not  evident  from 
these  descriptions  whether  the  gravel  beneath  the  peat  is  of  glacial  origin, 
though  there  appears  to  be  no  reason  for  doubting  that  it  is,  and  Wright 
evidently  so  considers  it.  The  peat  appears  to  be  in  situ,  since  its  layers  are 
undisturbed  and  have  a  continuous  outcrop  for  about  75  yards.  It  seems 
scarcely  probable  that  so  large  a  mass  would  suffer  removal  and  deposition 
by  the  ice  sheet  without  being  in  a  more  distxirbed  or  fragmentarj^  condition. 
The  drift  deposits  resting  on  the  peat  have  a  thickness  of  nearly  100  feet 
and  are  well  exposed  by  the  undermining  action  of  the  stream.  The  drift 
presents  a  peculiar  variation  in  color  and  also  abrupt  variations  in  structure. 
The  exposure  is  nearly  one-fourth  of  a  mile  in  length  and  extends  about  an 
eighth  of  a  mile  west  from  the  point  where  the  peat  disappeai's.  Near  its 
western  end  the  following  series  of  beds  are  exposed: 

/Section  of  Twin  Creek  Bhiff,  near  Germantown^  Ohio. 

Feet. 

Yellow  till 8-10 

Blue  till,  lens-shaped  in  outcrop,  disappearing  in  either  direction  within  a  few  rods 0-6 

Yellow  till 6-8 

Blue  till 12-15 

Yellow  till,  local,  soon  passing  horizontally  into  blue  till 5-6 

Blue  till 10-12 

Yellow  till,  local,  soon  replaced  by  sand  and  gravel 3-4 

Sand  and  gravel 10-12 

Creek  bed,  gravelly. 

Total,  about '. 70 


A.     SECTION    OF   PEAT  AND  TILL   NEAR   GERMANTOWN,   OHIO. 


B.     SECTION    SHOWING   WOOD    INCLUDED    IN    TILL,    1    MILE   SOUTH    OF   OXFORD,   OHIO. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  365 

Just  west  of  this  exposure  is  a  partial  one  in  which  gravel  extends  from 
the  creek  bed  up  to  a  height  of  nearly  40  feet,  a  portion  of  the  gravel  being 
cemented.  Passing  eastward,  about  an  eighth  of  a  mile  to  the  place  where 
the  peat  comes  to  view,  there  is  a  nearly  solid  bed  of  till  95  feet  in  height 
without  the  alternations  of  yellow  and  blue  color  seen  in  the  western  end 
of  the  exposure.  There  is  at  the  top  of  the  bluif  10  to  15  feet  of  yellow 
till.  The  remainder  of  the  section  is  blue  till,  with  the  exception  of  occa- 
sional pockets  or  thin  beds  of  gravel,  a  few  inches,  or  at  most  3  or  4  feet  in 
thickness.  Between  this  point  and  the  western  end  of  the  exposure  there 
are  places  where  much  gravel  appears.  The  whole  exposure  is  subject 
therefore  to  abrupt  horizontal  changes,  and  a  description  which  will  apply 
to  one  place  may  not  ajjply  to  another  10  rods  distant,  the  only  constant 
bed  observed  being  the  capping  of  yellow  till  at  the  top  of  the  bluif. 

The  cause  of  the  occurrence  of  yellow  till  at  several  horizons  is  diffi- 
cult to  determine,  especially  since  it  is  confined  to  a  very  small  part  of  the 
exposure.  Possibly  the  till  was  of  a  yellow  color  when  deposited.  There 
may  have  been  four  distinct  ice  advances,  as  sug-gested  by  Professor 
Wright,  each  bringing  in  blue  till,  which  became  oxidized  at  the  surface, 
forming  the  yellow  till.  The  occurrence  of  four  such  series  or  successions 
of  beds  in  one  part  of  the  exposure  and  but  one  series  in  the  other  may 
perhaps  be  due  to  an  accident  resulting  in  the  preservation  in  one  place 
and  removal  in  another  of  the  yellow  or  oxidized  portions  of  the  earlier 
depositions.  It  seems  quite  as  probable,  however,  that  the  oxidized  portions 
of  the  till  were  caused  by  percolating  waters  which  followed  lines  where  the 
till  happened  to  be  most  pervious. 

Above  Grermantown,  along  Twin  Creek,  there  are  other  extensive 
exposures  of  the  drift  which  show  in  places  a  double  series  of  yellow  and 
blue  tills,  but  nowhere  else  within  the  entire  district  under  discussion  have 
four  successive  series  been  found. 

In  the  case  of  the  peat  at  the  base  of  the  till  near  Germantown,  there 
seems  good  reason  for  believing  that  it  indicates  the  lapse  of  a  considerable 
interval  of  deglaciation.  Whether  the  interval  preceded  the  formation  of  the 
early  Wisconsin  moraine  or  succeeded  it  remains  to  be  determined.  Orton 
calls  attention  ^  to  the  (Occurrence  of  soil  at  considerable  depth  in  wells  in  this 
vicinity,  showing  that  remnants  of  an  old  buried  surface  are  not  uncommon. 

'  Rept.  Geol.  Survey  Ohio,  1869,  Geology  of  Montgomery  Co.,  pp.  165-167. 


366  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  presence  of  buried  oxidized  tills  and  of  sand  and  g-ravel  deposits 
between  till  sheets  can  not,  in  the  writer's  opinion,  be  cited  as  demonstra- 
tive evidence  of  retreats  and  advances  of  the  ice  sheet  unless  accompanied 
by  other  and  more  certain  lines  of  evidence,  such  as  peat  beds  or  soils, 
leached  and  eroded  surfaces,  etc.  Their  occurrence  seems  rather  a  problem 
demanding  investigation  than  a  line  of  evidence  from  which  conclusions 
can  be  drawn. 

In  the  western  limb  of  the  moraine  no  extensive  natural  exposures 
were  observed;  we  pass,  therefore,  to  the  data  afforded  by  well  records, 
beginning  the  discussion  at  the  northern  end  of  the  eastern  limb  of  the 
morainic  loop. 

The  following  record  of  drift,  penetrated  in  a  gas-well  boring  at  the 
Buckeye  Portland  Cement  Works,  near  Harper,  was  furnished  by  G.  W. 
Bartholomew,  jr.,  treasurer  of  the  company.  The  well  mouth  is  about 
1,260  feet  above  tide,  and  the  well  is  situated  in  the  valley  of  Rush  Creek, 
about  1  mile  east  of  Harper  station,  at  the  edge  of  a  marshy  tract. 

Sectimi  of  drift  heds  in  a  gcos  horing  near  Harper^  Ohio. 

Feet. 

Blue  clay - - - 15 

Gravel  (water  stood  7  feet  below  well  mouth ) 20 

Clay : 20 

Gravel  (water  stood  15  feet  above  well  mouth) _ 10 

Clay 20 

Gravel  ( water  stood  17  feet  above  well  mouth) -   95 

Yellowish  and  brown  bowlder  clay  (probably  Illinoian) 65 

Helderberg  limestone  at  245  feet. 

Bartholomew  reports  that  a  well  for  water  was  bored  about  a  mile 
north  of  this  gas  well.  It  penetrated  100  feet  of  drift  before  reaching  a 
water-bearing  gravel,  thus  presenting  a  marked  contrast  to  the  upper  lOO 
feet  in  the  gas  well.  On  the  bordering  uplands  the  rock  surface  reaches  in 
places  an  altitude  of  1,400  feet,  or  nearly  500  feet  above  the  rock  floor  in 
Rush  Creek  Valley. 

A  well  for  water  at  Benjamin  Easton's,  near  the  Hogue  Summit,  east 
of  Bellefontaine,  is  reported  by  the  driller,  J.  A.  Hartzler,  of  Bellefontaine, 
to  have  penetrated  350  feet  of  drift,  of  which  the  upper  60  or  70  feet  is 
largely  gravel,  while  the  remainder  is  mainly  blue  till.  No  Devonian  shale 
was  encountered,  the  fii'st  rock  being  the  Helderberg  limestone.  The  alti- 
tude of  the  well  mouth  is  about  50  feet  below  that  of  the  Hogue  Summit, 
or  1,490  feet  above  tide.     The  well  was  not  a  success  in  the  yield  of  water, 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  367 

and  only  a  short  piece  of  projecting-  pipe  marks  its  position;  but  it  is  of 
much  scientific  vahie  in  that  it  indicates  that  the  supposed  highest  point  in 
Ohio  is  in  a  region  of  very  heavy  drift  deposits,  and,  since  it  carries  an 
unusual  amount  of  drift,  owes  its  great  height  only  in  part  to  a  high  altitude 
of  the  rock  surface. 

Hartzler  reports  other  wells  in  the  neighborhood  of  Belief outaine  which 
show  large  amounts  of  drift,  as  follows:  At  Mr.  Easton's,  IJ  miles  south  of 
Bellefontaine,  a  well  140  feet  deep  penetrated  ordinary  till  about  120  feet, 
then  a  red  clay,  very  hard  and  dry,  20  feet,  beneath  which  water-bearing 
sand  was  struck,  from  which  bits  of  wood  were  pumped  up.  In  a  well  on 
Charles  Scott's  farm,  on  the  hill  north  of  West  Liberty,  wood  was  encoun- 
tered in  a  red,  sandy  clay  at  a  depth  of  1 60  to  1 70  feet,  after  a  thick  bed  of 
blue  till  had  been  passed  through.  The  well  terminates  in  gravel  at  a  depth 
of  200  feet.  Just  above  the  water-bearing  gravel  there  is  a  bed  of  blue 
bowlder  clay.  The  altitude  of  the  well  mouth  is  about  1,200  feet.  A  well 
at  Mrs.  Dille's,  4  miles  south  of  Bellefontaine,  penetrated  93  feet  of  drift, 
mainly  gravel,  and  at  that  depth  entered  limestone.  A  well  near  Spring 
Hill,  on  the  farm  of  Daniel  S.  Corey,  penetrated  390  feet  of  drift,  the 
greatest  amount  yet  found  by  Hartzler.  The  following  succession  of  beds 
was  passed  through,  as  given  from  memory,  but  the  exact  thickness  of 
each  bed  was  not  remembered: 

Section  of  Corey  well  near  Spring  Hill,  Ohio. 

Feet. 

Gravel,  about 90 

Blue  till  with  thin  beds  of  assorted  material _ 200 

Red  clay  (at  about  320-340  feet) 20 

Blue  clay 30-40 

Green  and  red  clays  resting  on  the  rock. 

The  wfells  in  Bellefontaine  made  in  prospecting  for  natural  gas  have 
the  following  amounts  of  drift,  as  reported  by  Dr.  Covington,  of  that  city: 

Thickness  of  drift  in  Bellefontaine  gas  horings. 

Feet. 

Carter's  well,  three-fourths  mile  south  of  court-house 95 

Well  on  Huntsville  road,  1  mile  northwest  of  court-house 50 

Well  west  of  railway  station 150 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  Ludlow  survey  line,  at  a  distance  of  4  or  5  miles 
south  from  Bellefontaine,  the  rock  rises  to  the  surface  in  prominent  portions 
of  the  uplands,  and  it  also  lies  near  the  surface  just  north  of  Bellefontaine 
at  altitudes  much  above  the  level  of  the  railway  station. 


368  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AiND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Three  wells  in  Degraff,  made  in  prospecting  for  gas,  have  the  following 
amounts  of  drift: 

Thickness  of  drift  in  Degraff  gas  horings. 

Feet. 

Lippincott  well,  one-half  mile  north  of  railway  station 300 

Harris  well,  one-fourth  mile  west  of  railway  station 33 

Reid  well,  one-half  mile  farther  west 86 

A  well  for  water  at  H.  A.  Hill's,  2  miles  north  of  West  Liberty,  pene- 
trated 18  or  20  feet  of  till  and  then  entered  gravel,  in  which  it  continued  to 
a  depth  of  87  feet.  Several  other  wells  near  Hill's  have  a  depth  of  60  feet 
or  more  and  do  not  strike  rock. 

At  John  Newell's,  in  section  10,  Union  Township,  about  3  miles  north- 
west of  West  Liberty,  a  well  penetrated  about  150  feet  of  drift,  nearly  all 
till,  and  struck  no  rock.  In  West  Liberty  a  prospect  drilling  for  gas  pene- 
trated 216  feet  of  drift,  striking  rock  at  an  altitude  less  than  900  feet  above 
tide. 

At  St.  Paris  a  gas-well  boring  was  attempted  near  the  station  at  an 
altitude  about  1,216  feet  above  tide,  which  penetrated  530  feet  of  drift,  and 
was  abandoned  without  reaching  rock.  Orton  has  called  attention^  to  the 
occurrence  of  a  tough  brown  clay  at  a  depth  of  360  feet,  the  section  above 
that  depth  being  mainly  blue  and  gray  tills.  At  400  feet  gravel  was  struck 
in  which,  as  reported  to  Orton,  wood,  bark,  and  fragments  of  mussel  shells 
were  struck.  Dr.  J.  J.  Musson,  a  resident  of  St.  Paris,  informed  the  writer 
that  the  report  that  mussel  shells  were  pumped  out  from  this  depth  seems 
based  only  on  the  Paleozoic  fossils  which  are  found  in  some  of  the  pebbles. 
Fragments  of  the  wood  were  preserved  and  pronounced  to  be  red  cedar. 
Beneath  the  gravel  which  contained  this  wood  quicksand  of  some  depth 
was  passed  through,  but  the  well  terminated  in  bowlder  clay.  Orton  sug- 
gested that  this  deeply  filled  valley  was  the  ancient  channel  of  the  Miami 
River,  but  the  exact  course  of  the  valley  southward  from  this  point  remains 
undetermined.  It  is  also  doubtful  if  it  had  a  southward  discharge,  there 
beino-  some  evidence  of  a  channel  leading  northwestward  into  Indiana. 
Toward  the  north  a  valley  of  similar  depth  has  been  struck  at  Port  Jefferson, 
Anna,  New  Bremen,  and  near  St.  Marys,  and  it  has  recently  been  traced 
by  Bownocker  into  Indiana.- 

No  surface  indications  of  the  position  of  the  channel  are  to  be  found, 

'  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  VI,  1888,  p.  277.  ^  Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  XXIII,  1899,  p.  182. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  3(39 

for  the  drift  has  filled  that  whole  reo-ion  to  a  level  above  the  tops  of  the 
highest  limestone  ridges  of  the  preglacial  divides.  The  data  coiiQerning 
the  wells  referred  to  are  presented  later,  in  connection  with  the  discussion 
of  the  region  in  which  they  occur.  A  well  in  St.  Paris,  80  rods  northwest 
of  the  one  repoi'ted  above,  struck  rock  at  370  feet,  bnt  no  data  concerning 
the  character  of  the  drift  were  obtained. 

Xt  Troy  the  drift  has  a  known  variation  from  50  to  133  feet  in  thickness. 
At  New  Carlisle  a  large  amount  of  drift  was  penetrated,  but  the  writer  was 
unable  to  learn  its  exact  thickness  and  structure.  The  uplands  north  of 
New  Carlisle,  for  a  distance  of  10  miles  or  more,  are  thinly  coated  with 
drift,  and  so  also  are  those  south  of  this  village  between  Honey  Creek  and 
^lad  River.  West  of  the  Miami  River,  also,  the  drift  is  thin  from  Troy 
southward  to  Dayton.  Some  of  the  wells  west  of  Tippecanoe  on  the 
uplands  strike  a  dark-colored  clay,  perhaps  a  soil,  just  above  the  rock.  In 
Tippecanoe  water  wells  penetrate  30  feet  or  more  of  till.  Below  Tippecanoe, 
in  the  vicinity  of  Tadmor,  there  are  lowland  tracts  along  the  Miami  River, 
where  tributaries  enter  from  the  uplands,  in  which  50  to  75  feet  of  till  is 
exposed. 

The  greater  part  of  the  city  of  Dayton  stands  on  a  gravel  plain,  but  in 
the  portion  west  of  the  Miami,  known  as  Dayton  View,  the  drift  has  an 
undulating  surface,  and,  though  mainly  composed  of  gravel,  has  a  capping-  of 
till  thickly  set  with  bowlders.  A  gas-well  boring  near  the  corner  of  First 
and  Findlay  streets  penetrated  247  feet  of  drift,  mainly  till.  A  well  on  the 
waterworks  grounds  near  Mad  River,  225  feet  in  depth,  did  not  reach  the 
rock.  This  penetrated  clayey  deposits  (pi'obably  alluvial)  for  about  50  feet, 
beneath  which  depth  the  drift  was  mainly  gravel.  The  supply  of  water  for 
the  city  is  obtained  from  a  series  of  wells  which  barely  enter  the  gravel 
beneath  the  alluvial  clays.  At  Osborne,  a  A'illage  on  Mad  River,  a  few 
miles  above  Dayton,  drift  was  penetrated  to  a  depth  of  207  feet,  but  its 
structure  was  not  learned. 

At  Miamisburg  a  portion  of  tlie  valley  has  rock  near  the  level  of  the 
river  bed,  but  a  gas-well  boring  made  in  that  callage  penetrated  181  feet  of 
drift,  mainly  gravel.  The  deep  portion  of  the  valley  lying  below  the  level 
of  the  stream  here  seems  to  be  a  narrow  gorge.  The  valley  above  stream 
level  is  somewhat  constricted  for  2  to  3  miles  below  Miamisburg,  though  it 
is  probably  of  preglacial  excavation. 

MON  XLI 2-i 


370  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

From  the  Great  Miami  westward  along  the  terminal  portions  of  the 
morainic  loops  and  northward  along-  the  western  limb  of  these  moraines 
the  drift  is  mnch  thinner  than  in  the  eastern  limb,  and  contains  a  larger 
proportion  of  till.  The  majority  of  the  wells  are  mainly  through  till, 
penetrating  but  little  assorted  material,  though  the  water-bearing  bed  at 
bottom  is  usually  gravel  or  sand.  On  the  road  from  Dayton  to  Chambers- 
buro-  the  wells  located  on  the  middle  moraine  penetrate  30  to  40  feet  or 
more  of  drift,  but  north  of  that  moraine  in  the  villaoe  of  Chambersburg 
they  penetrate  but  6  to  16  feet.  West  from  Dayton,  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Soldiers'  Home,  and  northwestward  from  there  in  tlie  district  lying  between 
the  middle  and  inner  members  of  the  morainic  system,  rock  is  near  the 
surface ;  but  in  the  moraines  to  the  north  and  south  the  drift  has  a  thickness 
of  30  to  40  feet  or  more,  and  in  Stillwater  Valley  near  Little  York  its 
thickness  exceeds  100  feet.  Along  the  lower  course  of  Twin  Creek,  as 
previously  described,  the  drift  is  exposed  to  a  depth  of  nearly  100  feet,  but 
in  its  upper  course  there  are  many  quarries  along  the  stream,  and  the  amount 
of  drift  filling  is  slight.  In  the  outer  border  of  the  morainic  system  3  miles 
southwest  of  Germantown,  on  an  elevated  portion  of  the  uplands,  a  well  on 
the  "Anderson  farm"  is  reported  to  have  penetrated  bowlder  clay  nearly  100 
feet  without  reaching  rock.  This  is  the  greatest  thickness  of  upland  drift 
reported  from  this  portion  of  western  Ohio. 

At  Pyrmont  (on  the  inner  member)  wells  50  feet  deep  do  not  reach 
rock.  At  Wengertown,  West  Baltimore,  and  Gordon,  villages  situated  on 
the  border  of  the  iuner  member,  wells  30  feet  deep  do  not  reach  rock.  At 
Ithaca,  on  the  inner  member,  rock  is  struck  at  aboi;t  25  feet.  Flowing 
wells  are  obtained  along  a  small  creek  in  this  village  at  a  depth  of  about  15 
feet.  At  Arcanum,  near  the  border  of  the  inner  member,  one  gas  well  has 
only  22  feet  of  drift,  but  five  others  have  50  to  55  feet.  There  is  in  this 
village  10  to  20  feet  of  till  at  the  surface,  beneath  which  the  drift  is  largel}^ 
sand  and  gravel. 

At  Eaton  the  waterworks  well  in  Sevenmile  Creek  Valley,  in  the  north- 
west part  of  the  town,  penetrates  75  to  80  feet  of  drift,  mainly  till,  but  in  the 
southern  part  rock  is  struck  in  the  valley  at  about  10  feet.  There  may, 
however,  be  a  deep  gorge  traversing  the  valley  southward,  which  has  not 
yet  been  touched  in  wells.  At  Camden,  about  8  miles  below  Eaton,  the 
drift  in  this  creek  valley  has  a  thickness  of  181  feet. 


MAIN  MOEAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  371 

At  New  Madison  there  are  outcrops  of  rock  in  the  valley  of  White- 
water RiA^er,  but  the  gas  well,  which  is  also  in  the  valley,  penetrated  75 
feet  of  drift. 

The  only  records  of  deep  wells  obtained  in  the  Indiana  portion  of  this 
moraine  are  at  Lynn  and  Losantville.  In  Lynn  one  gas  well  has  117  feet, 
the  other  124  feet  of  drift.  In  each  well  there  is  about  50  feet  of  till  at  the 
surface,  beneath  which  the  drift  is  maiiily  gravel.  In  Losantville  the  ch-ift 
has  a  thickness  of  240  feet,  the  greater  part  of  which  is  blue  till.  Some 
gravel  beds  were  passed  through  within  the  upper  100  feet. 

BOWLDERS. 

Frequent  references  have  already  been  made  to  the  large  number  of 
bowlders  which  characterize  the  middle  member  of  this  morainic  system. 
Reports  by  earlier  observers,  Orton,  Hussey,  Chamberlin,  and  Phinney, 
contain  descriptions  of  portions  of  the  belt,^  and  Chamberlin  recognized  it 
as  an  accompaniment  of  a  moraine  of  the  Miami  lobe  There  are  few,  if 
any,  bowlder  belts  within  the  drift-covered  portion  of  the  Mississippi  Basin 
which  exceed  it  in  strength  and  extent  of  development  There  is  scarcely 
a  mile  along  the  whole  length  of  the  morainic  loop,  from  the  northern  end 
of  the  eastern  limb  in  central  Logan  County,  Ohio,  around  to  the  northern 
end  of  the  western  limb  in  Henry  County,  Ind.  (a  distance  of  about  120 
miles),  in  which  bowlders  are  not  a  conspicuous  feature.  The  belt  has  an 
average  breadth  of  more  than  a  mile,  not  including  the  eastern  limb,  in 
which  its  breadth  is  much  greater,  averaging  2  to  3  miles.  The  bowlders 
are  much  more  plentiful  in  some  localities  than  in  others.  An  estimate 
made  from  an  actual  count  of  the  bowlders  at  several  points  gives  an 
average  of  about  ten  surface  bowlders  per  acre  whose  size  exceeds  1  foot 
in  diameter.  Professor  Orton  noted  a  field  near  West  Alexandria,  in  Preble 
County,  where  by  actual  count  there  are  over  1,200  bowlders  per  acre 
which  exceed  2  feet  in  diameter.  The  aggregate  number  in  any  portion  of 
the  western  limb  is  probably  as  great  as  in  an  equal  length  of  the  eastern 
limb,  since  the  bowlders  are  dropped  in  greater  numbers  per  unit  of  area  in 
the  former  than  in  the  latter  situation. 

The  size  of  the  bowlders  ranges  from  a  cubic  foot  or  less  up  to  1,000 

1 E.  Orton,  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  1878,  pp.  412-414;  John  Hussey,  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill, 
1878,  pp.  475-476;  T.  C.  Chamberlin,  Third  Ann.  Rept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  pp.  334-335;  A.  J.  Phinney, 
Fifteenth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1885-1886,  pp.  112-115. 


372  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

cubic  feet  or  more,  but  the  majorit}^  contain  only  10  to  20  cubic  feet.  They 
are  largely  granitic  rocks  and  fine-grained  greenstones,  but  quartzites  and 
conglomerates  from  the  Huronian  ledges  of  Canada  are  also  connnon. 
Very  few  limestone  or  local  bowlders  of  any  kind  occiu-.  The  vast  majority 
of  the  bowlders  are  partially  rounded  or  subangular,  but  scarcely  one  in 
one  hundred  shows  glacial  planing.  They  lie  on  the  surface,  or  are  but 
slightly  embedded  in  the  ground.  From  accounts  given  by  residents  it 
appears  that  very  few  are  struck  in  making  wells  or  other  excavations 
except  within  a  foot  or  so  of  the  surface.  The  large  proportion  of  crys- 
talline Canadian  rocks,  the  slight  amount  of  glacial  planing,  and  the 
restriction  of  the  bowldei's  to  the  surface,  individually  as  well  as  unitedly, 
indicate  that  the  bowlders  were  englacial,  becoming  superglacial  at  the 
border  rather  than  subglacial;  but  the  underlying  drift  appears  to  be 
largely  subglacial,  being  composed  of  thoroughly  intermixed  local  and 
distant  material  whose  rock  fragments  are  much  more  conspicuously  gla- 
ciated than  are  the  surface  bowlders.  If  this  interpretation  be  correct,  the 
amount  t)f  englacial  material  was  very  slight  compared  with  that  of  the 
subglacial.^ 

This  bowlder  belt  continues  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Miami  lobe  at 
each  end,  being  traceable  southwestward  along  the  eastern  limb  of  a 
moraine  of  the  East  White  lobe  some  12  to  15  miles,  when  it  loses  its 
strength  and  can  with  difficulty  be  traced  farther.  In  the  Scioto  moraines, 
as  noted  elsewhere  in  this  report,  bowlders  are  present  from  the  reentrant 
angle  in  Logan  County  southward  for  30  miles  or  more  in  greater  abun- 
dance than  throughout  the  remainder  of  the  loop,  but  not  in  such  great 
numbers  as  in  the  Miami  lobe.  If  these  continuations  of  the  bowlders  into 
the  Scioto  and  East  White  lobe  be  included,  the  length  of  the  bowlder  belt 
will  be  increased  to  about  160  miles.  There  appears  to  be  no  reason  for 
separating  the  bowlders  in  the  other  lobes  from  those  in  the  Miami  lobe. 
Indeed,  they  seem  to  have  been  deposited  at  the  same  time  and  serve  a 
valuable  purpose  in  indicating  the  correlations  of  the  moraine. 

The  outer  member  of  this  morainic  system  has  comparatively  few 
bowlders  on  its  surface,  the  only  points  where  noteworthy  numbers  were 

'Comp.  Chamberlin:  Third  Ann.  Rept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  pp.  331-332;  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  May, 
1884,  pp.  378-390;  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  I,  pp.  27-28;  Jour.  Geol.,  Vol.  I,  pp.  47-60.  Upham: 
Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  VIII,  Dec,  1891,  pp.  376-385;  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  134-148. 
Salisbury:  Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  IX,  May,  1892,  pp.  304-316. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  373 

observed  being  southeast  of  Dayton,  in  the  vicinity  of  Beavertown,  and 
south  and  southwest  of  Germantown,  but  in  neither  of  these  ph\ces  do  they 
compare  in  number  with  those  in  the  main  belt. 

On  the  inner  member  the  distiibution  of  bowlders  is  somewhat  irregu- 
lar. The  eastern  limb  is  liberally  strewn  Avith  them  throughout  its  entire 
length,  though  they  are  not  so  numerous  as  in  the  bowlder  belt  of  the 
middle  member.  The  terminal  portion  of  the  loop  and  the  western  limb 
are  sparingly  supplied  with  bowlders,  but  have  small  areas  in  which  the 
number  is  as  great  as  in  the  main  belt. 

There  are  parts  of  the  inner  border  plain  on  which  bowldei's  are  as 
numerous  as  anywhere  in  the  main  bowlder  belt.  The  most  conspicuous 
of  these  tracts  lies  along  the  Stillwater  River,  the  bowlders  occurring 
abundantly  along  this  stream  for  several  miles  below  Ludlow  Falls  and 
also  on  the  plains  east  of  the  stream  along  a  line  running  from  West 
Milton  to  Troy.  Over  an  area  of  several  square  miles  they  are  so  thickly 
strewn  that  stone  wall  fences  are  made  from  them  and  they  form  a  serious 
hindrance  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  The  entire  district  embraced 
between  the  morainic  system  under  discussion  and  the  next  moraine  to  the 
north  is  plentifully  supplied  with  bowlders,  scarcely  a  farm  being  free  from 
them,  but  they  seldom  so  greatly  interfere  with  agriculture  as  they  do 
about  Ludlow  Falls.  These  bowlders  probably  represent  englacial  mate- 
rial dropped  during  the  recession  of  the  ice  sheet.  So  far  as  the  writer 
could  discover,  they  do  not  form  belts  that  can  be  correlated  into  well- 
defined  systems  or  lines  and  are  not  so  suitable  as  moraines  for  showing 
the  outline  of  the  ice  margin. 

CHARACTER  OF  THE  OUTWASH. 

In  this  discussion  the  deposits  of  the  valley  of  Mad  River  will  first  be 
considered,  after  which  the  valleys  to  the  west  will  be  taken  in  turn. 

Mad  River  finds  its  source  in  the  reentrant  angle  between  the  Scioto 
and  Miami  lobes,  at  an  altitude  about  1,250  feet  above  tide.  There  is  not 
such  deep  gravel  filling  here  as  at  points  lower  down  in  the  valley.  The 
village  of  Zanesville  is  located  in  the  valley  about  2  miles  below  the  head 
of  the  river,  and  it  is  reported  that  the  gravel  has  here  a  depth  of  but  12  to 
20  feet,  the  remainder  of  the  drift  to  a  depth  of  120  feet  being  mainly  clay. 
The  surface  of  the  valley  bottom  at  Zanesville  is  nearly  plane  and  has  the 


374  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

appearance  of  a  glacial  gravel  plain.  Tributary  plains  enter  near  this  vil- 
lage from  the  Scioto  moraine  on  the  east,  and  the  valley  soon  becomes 
broader,  having  in  Champaign  County  a  width  of  2  to  3  miles.  The  pres- 
ent stream  has  cut  but  a  shallow  channel  in  the  upper  half  of  its  course 
and  in  flood  seasons  still  overflows  the  bed  of  the  glacial  stream,  though 
it  has  here,  as  throughout  its  entire  course,  an  average  fall  of  about  9 
feet  per  mile.  The  moraine  comes  down  to  the  border  of  this  plain  west 
of  Wesf  Liberty ,  and  probably  glacial  waters  issued  from  it  at  this  point 
into  the  Mad  River  Vallej'. 

About  6  miles  below  West  Liberty  a  gravel  plain  enters  the  valley 
from  the  northwest.  It  is  neai'ly  a  mile  in  average  width,  and  extends  fully 
3  miles  back  into  the  moraine.  At  its  northwest  end  this  tributar}-  gravel 
plain  grades  into  and  fits  about  the  morainic  knolls,  showing  that  it  is  of  the 
same  age  as  the  moraine.  The  plain  is  traversed  by  two  streams.  Muddy 
and  Craj^on  creeks,  whose  beds  are  only  12  to  15  feet  below  the  level  of 
the  plain.  One  of  these  streams  enters  from  the  north  and  the  other  fi-oni 
the  southwest  side  of  the  gravel  plain,  and  they  take  ^^a-i'^Uel  courses 
throug'h  it,  being  distant  from  each  other  one-half  mile  or  more.  The 
size  of  their  valleys  compared  with  that  of  the  plain  which  they  enter  is 
an  indication  of  the  small  amount  of  work  they  have  accomplished  com- 
pared with  that  accomplished  by  the  glacial  stream  which  formed  the 
gravel  plain. 

A  few  miles  farther  south,  and  nearly  opposite  Urbana,  another  tribu- 
tary glacial  gravel  plain  enters  Mad  River  Valley  from  the  west.  This 
plain  is  80  to  160  rods  in  width,  and  is  traversed  by  Nettle  Creek,  the 
source  of  the  stream  being  near  the  head  of  the  gravel  plain.  It  lies  in  a 
valle}"  which  is  continued  farther  west,  and  into  which  the  moraine  descends 
at  the  liead  of  the  gravel  plain,  there  forming  the  divide  between  Mosquito 
Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Great  Miami,  and  Nettle  Creek,  a  tributary  of 
Mad  River.  The  peculiar  features  here  produced  by  the  ice  sheet  merit  a 
brief  description.  The  moraine  consists  of  a  series  of  gravelly  hummocks, 
rising  on!}-  10  to  20  feet  above  the  level  of  the  head  of  the  gravel  plain, 
which  occupy  the  valley  for  less  than  one  half  mile,  and  into  which  the 
graA^el  plain  merges  as  if  it  had  been  formed  in  connection  with  them.  The 
same  knolls  stand  about  60  feet  above  the  level  of  Mosquito  Lake,  a  lake 
which  forms  the  head  of  Mosquito  Creek,  the  stream  leading  northwest 


OUTWASH  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  375 

from  the  moraine.  The  ice  sheet  apparently  occupied  the  northwestern 
end  of  the  valley  while  its  waters  were  filling  the  portion  of  the  valley 
outside  the  ice  with  gravelly  deposits,  and  withdrew  without  filling  up  the 
portion  of  the  valley  which  lay  beneath  it  to  as  high  a  level  as  the  glacial 
waters  had  filled  that  outside. 

Near  Springfield  the  present  Mad  River  enters  a  narrow  rock-bound 
valley  for  a  few  miles,  but  emerges  near  Snyder's  station  into  a  broad  plain 
several  miles  in  width.  The  plain  extends  on  the  northwest  nearly  to  New 
Carlisle,  where  it  connects  with  a  gravel  outwash  or  apron  of  the  moraine. 
Here  we  find  phenomena  similar  to  those  just  described  in  the  Mosqiiito- 
Nettle  Creek  Valley.  From  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine  there  is  a 
plain  descending  southward  to  Mad  River,  while  on  the  inner  border  is  the 
valley  of  Honey  Creek  leading  northwestward  to  the  Great  Miami,  the 
highest  point  between  the  two  rivers  being  at  the  junction  of  the  moraine 
with  the  gravel  plain  near  New  Carlisle. 

From  the  expanded  portion  of  the  gravel  plain  under  consideration  a 
valley  leads  southward  to  the  Little  Miami  River.  It  is  occupied  through- 
out its  entire  length  by  Beaver  Creek,  the  head  of  the  creek  being  in  the 
Mad  River  gravel  plain  and  the  mouth  at  the  Little  Miann.  It  is  much 
smaller  than  Mad  River  Valley,  its  width  near  Byron  and  also  near  its 
mouth  being  but  60  to  80  rods.  This  valley  was  probably  occupied  by  a 
stream  at  the  time  of  the  highest  stages  of  the  waters  which  formed  the 
Mad  River  plain,  but  seems  on  accoimt  of  its  small  size  not  to  have  carried 
the  main  stream  for  any  great  length  of  time.  The  valley  maj^  be  older 
than  the  Mad  River  gravel  plain,  though  it  was  apparently  somewhat 
enlarged  at  the  time  that  plain  was  occupied  by  glacial  waters. 

About  4  miles  west  from  the  point  where  Beaver  Creek  Valley  leaves 
the  Mad  River  gravel  plain,  the  river  enters  the  outer  member  of  the 
morainic  system  under  discussion.  It  joins  the  Great  Miami  at  Dayton, 
and  that  stream  passes  southward  along  the  inner  border  of  the  outer 
member  and  leaves  the  moraine  about  26  miles  below  the  point  where  Mad 
River  entered  it,  its  course  throughout  nmch  of  that  distance  being  about  3 
miles  back  from  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine.  This  extension  of  the 
ice  sheet  beyond  the  vallevs  of  Mad  and  Miami  rivers  raises  some  interest- 
ing questions.  Did  this  bridging  of  the  valleys  by  the  ice  sheet  produce  an 
obstruction  or  dam  sufficiently  strong  to  prevent  the  waters  of  Mad  River 


376  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

from  following  their  present  course?  And  if  a  dam  was  produced,  was  it 
maintained  continuouslj^  throughout  the  entire  period  during  wliich  the 
outer  member  of  the  morainie  system  was  forming? 

That  the  ice  sheet  occupied  this  portion  of  the  valley  for  a  considera-- 
ble  period  is  shown  b}'  the  strength  of  the  portion  of  the  moi-aine  developed 
along  the  southeast  side  of  the  valley,  and  that  it  would,  while  occupying 
the  moraine,  present  a  serious  obstruction  to  the  flow  of  a  stream  along  the 
valley  can  scarcely  be  doubted,  especially  since  the  course  of  the  stream  did 
not  conform  to  the  direction  of  ice  movement  but  was  almost  at  right  angles 
to  it.  The  open  valley  (Beaver  Creek),  leading  southward  from  the  Mad 
River  plain  to  the  Little  Miami,  to  which  attention  has  already  been 
directed,  ma}'^  have  been  utilized  because  of  an  obstruction  to  the  flow  of 
the  water  down  the  valley.  The  obstruction  inaj  have  been  complete  for 
a  brief  period,  but  that  it  was  not  complete  for  the  entire  period  required  in 
the  formation  of  tlie  moraine  seems  to  be  shown  b(ith  by  the  small  size  of 
the  outlet  through  BeaAer  Creek  Valley  and  hj  terraces  along  Mad  and 
Miami  rivers.  The  portion  of  the  Mad-Miami  Valley  under  discussion  is 
occupied  by  a  broad  gravel  plain  similar  to  tliat  along  the  upper  portion  of 
Mad  River  and  much  broader  than  that  along  the  portion  of  the  Great 
Miami  above  the  mouth  of  Mad  River.  This  plain  has,  so  far  as  the  writer 
could  detect,  no  trace  of  morainie  features  on  it  where  the  moraine  crosses 
Mad  River  above  Dayton,  and  no  well-defined  morainie  features  at  the 
point  where  it  crosses  the  Great  Miami  below  Dayton,  the  only  peculiarity 
of  the  plain  at  the  latter  ^ilace  being  a  series  of  channels  and  sligdit  undula- 
tions doubtfully  referred  to  glacial  action.  So  far  as  noted,  the  Mad  River 
plain  has  no  terraces  above  the  point  where  tlie  moraine  crosses  that  are 
not  present  below  that  point.  Indeed,  there  seems  to  be  but  one  broad  and 
well-sustained  plain  higher  than  the  present  flood  plain  either  above  or 
below  the  point  where  the  moraine  crosses,  and  this  has  a  general  elevation 
of  bO  to  40  feet  above  the  river.  The  great  size  of  tlie  gravel  plain  in  the 
vicinity  of  Dayton,  when  contrasted  with  the  narrowness  of  the  Beaver 
Creek  Valley,  supports  strongly  the  view  that  this  portion  of  the  valley 
afforded  a  passage  for  the  stream  throughout  much  of  the  time  the  moraine 
was  forming. 

Mad  River  Valley  was  occupied  by  glacial  waters  only  in  the  periods 
during  which  the  outer  and  middle  members  of  the  morainie  system  were 


OUTWASH  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  377 

fru-miiigj  the  position  of  the  inner  member  being  such  that  water  from  it 
could  not  have  been  discharged  down  the  valley,  and  of  the  two  periods 
the  earlier  one  seems  to  have  furnished  nearly  all  the  glacial  material  to 
the  A^alley,  the  glacial  terraces  leading  into  the  valley  being  more  numerous 
and  also  more  capacious  from  the  outer  than  from  the  middle  member. 

The  Grreat  Miami,  above  the  mouth  of  Mad  River,  has  a  much  nar- 
rower A^alley  than  below,  or  than  the  valley  of  Mad  River  itself,  the  general 
width  being  one-half  mile  or  less.  In  the  vicinit}'  of  Troy  it  is,  for  a  few 
miles,  expanded  to  a  width  of  a  mile  or  more,  and  contains  a  g-ravel  plain 
standing  about  20  feet  above  the  river,  on  the  borders  of  which  there  is  a 
ten-ace  or  remnant  of  a  higher  plain  standing-  30  to  35  feet  above  the  river. 
It  is  thouglit  that  this  higher  plain  may  have  been  connected  with  the  ice 
sheet  at  the  time  the  inner  member  of  this  morainic  system  was  fomiing,  but 
the  connection  is  not  clearly  established.  The  lower  plain  appears  also  to 
be  of  glacial  age,  and  apparently  finds  its  head  in  the  Union  moraine,  a  few 
miles  above  Piqua.  A  description  of  it  is  given  in  connection  with  that 
moraine. 

Below  the  point  where  the  outer  niember  crosses  the  Grreat  Miami 
(near  Carlisle)  that  stream  flows  through  a  gravel  plain,  1  to  3  miles 
wide,  which,  throiighout  much  of  its  length,  stands  less  than  50  feet  above 
the  river,  but  which  near  the  mouth  attains  a  height  of  100  feet  above  the 
river  owing  to  the  more  rapid  descent  of  the  present  stream.  Attention 
was  called  on  a  preceding  page  to  the  presence  of  a  buried  soil  beneath  this 
plain,  a  few  miles  below  Hamilton,  at  a  depth  of  about  60  feet.  It  is 
thought  that  the  valley  received  an  average  filling  of  at  least  that  an^iount 
at  the  time  these  moraines  were  forming,  as  a  result  of  the  overburdened 
condition  of  the  glacial  floods.  That  the  stream  which  deposited  this  mate- 
rial was  vigoroiis  is  shown  b}^  the  coarseness  of  the  deposit,  the  greater 
part  of  the  material  being  clean  gravel,  with  a  genei'al  freedom  from  silty 
or  fine  material  such  as  would  have  been  deposited  under  slack- water 
conditions. 

There  is  a  small  gravel  apron  along  the  outer  border  of  the  outer 
member  on  the  uplands  east  of  the  Great  Miami,  at  an  altitude  about  200 
feet  above  the  river,  which  is  crossed  by  the  Springboro  and  Dayton  pike 
nearly  due  east  of  Miamisburg.  It  is  situated  in  a  narrow  plane  tract  lying 
between  the  moraine  and  some  limestone  ridgfes  to  the  southeast,  and  forms 


378  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

a  divide,  the  waters  from  the  northeast  part  of  tlie  apron  flowing  north- 
ward to  enter  the  Great  Miami  near  Alexandersville,  while  that  from  the 
soutli western  part  flows  southwestward  along  the  outer  border  of  the 
moraine,  entering  the  Great  Miami  near  Franklin.  On  Isaac  Miller's  farm 
a  well  on  this  apron  penetrated  gravel  of  medium  coarseness  to  a  depth 
of  17  feet,  where  water  -was  obtained.  It  is  Mr.  Miller's  opinion  that  the 
gravelly  phase  of  this  outwash  apron  does  not  extend  much  beyond  his 
farm,  but  that  the  remainder  of  the  plain  is  underlain  by  clay  or  silt, 
and  has  a  black  mucky  soil.  The  gravelly  portion  of  the  apron  has  a  red 
loamy  soil. 

On  the  uplands  between  the  Great  Miami  and  Sevenmile  Creek  there 
is  also  a  small  outwash  apron.  It  covers  2  or  3  square  miles  in  the  vicinity 
of  West  Elkton.  Its  altitude  is  about  200  feet  above  Sevenmile  Creek  and 
still  more  above  the  Great  Miami  Valley.  It  occupies  a  part  of  the  divide 
between  these  streams,  its  eastern  portion  draining  southeast  to  the  Great 
Miami  below  Middletown,  while  its  western  portion  drains  to  Sevenmile 
Creek  near  Collinsville.  Exposures  near  the  border  of  the  moraine  show 
well-rounded  clean  gravel  of  medium  coarseness,  which  has  a  variable 
thickness,  owing  to  the  irregularities  of  the  substrata,  but  its  own  surface  is 
quite  smooth. 

The  valley  of  Sevenmile  Creek  contains  gravel  terraces  which  are 
thought  to  be  of  the  age  of  the  outer  member  of  this  morainic  SA'stem,  but 
the  coimection  was  not  clearl}^  worked  out.  The  valley  of  this  creek  con- 
tains till  as  well  as  gravel  below  the  point  where  the  moraine  crosses,  the 
till  being  capped  by  a  coating  of  gravel  several  feet  in  thickness.  Above 
the  point  where  the  outer  member  crosses  there  is  far  less  gravel  than 
below,  the  outwash  from  the  later  members  being  chiefly  sand  or  silt.  This 
valley  has  been  deepened  l)ut  little  since  the  gravel  ten-aces  were  formed, 
their  surfaces  throug'hout  much  of  the  lower  part  of  the  valley  being  only 
30  or  40  feet  above  the  present  stream,  while  the  bluffs  bordering  the 
glacial  terrace  rise  to  a  height  of  200  feet  or  more  above  it. 

On  the  uplands  west  of  Sevenmile  Creek  there  is,  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  State  line,  an  extensive  till  plain  just  outside  the  outer  member  of  this 
morainic  system,  whose  surface  on  the  border  of  the  moraine  is  capped  by 
a  silt  deposit  1  or  2  feet  in  thickness  which  appears  to  be  a  morainic  out- 
wash.     The  extent  of  the  silt  deposit  was  not  determined,   though  it  is 


OUTWASH  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  379 

known  to  be  absent  from  portions  of  the  plain  a  few  miles  distant  from  the 
border,  and  quite  uniformly  present  near  the  border  of  the  moraine.  The 
plain  occupies  a  part  of  the  divide  between  the  Whitewater  and  Great 
Miami  rivers,  and  stands  much  above  the  level  of  the  gravel  terraces  in 
these  valleys.  The  presence  of  gravel  terraces  in  the  valleys  is  evidence  of 
high  altitude  and  good  drainage,  and,  assuming  the  silts  to  be  of  the  same 
age  as  the  terraces,  it  is  evident  that  the  conditions  of  slack  drainage  under 
which  they  were  deposited  is  not  attributable  to  a  low  altitude  of  the 
coimtry.  It  seems  instead  to  be  due  to  the  absence  of  drainage  channels 
adequate  to  connect  the  plain  with  these  valleys. 

This  interpretation  naturally  raises  the  question  whether  the  silts  which 
cap  the  Ilhnoian  drift  sheet  in  the  district  outside  the  outer  Wisconsin 
moraine  were  also  formed  when  the  country  was  sufficiently  high  to  afford 
good  drainage  had  channels  been  opened.  Were  these  older  sihs  confined 
to  poorly  drained  portions  of  the  uplands,  they  might  be  very  inconclusive 
evidence  of  a  low  altitude  of  the  country,  but  since  they  cover,  as  well, 
districts  which  would  have  had  good  drainage  were  the  altitude  high,  and 
districts  where  no  known  obstruction  to  drainage  could  have  existed,  their 
presence  is  considered  conclusive  evidence  of  low  altitude. 

Several  of  the  tributaries  of  Whitewater  River,  in  Wayne  County,  Ind., 
carry  gravel  plains  which  apparently  find  their  head  in  this  moraine 
system.  The  head  of  the  plain  on  East  Fork  is  found  in  the  middle  member 
near  the  point  where  it  crosses  the  State  line,  the  Ohio  portion  of  the  valley 
being  occupied  by  drift  hillocks,  while  the  Indiana  portion  carries  a  smooth 
plain  underlain  by  gravel.  On  Nolands  and  Greens  forks  there  are  broad 
plains  from  the  outer  member  southward  and  somewhat  narrower  plains 
extending  up  to  the  middle  member.  It  is  probable  that  the  main  gravel 
fining  occurred  while  the  ice  sheet  was  forming  the  outer  member.  On 
Martindale  Fork  the  gravel  plain  finds  its  head  at  the  outer  member  nearly 
due  east  of  Hagerstown.  The  plain  along  this  stream  is  much  broader  near 
its  head  than  a  few  miles  below,  its  width  at  the  head  being  a  mile  or  more. 
This  plain  is  called  the  "Walnut  level,"  on  account  of  the  level  surface  and 
the  walnut  timber  wliich  occupies  it.  On  the  west  fork  there  is  only  a 
narrow  plain,  that  stream  having  been  a  less  important  glacial  outlet  than 
Martindale  Fork. 

With  the  exception  of  East  Fork,  all  the  tributaries  of  Whitewater  are 


380  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

flowing  in  valleys  that  are  usuallj  deeply  filled  with  gravel.  There  is, 
however,  occasionally  considerable  till  beneath  the  gravel.  East  Fork  has 
in  places  but  a  small  amount  of  drift,  for  it  is  largely  in  a  new  course  opened 
since  the  early  Wisconsin  stage  of  glaciation.  At  Richmond  the  stream  has 
cut  about  50  feet  into  tht  rock,  while  the  depth  of  rock  excavation  is  still 
greater  farther  south.  The  other  tributaries  of  Whitewater  have  ior  manv 
miles  south  from  the  moraine  shallow  valleys,  their  beds  being  but  15  to 
30  feet  below  the  glacial  terraces. 

It  is  probable  that  the  Whitewater  Valle}^  received  important  contribu- 
tions of  glacial  gravel  throughout  its  entire  length  at  the  time  this  morainic 
system  was  forming,  for  the  feeders  are  numerous  and  the  valley  has  a  rapid 
descent,  there  being  in  the  gravel  terraces  a  fall  of  nearly  500  feet  between 
their  heads  and  the  mouth  of  the  stream,  a  distance  of  about  75  miles.  It 
is  not  certain  whether  the  terraces  formed  at  the  early  Wisconsin  stage  rise 
at  any  point  above  the  level  of  the  gravel  filling  which  accompanied  the 
glacial  stage  under  discussion. 

Thirteen  observations  of  strise  have  been  made,  or  have  come  to  the 
writer's  notice  within  the  limits  of  this  moraine  and  its  inner  border  plain. 
With  two  exceptions  these  are  all  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  district. 
With  three  exceptions  they  bear  either  directly  or  obliquely  toward  the 
eastern  limb,  the  exceptions  being  found  near  Piqua,  where  the  bearing  is 
nearly  due  south  and  in  western  Darke  County,  where  the  bearhig  is  slightly 
west  of  south.  Strise  are  rare  in  the  western  portion  of  the  morainic  loop, 
several  rock  outcrops  having  been  examined,  both  within  the  western  limb 
and  on  the  inner  border  plain,  without  success  in  finding  striation.  The 
following  is  a  list  of  the  observations.  The  bearings  obtained  by  the  writer 
and  probabl)^  those  b}'  other  observers  have  not  been  corrected  for  magnetic 
variation. 

Strue  !n  the  vicinity  of  the  main  moradnic  system. 

Angel's  quarries  in  Bellefontaine S.  10°  E. 

Startler's  qnarries,  1^  miles  south  of  Piqua N.-S. 

Zinn's  quarry,  3  miles  northeast  of  New  Carlisle,  near  outer  border  of  moraine S.  22°  E. 

At  roadside,  1  mile  west  of  Zinn's  quarry S.  80°  E. 

Troy,  6  miles  southeast  of,  on  east-west  center  road  in  Elizabeth  Township S.  2.5°  E. 

Troy,  2  miles  south  of,  on  west  bluff  of  Great  Miami S.  28°  E. 

Light's  quarry,  Dayton,  6  miles  north  of,  east  bluff  of  Great  Miami ' S.  19°-33°  E. 

'  Reported  by  Dr.  John  Locke,  Geology  of  Ohio,  1838,  pp.  230-232,  fig.  2. 


INNER  BORDER  OF  THE  MIAMI  LOBE.  381 

Dayton,  4  miles  southeast  of,  in  Beavertown  quarries' - S.  27°  E. 

Liberty,  1  mile  northeast  of,  on  west  bluff  of  Great  Miami S.  28°  E. 

Liberty,  3  miles  north  of - - -  -  S.  28°  E. 

Near  West  Milton,  east  bluff  of  Stillwater  River - - S.  30°  E. 

Gard's  quarry,  near  Greenville  - - - - ''•  ''     "  • 

Weavers  station,  Darke  County  - -- - --    ^-  ^°  "■ 

INNER  BORDER  PHENOMENA.     ' 

The  district  lying  between  this  morainie  system  and  the  next  moraine 
to  the  nortli  varies  in  width  from  20  miles  in  the  axis  to  a  narr(iw  neck  witli 
a  width  of  .5  miles  or  less  near  the  borders  of  the  lobe.  It  has  throughout 
nearly  its  entire  extent  a  very  smooth  surface.  x\long  portions  of  the 
valleys,  however,  a  few  drift  knolls  of  large  size  occur.  The  valley  of 
Mosquito  Creek,  which  enters  the  Great  Miami  near  Sidney,  contains 
several  very  sharp  knolls  50  to  75  feet  high;  smaller  ones  are  found  in  the 
Miami  Valley  in  the  vicinity  of  Piqua  and  between  Piqua  and  Troy,  and 
there  are  other  belts  along  tributaries  of  White  River  in  Indiana.  These 
valley  knolls  form  chains  nearl}^  at  right  angles  with  the  course  of  the 
moraine,  and  since  they  are  comprised  largely  of  gravel  it  is  thought  that 
they  may  have  been  formed  by  subglacial  streams  in  their  passage  toward 
the  ice  margin,  and  are,  perhaps,  to  be  classed  as  imperfect  eskers. 

The  surface  of  the  upland,  as  remarked  above,  is  liberally  strewn  with 
bowlders,  and  in  places  they  form  a  conspicuous  feature.  The  drift  consists 
largely  of  till,  and  owing  to  the  in-egularities  of  the  underlying  rock 
surface  presents  much  variation  in  thickness,  as  shown  below. 

The  gas-well  boring  at  Port  Jeiferson,  in  the  Great  Miami  Valley,  5 
miles  above  Sidney,  penetrated  about  300  feet  of  drift,  but  in  the  same 
valley,  from  Sidney  southward,  rock  exposures  are  numerous  up  to  a  level 
within  50  or  75  feet  of  the  bordering  uplands.  At  Piqua  there  are  quarries 
in  the  valley,  but  a  well  at  Mr.  Wiley's,  IJ  miles  north  of  the  city,  extends 
to  a  level  nearly  150  feet  below  the  river  bed  without  reaching  rock,  and 
one  at  Joseph  Sawyer's,  on  the  bluff  in  the  west  part  of  the  city,  strikes 
rock  at  a  level  fully  100  feet  below  the  river  bed.  The  well  driller,  J.  M. 
Stoker,  of  Piqua,  reports  that  Wiley's  well  was  in  gravelly  material  for 
about  30  feet,  beneath  which  140  feet  of  blue  till  was  penetrated.  In 
Sawyer's  well  8  or  10  feet  of  yellow  till  was  succeeded  by  about  20  feet 

iThe  main  bearing  is  S.  26°  E.  Orton's  map.  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  p.  413,  indicates  strise  in 
that  vicinity  bearing  S.  18°  E. 

^Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  IIL  P-  501. 


382  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

of  gravel,  beneath  which  there  was  blue  till  extending  to  the  rock,  wliicli 
was  struck  at  a  depth  of  190  feet. 

On  the  uplands  bordering  Stillwater  River  the  drift  seldom  exceeds 
60  feet,  and  is,  in  places,  10  feet  or  less  in  thickness,  while  along  the  river 
there  are  rocky  bluffs  with  scarcely  a  break  throughout  the  entire  course  of 
the  stream  through  this  plain. 

Toward  the  west  the  thickness  of  the  drift  increases,  borings  near 
Union  City  having  60  to  200  feet  or  more,  while  those  west  and  south  of 
Winchester,  Ind.,  show  a  range  from  80  to  333  feet.  In  wells  in  the 
vicinity  of  Union  City  the  drift  contains  but  little  assorted  material,  and 
the  same  is  true  in  the  majority  of  those  near  Winchester.  The  boring 
near  Winchester  (about  1^  miles  west),  in  which  333  feet  of  drift  was 
penetrated,  passed  throvigh  a  large  amount  of  quicksand.  The  Lockport 
(Niagara)  limestone,  which  covers  nearly  the  whole  of  the  elevated  portion 
of  eastern  Indiana,  was  absent  in  this  well  and  also  in  one  north  of  it,  on 
the  north  side  of  White  River.  In  the  latter  well  also  there  was  more  than 
300  feet  of  drift. 

SECTIOIS^  n.     IN  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE. 

THE    MEMBERS    OF    THE    SYSTEM. 
DISTRIBUTION. 

This  main  morainic  system  connects  definitely  with  that  of  the  Miami 
lobe  on  the  uplands  of  Logan  County  and  also  with  a  similar  morainic 
system  of  the  Grand  River  lobe.  There  are  perhaps  some  advantages  in 
setting  forth  the  distribution  in  the  reverse  order  from  that  here  presented; 
but,  as  originally  prepared,  this  part  of  the  MonogTaph  dealing  with  the 
Scioto  lobe  was  intended  to  be  published  as  a  separate  bulletin  of  the 
Survey;  and  since  it  would  involve  a  practical  rewriting  of  the  paper  to 
reverse  the  order  of  presentation,  the  old  order  has  been  retained. 

This  morainic  system,  as  shown  in  the  glacial  maps  (Pis.  II  and  XIII), 
connects  on  the  northeast  with  the  western  limb  of  the  outer  moraine  of  the 
Grand  River  glacial  lobe,  forming  with  it  an  interlobate  belt  which  occupies 
much  of  Stark  County  and  extends  northward  through  eastern  Summit  and 
western  Portage  counties  to  a  later  morainic  system,  which  continues  the 
interlobate  tract  into  Geaug-a  County. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  383 

From  soiitliei-n  Stark  County  the  morainic  systein  under  discussion 
swings  abruptl}'  westward,  and  between  there  and  Mansfield  covers  a  traet 
8  to  14  miles  wide,  the  greatest  width  being  in  the  vicinity  of  Killbuck 
Oreek,  where  it  is  separated  into  three  somewhat  distinct  belts  with  inter- 
vening tracts  2  miles  or  more  in  width,  in  which  morainic  features  are  rare. 

Immediately  west  of  Mansfield  the  whole  system  swings  abruptly 
southward.  Its  breadth  for  a  few  miles  along  the  western  boixler  of  the 
highland  tract  of  Richland  County  is  but  5  or  6  miles,  but  south  of  this 
tract  it  spreads  out,  the  main  belt  continuing  southward,  while  a  some- 
what distinct  outer  moraine  passes  eastward  along  the  south  border  of 
tlie  highlands  nearly  to  Mohican  Creek  at  Greersville,  where  it  also  turns 
southward.  At  this  eastern  point  it  is  separated  by  an  interval  of  but 
4  miles  from  the  outer  portion  of  the  moraine  that  lies  north  of  these 
highlands. 

Where  this  eastern  member  of  the  belt  swings  southward  (near  Greers- 
ville), the  breadth  covered  by  the  whole  morainic  system  is  fully  25  miles, 
but  the  strongly  morainic  features  are  found  mainly  within  the  western  half. 
There  is  scarcel}-  a  square  mile,  however,  on  the  eastern  half  of  the  belt 
which  does  not  contain  drift  knolls  of  rather  sharp  contour.  Apparently 
the  eastern  portion  was  occupied  by  the  ice  sheet  for  a  much  briefer  period 
than  the  western,  the  drift  being  thinner  as  well  as  less  closely  aggregated 
into  knolls  and  ridges. 

From  this  point  of  greatest  expansion  the  eastern  and  western  mem- 
bers converge,  the  breadth  of  the  system  decreasing  toward  the  south  to 
about  16  miles,  in  the  latitude  of  Newark,  and  13  or  14  miles  at  the 
Licking  reservoir,  and  southward  from  there  to  Lancaster.  The  system 
consists,  near  Lancaster,  of  three  distinct  members,  separated  from  each 
other  by  intervals  of  2  to  3  miles,  in  which  morainic  features  are  rare. 
Throughout  this  north-to-south  portion  of  the  eastern  limb  of  the  Scioto 
lobe  one  member,  the  inner  or  western,  is  maintained  distinctly  and  has 
a  breadth  ranging  from  4  up  to  10  miles.  The  remainder  of  the  system  is 
made  up  of  two  more  or  less  distinct  members,  whose  variations  in  width 
and  strength  are  great,  as  shown  in  PI.  XIII. 

Near  Lancaster  the  morainic  system  shifts  abruptly  westward  a  few 
miles,  producing  the  appearance  of  a  shoulder  or  slight  lobation  north  of 
the  city,  after  which  it  trends  west  of  south  to  the  Scioto  River,  the  inner 


384  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  EKIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

member  coming  to  that  stream  near  Circleville  and  the  outer  some  14 
miles  farther  south. 

West  from  the  Scioto  River  for  15  miles  or  more  the  morainic  system 
leads  over  a  hilly  district  and  morainic  features  have  an  interrupted  devel- 
opment, the  imier  member,  which  east  of  the  Scioto  is  everywhere  strong, 
becoming  here  vaguely  defined;  but  in  western  Ross  County  the  morainic 
system  again  shows  distinct  members,  four  of  them  being  readily  traced 
northwestward  from  this  count}^. 

The  outer  one  follows  the  southwest  side  of  Rattlesnake  Creek  across 
northeastern  Highland  County.  Leaving  this  creek,  it  continues  northwest- 
ward through  Clinton  and  northward  through  eastern  Grreene  County,  con- 
stituting the  divide  between  tributaries  of  the  Scioto  and  Little  Miami  rivers. 
Continuing  north,  it  enters  the  Miami  drainage  area  in  Clark  County,  and 
is  distinctly  traceable  about  to  the  latitude  of  Springfield,  where  it  becomes 
difficult  to  trace  because  of  its  close  association  with  later  members  of  the 
system.  This  belt  is  the  one  whose  course  is  outlined  by  Professor  Cham- 
berlin  in  the  Third  Annual  Report.  Its  breadth  is  about  2  miles,  and  it  is 
clearly  distinguishable,  bj^  its  prominent  morainic  features,  from  the  nearly 
plane  tracts  on  either  side. 

The  second  member  of  the  system  follows  the  northeast  side  of  Rat- 
tlesnake Creek  from  its  mouth  to  its  source  and  determines  the  course  of 
that  stream.  It  becomes  merged  with  later  belts  in  southeastern  Clark 
County.  Its  width  is  scarcely  a  mile,  but  throughout  its  entire  length  it 
presents  sharp  knolls  and  ridges  that  produce  a  strong  contrast  with  border- 
ing plane  tracts. 

The  third  member  passes  from  Roxabell,  in  Ross  County,  in  a  course 
north  of  west,  Ij^ing  mainly  south  of  the  Dayton  and  Southeastern  Railway, 
to  Paint  Creek,  which  it  crosses  between  Washington  and  the  mouth  of 
Sugar  Creek.  Froip  Washington  its  course  is  northward  along  the  east  side 
of  Sugar  Creek  to  the  source  of  that  stream,  and  thence  a  few  miles  north 
in  conjunction  with  the  member  west  of  it.  It  then  becomes  merged  (near 
the  latitude  of  Springfield  and  London)  with  the  remaining  members  of  the 
system.     This  member  has  a  general  width  of  about  2  miles. 

The  fourth  member  follows  the  southwest  side  of  North  Paint  Creek 
for  a  few  miles  in  northwestern  Ross  and  southeastern  Fayette  counties.  It 
leaves  that  stream  near  the  line  of  the  Cincinnati  and  Muskingum  Valley 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  385 

Railway,  and  passes  northwestward  to  Bloomingburg.  From  that  village 
it  passes  northward  along  the  east  side  of  a  tributary  of  Paint  Creek  to  its 
source  near  Midway,  and  continuing  north  passes  the  Madison  County 
infirmary,  3  or  4  miles  west  of  London,  near  which  it  becomes  merged  with 
earlier  members.  Its  breadth  is  a  mile  or  more.  Reference  is  made  to  this 
belt  by  Chamberlin  in  his  paper  in  the  Third  Annual  Report. 

The  combined  moraines  pass  northward  through  northeastern  Clark, 
eastern  Champaign,  and  southeastern  Logan  counties,  constituting  a  belt 
6  to  9  miles  wide,  the  width  decreasing  northward.  Near  Bellefontaine  it 
connects  with  the  main  morainic  system  of  the  Miami  lobe,  as  already 
indicated  (pp.  354,  382). 

RANGE    IN   ALTITUDE. 

From  the  northern  end  of  the  interlobate  tract  on  its  eastern  margin, 
westward  to  the  meridian  of  Wooster  and  Millersburg,  the  moraine  has  few 
points  that  exceed  ]  ,300  feet  above  tide,  and  none  that  fall  below  800  feet. 
A  change  of  altitude  of  250  feet  is  frequently  made,  however,  within  a 
distance  of  1-^  to  2  miles  in  passing  from  ridges  to  valleys.  In  Killbuck 
Valley,  between  Wooster  and  Millersburg,  the  moraine  is  lower  than  at  any 
other  part  of  this  shoulder  of  the  lobe,  being  but  little  more  than  800  feet 
above  tide.  The  hills  near  this  creek  are  capped  by  drift  ridges  of  morainic 
type  at  an  altitude  of  fully  1,100  feet.  Near  Mansfield,  on  high  2)oints  2 
or  3  miles  southwest  of  the  city,  drift  knolls  occur  at  an  altitude  of  1,490 
feet  (barometric).  The  principal  valleys  in  that  vicinity  are  1,100  to  1,150 
feet,  making  the  range  in  altitude  within  short  distances  about  350  feet. 

In  the  eastern  limb  of  the  main  lobe  the  strongest  part  of  the  moraine 
occupies  the  divide  between  the  Scioto  and  the  Muskingum  and  Hocking 
drainage  systems,  but  owing  to  the  hilly  character  of  the  region  the  range 
in  altitude  is  not  slight.  There  are  parts  of  the  Hocking  and  Licking 
valleys  where  the  altitude  is  but  little  more  than  800  feet  above  tide,  while 
on  neighboring  hills  it  is  1,100  to  1,20()  feet  or  more.  In  many  places 
changes  of  altitude  of  250  to  300  feet  occur  within  a  inile  or  two. 

In  the  Scioto  Valley  and  th«  lower  portion  of  Paint  Creek  Valley 
morainic  features  are  developed  at  an  altitude  as  low  as  700  feet  above  tide, 
while  on  neighboring  hills  north  of  Paint  Creek  they  occur  at  an  altitude 
of  1,150  feet. 

In  the  western  limb  the   outer  member  follows   so   nearly  the  water 

MON  XLI 25 


386  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

parting  between  the  Miami  and  Scioto  drainage  basins  that  it  has  no  large 
valleys  to  cross,  and  as  the  district  is  not  so  hilly  as  on  the  east  border  of 
the  loT:)e  no  abrnpt  changes  in  altitude  occur.  There  is,  however,  a  gradual 
increase  in  altitude  in  passing  from  south  to  north,  the  altitude  in  western 
Ross  and  northwestern  Highland  counties  being  about  1,100  feet  and  in 
eastern  Logan  County  1,400  to  1,500  feet.  The  other  members  of  the 
morainic  system  show  about  the  same  range  in  altitude  as  the  outer  one, 
the  altitude  of  the  eastern  member  being  about  900  feet  at  the  line  of  Ross 
and  Fayette  counties  and  1,300  feet  or  more  in  Logan  County.  This 
member  of  the  moraine  may  perhaps  include  the  highest  points  in  Logan 
County  and  reach  an  altitude  of  1,500  feet  above  tide,  for  it  is  possible 
that  the  ice  sheet  extended  to  these  high  points  down  to  the  time  this 
member  was  forming. 

KEI.IEF. 

In  each  of  the  several  members  of  the  western  limb  the  outer  border 
is  abrupt  and  quite  marked,  though  usually  but  20  to  30  feet  in  height; 
but  on  their  inner  border  the  moraines  blend  into  the  plains  so  gradually 
that  there  is  no  marked  relief.  The  portion  of  this  western  limb  in  which 
the  moraines  are  not  distinct  ridges  (in  Logan  and  Champaign  counties) 
stands  in  places  200  feet  above  the  valley  of  Mad  River,  which  in  Logan 
County  follows  its  outer  border,  but  this  relief  is  due  in  part  to  an  under- 
lying rock  ridg'e,  the  thickness  of  the  drift  of  the  moraine  being-  less  than 
200  feet.  There  is  in  this  portion  of  the  moraine  an  inner  border  relief 
nearly  as  great  as  is  the  outer,  which  is  also  due  in  large  part  to  its  location 
on  the  rock  ridge. 

The  eastern  limb  of  the  main  lobe  is  not  so  distinctly  ridged  as  the 
western.  The  member  that  follows  the  water  parting-  has  a  higher  altitude 
than  the  remainder  of  the  system,  but  this  is  due  to  a  rock  ridge  rather 
than  to  increase  in  thickness  of  di-ift,  though  the  drift  in  this  member  is 
considerably  thicker  than  in  the  members  or  portions  of  the  morainic 
system  east  of  it,  and  the  rock  ridge  is  interrupted  by  notable  gaps  which 
have  been  completely  filled  with  drift. 

In  the  shoulder  east  of  Mansfield  tlie  thickness  of  the  ch-ift  in  the 
moraine  is,  on  the  whole,  markedly  greater  than  on  the  tract  northeast  of  it, 
but  so  nnich  variation  exists  that  the  amount  can  hardly  be  estimated.  The 
interlobate  tract,  though  as  a  rule  more  heavily  covered  with  drift  than  the 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  387 

district  west  of  it,  does  not  possess  a  marked  relief.  This  is  due  to  its  being 
heaped  up  in  irregular  accumulations  instead  of  in  the  form  of  a  definite 
ridge. 

TOPOGRAPHT. 

The  height,  degree  of  sharpness,  closeness  of  aggregation,  form,  and 
trend  of  the  knolls  and  ridges  which  constitute  this  morainic  system,  vary 
greatly,  both  in  the  pronouncedly  morainic  and  in  the  more  vaguely  defined 
portions  of  the  belt.  In  general,  however,  it  may  be  said  that  the  system 
consists  of  rather  small  but  well-defined  knolls  and  ridges  somewhat  closely 
aggregated.  The  height  of  knolls  and  ridges  usually  falls  below  20  feet, 
though  instances  were  noted  where  it  becomes  as  great  as  75  feet.  A 
knoll  20  feet  in  height  covers  usually  2  acres  or  more,  though  it  occasion- 
ally occupies  a  much  smaller  area.  The  prevailing  form  is  a  somewhat 
symmetrical  cone,  but  in  association  with  knolls  of  this  form  there  are 
hillocks  with  irregular  or  hummocky  surface,  and  ridges  with  various  form 
and  trend.  Basins  are  not  common  except  in  the  interlobate  portions, 
and  even  there  they  are  not  conspicuous.  In  the  interlobate  belt  formed 
at  the  junction  of  the  Scioto  and  Grand  River  lobes,  there  are  several 
basins  a  square  mile,  more  or  less,  in  area,  which  are  occupied  by  small 
lakes.  The  most  prominent  of  these  are  the  Twin  Lakes,  near  Earlville,  in 
Portage  County,  and  Springfield,  Summit,  Long,  Turkeyfoot,  and  Mud 
lakes  in  Summit  County.  Of  these,  all  except  Springfield  Lake  lie  in 
gravel  plains  whose  general  level  is  but  a  few  feet  higher  than  the  surface 
of  the  water,  but  Springfield  Lake  is  bordered  on  all  sides  by  jjrominent 
moraine  hillocks. 

The  portion  of  the  interlobate  tract  lying  north  of  the  bend  of  the 
Cuyahoga  was  formed,  in  part  at  least,  in  conjunction  with  a  later  series  of 
moraines  in  connection  with  which  it  will  be  discussed. 

South  of  the  bend  of  the  Cuyahoga,  the  interlobate  moraine  lies 
mainly  east  of  the  meridian  of  Akron,  and  is  so  closely  associated  with  the 
western  limb  of  the  main  Grrand  River  morainic  system  that  no  distinct  line 
of  separation  could  be  found.  A  line  drawn  directly  from  the  point  of 
separation  near  Canton,  northward  past  Kent,  passes  through  a  goodly 
number  of  small  gravel  plains  situated  among  the  moraine  hillocks,  and 
these  features  appear  to  be  the  natural  results  of  a  junction  of  ice  lobes, 
while  the  striae  on  either  side  of  this  line  indicate  clearly  a  movement  from 


388  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

opposite  directions  toward  it,  those  on  the  west  being  eastward  and  south- 
eastward, while  those  on  the  east  are  westward  and  southwestward.  But 
in  the  course  of  the  formation  of  the  interlobate  tract,  the  hne  of  junction 
between  the  lobes  (or  their  individual  margins  in  case  no  junction  was 
effected)  may  have  shifted  back  and  forth  to  a  distance  of  several  miles. 
On  the  assumption  that  this  is  the  line  of  junction,  there  remains  a  belt 
5  or  6  miles  wide  west  of  this  line,  which  is  sharply  morainic.  The  knolls 
seldom  exceed  60  feet  and  are  usually  scarcely  30  feet  in  height,  but  they 
have,  as  a  rule,  very  sharp  contours. 

West  of  this  strong  belt  there  is  a  gravel  plain  one-half  mile  or  more  in 
width,  which  mns  from  the  bend  of  the  Cuyahoga  southward  through  Akron 
to  Turkeyfoot  Lake.  On  its  western  border  there  is  a  feeble  morainic  belt 
in  which  basins  are  a  prominent  feature.  Some  basins  20  feet  or  more  in 
depth  have  an  area  of  scarcely  one-half  acre  each.  This  moraine  is  well 
exhibited  from  the  west  part  of  Akron  northward  along  the  west  bluff  of 
Little  Cuyahoga  River  and  also  west  of  New  Portage.  Its  width  is  a  mile 
or  less.  West  of  this  is  another  gravel  plain  called  Ayer  Flats,  which  is 
1  to  1^  miles  wide  and  runs  southward  several  miles  from  near  the  forks  of 
the  Cuyahoga  to  the  Tuscarawas,  its  southern  end  being  known  as  Cople}' 
Marsh.  This  gravel  plain  was  apparently  a  line  of  outwash  from  the  outer 
member  of  a  later  series  of  moraines  which  crosses  the  Cuyahoga  near  the 
bend  below  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Cuyahoga. 

From  a  few  miles  north  of  Canton  a  narrow  outer  belt  continues  nearly 
south  to  the  Tuscarawas  Valley  just  above  Bolivar,  while  the  main  belt  turns 
southwestward,  crossing  the  Tuscarawas  above  Massillon.  The  outer  belt 
has  some  prominent  knolls  near  Canton  50  to  75  feet  in  height,  but  as  a 
rule  its  knolls  fall  below  20  feet.  They  are  seldom  so  closely  aggregated 
as  in  the  united  belt  farther  north.  This  outer  belt  apparently  forms  the 
glacial  boundary  and  shows  an  interesting  irregularity  of  outline  on  its  outer 
border,  there  being  in  nearly  every  valley  or  lowland  tract  a  projection  of 
the  moraine  beyond  the  line  on  the  bordering  hills,  the  amount  of  projection 
being  in  some  cases  a  mile  or  more.  This  is  well  shown  on  the  road  fi-om 
Canton  to  Bolivar,  where  scarcely  a  trace  of  drift  appears  on  the  uplands, 
while  in  the  valleys  drift  abounds  in  sharply  outlined  knolls  and  ridges 
which  rise  abruptly  10  to  15  feet.  A  similar  irregularity  of  border  was 
noted  farther  west  along  the  road  leading  from  Wiensburg  through  Berlin  to 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  389 

Millersburg.  The  freshness  of  contour  of  this  outer  member  is  such  as 
to  denote  that  it  is  not  much  older  than  the  other  members  of  the  morainic 
system. 

The  main  member,  which  crosses  the  Tuscarawas  Valley  above  Massillon, 
consists  of  closely  aggregated,  sharp  knolls,  20  to  50  feet  high,  among  which 
are  occasional  basins.  The  morainic  topography  west  of  the  Tuscarawas  is 
much  weaker  in  expression  than  it  is  east  of  that  stream,  the  knolls  from  the 
Tuscarawas  westward  to  Killbuck  Creek  being  usually  but  10  to  15  feet 
high,  and  less  closely  aggregated  and  gentler  in  slope  than  in  the  interlobate 
tract.  On  PL  XIII,  two,  and,  in  places,  three,  members  of  the  morainic 
system  are  indicated  as  crossing  from  the  Tuscarawas  to  Killbuck  Valley; 
but  it  should  not  be  understood  that  the  belts  have  a  clearly  defined  line 
of  separation;  there  is  simply  a  comparative  scarcity  of  drift  knolls  in  the 
portions  indicated  as  nonmorainic. 

On  Sugar  Creek  Valley  there  is,  toward  the  south  from  the  glacial 
boundary  at  Beach  City,  a  well-defined  gravel  plain  or  terrace,  standing 
about  35  feet  above  the  stream,  wliile  toward  the  north  the  valley  is  occu- 
pied by  morainic  knolls  of  gravelly  constitution,  and  terracing  is  not  well 
exhibited.  The  terrace  here  a^jpears,  therefore,  to  connect  with  the  outer 
member  of  the  morainic  system.  The  knolls  at  the  head  of  the  terrace  are 
small,  5  to  10  feet  in  height,  but  farther  north  rise  in  some  cases  to  a  height 
of  20  to  25  feet. 

In  Killbuck  Creek  Valley  there  is  at  the  glacial  boundary  a  morainic 
accumulation,  filling  it  up  to  a  height  of  75  to  100  feet  or  more,  whose 
surface  is  gently  undulatory,  having  knolls  only  10  to  30  feet  in  height. 
South  from  the  glacial  boundary  is  a  plane-surfaced  terrace  standing  about 
70  feet  above  the  creek.  Wright  called  attention  to  this  terrace  in  his 
paper  on  the  glacial  boundary  in  Ohio,  in  the  following  words: 

The  terraces  upon  the  Killbuck  are  extensive  both  above  and  below  the  glacial 
limit.  One  mile  and  a  half  below  Millersburg,  on  the  west  side,  on  the  farm  of  A. 
Uhl,  is  a  terrace  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide,  containing  kame-like  ridges  and 
knolls,  the  surface  of  which  is  102  feet  above  the  flood  plain.  This  graduallj'  rises 
until  it  is  mei'ged  in  the  till  of  the  hills  beyond.  Two  miles  farther  south,  in  the 
northwest  corner  of  Mechanic  township,  near  Stuart  Mills,  the  terrace  is  composed 
of  tiner  material  and  is  level-topped,  and  gradually  descends  toward  the  south,  being 
here  but  70  feet  above  the  flood  plain.  ^ 

^G.  F.  Wright:  The  Glacial  Boundary  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Kentucky,  1884,  pp.  45,  46. 


390  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  gravelly  knolls  m  the  valley,  as  well  as 
the  level-topped  gravel  deposits,  are  included  by  Professor  Wright  in  the 
terrace.  In  the  writer's  description  the  terrace  is  considered  to  have  its 
head  where  the  level-topped  gravel  deposit  begins.  The  gravelly  knolls 
are  included  in  the  moraine,  since  they  owe  their  existence  largely  to  the 
mechanical  agency  of  the  ice  sheet,  like  portions  of  the  moraine  on  the 
uplands.  With  this  in  mind  the  reader  will  find  no  difificidty  in  harmonizing 
the  two  descriptions. 

The  moraine  fills  the  valley  for  a  couple  of  miles  north  from  the 
glacial  boundary.  There  is  then  an  interval  of  3  miles  or  so  where  the 
valley  is  comparatively  open,  and  is  bordered  by  a  low  plain  nearly 
one-half  mile  in  Avidth.  Near  Holmesville  this  low  plain  rises  into  a  gravel 
terrace,  and  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  north  of  that  village  the  terrace 
heads  in  the  middle  member  of  the  morainic  system.  At  its  head  it  stands 
35  or  40  feet  above  the  creek.  It  is  well  displayed  on  the  east  side  of  the 
valley.  In  the  western  portion  of  the  valley  there  is  a  low  plain  which  has 
no  connection  with  the  middle  member,  but  passes  entirely  through  it  and 
also  through  the  inner  member,  the  middle  and  inner  members  extending 
down  to  the  borders  of  the  jDlain  on  either  side  of  the  valley.  The  width  of 
the  plain  is  nowhere  less  than  one-fourth  mile,  and  in  the  -sacinity  of  Wooster 
it  expands  to  a  mile  or  more.  It  was  occupied  b}'  glacial  waters  at  a  later 
date  than  the  time  when  this  morainic  system  was  being  formed,  probably 
while  the  ice  margin  stood  near  the  continental  divide.  The  inner  member 
crosses  the  valley  2  to  4  miles  below  Wooster,  but  no  terrace  was  dis- 
covered in  connection  with  it.  The  morainic  knolls  in  this  valley  seldom 
exceed  30  feet  in  height,  and  more  commonly  are  but  10  to  15  feet. 

Between  Killbuck  Creek  and  Lake  Fork  of  Mohican  Creek  there  are, 
near  the  southern  border  of  the  drift,  large  dome-shaped  hills,  50  to  100  feet 
in  height,  covering  20  to  40  acres  or  more  each,  which  probably  contain  in 
every  case  a  nucleus  of  sandstone,  but  whose  outline  is  markedly  in  con- 
trast with  that  of  unglaciated  hills  near  them  on  the  south.  In  one  large 
hill,  about  a  mile  south  of  Nashville,  the  north  slope  was  smoothed,  like  its 
neighbors,  by  the  ice  sheet,  while  the  south  side  remains  rough,  like  hills 
in  the  unglaciated  district,  and  is  covered  by  immense  detached  masses  of 
sandstone.  The  di-ift  knolls  in  this  district  are  but  10  to  20  feet  high. 
They  present  fresh  contours  out  to  the  very  borders  of  the  glaciated  district. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  391 

No  indication  of  an  attenuated  sheet  of  drift  was  noted  south  of  this  outer 
member.  In  the  middle  member  of  the  morainic  system,  near  the  line  of 
the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Railway  and  between  the  villages 
of  Lakeville  and  Shreve,  the  morainic  knolls  are  somewhat  larger,  but 
none  exceeding  40  feet  in  height  were  observed.  A  few  basins  occur 
among  the  knolls.  The  northern  member  is  well  exhibited  a  few  miles 
north  of  this  railway,  in  the  vicinity  of  Springville,  and  thence  westward  to 
Lake  Fork.  The  several  members  become  combined  near  Lake  Fork,  and 
it  is  probable  that  for  a  few  miles  west  from  that  stream  the  middle  member 
has  overriden  the  outer,  for  the  knolls  south,  southeast,  and  west  from 
Loudonville  have  a  size  and  sharpness  somewhat  greater  than  the  outer 
member  usually  displays,  their  height  being  often  30  feet  or  more,  and  that, 
too,  at  altitudes  fully  1,100  feet  above  tide.  Some  basins  occur  among  the 
knolls  where  closely  aggregated.  These  features  are  more  common  on  the 
middle  than  on  the  outer  member. 

In  the  valley  of  Lake  Fork  there  is  a  terrace  standing  at  the  glacial 
boundary  about  100  feet  above  the  creek.  At  Greersville,  4  miles  south  of 
the  glacial  boundary,  it  has  a  height  of  only  75  feet,  and  at  Grann,  4  miles 
farther  south,  its  height  is  not  more  than  60  feet.  Upon  following  up  Lake 
Fork  from  the  glacial  boundary  one  soon  finds  knolls  at  an  altitude  lower 
than  the  terrace.  For  several  miles  the  high  terrace  appears  at  intervals 
along  the  boi'der  of  the  valley,  while  in  the  midst  of  the  valley,  at  consider- 
ably lower  levels,  there  is  a  knob-and-basin  topography.  The  basins  cover 
several  acres  and  the  centers  are  depressed  10  to  15  feet  or  more  below 
their  rims.  Their  bottoms  are  peaty  and  marshy,  and  therefore  presumably 
filled  to  some  depth..  They  are  surrounded  by  knolls  of  various  sizes,  foi-m, 
and  trend,  while  near  them  at  the  border  of  the  valley  are  level-topped 
gravel  deposits  standing  50  feet  or  more  above  the  general  level  of  the 
morainic  tracts  in  the  valley.  Phenomena  somewhat  similar  to  these  are 
displayed  in  several  valleys  in  northwestern  Pennsylvania  just  above  the 
glacial  boundary,  and  may  be  common  in  other  parts  of  the  glaciated 
district.  Their  cause  is  not  well  understood,  but  it  is  thought  that  they 
are  probably  due  to  the  lingering  of  an  ice  mass  in  the  central  portion 
of  the  valley  after  a  passage  for  the  escape  of  water  from  beneath  the  ice 
had  been  opened  along  the  borders  of  the  valleys.  The  ice  sheet  may 
have  been  broken  up  and  the  terraces  formed  around  its  detached  masses. 


392  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

or  it  may  have  been  comparatively  unbroken,  but  traversed  by  tunnels  in 
which  the  terraces  were  built  up.  About  5  miles  north  of  the  glacial 
boundary  a  remnant  of  the  high  terrace  was  noted,  which  was  bordered 
by  a  low  sag  on  the  side  next  the  bluff,  resembling  somewhat  the  sag  which 
so  often  accompanies  the  esker  ridges.  Phenomena  such  as  these  may 
serve  as  a  coimecting  link  between  the  eskers,  which  are  probably  sub- 
glacial,  and  moraine-headed  terraces  which,  ha^ang  their  origin  at  the  ice 
margin,  are  extraglacial.  The  morainic  features  and  the  liigh,  level-topped 
terraces  both  disappear  somewhat  abruptly  near  the  north  border  of  the 
moraine,  and  the  valley  for  some  miles  above  has  a  low,  nearly  smooth, 
plain  but  little  higher  than  the  stream.  From  this  it  appears  that  the  ice 
sheet  at  the  late  Wisconsin  invasion  deposited  but  little  material  in  this 
valley  except  at  its  margin,  a  feature  not  uncommon  in  other  valleys  of 
northeastern  Ohio  and  northwestern  Pennsylvania. 

On  the  uplands  bordering  Lake  Fork  the  sharpest  knolls  and  ridges 
are  found  near  the  southern  border,  there  being  in  the  northern  poilion 
gentle  till  swells  but  1 0  to  20  feet  high. 

The  moraine  is  exceptionally  strong  from  Lake  Fork  westward  past 
Loudonville  and  Perrysville  to  the  ^^cinity  of  Lucas.  La  a  lowland  tract 
south  and  west  of  Perrysville  numerous  knolls  and  ridges  rise  abruptly  to 
a  height  of  30  to  50  feet,  and  among  them  landlocked  basms  occur.  It  is 
probable,  as  indicated  in  Cliapter  III,  that  Clear  Fork  and  Black  Fork 
had,  in  preglacial  times,  a  coru'se  north  of  the  present  one,  from  the  lowland 
tract  near  Perrysville  eastward,  near  the  line  of  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne 
and  Chicago  Railroad,  past  Loudonville  to  Lake  Fork,  as  a  lowland  tract 
there  occurs  a  mile  or  more  in  width,  deeply  filled  with  drift,  while  the 
present  streanas  are  in  narrow,  rock-bound  valleys  for  several  miles  above 
their  junction  with  Lake  Fork.  This  lowland  tract  is  now  occupied  by  a 
strong  morainic  belt. 

East  from  the  reentrant  angle  near  Mansfield  the  moraine  for  several 
miles  is  weak  compared  with  its  strength  on  the  west  side  of  the  reentrant 
angle,  or  compared  with  its  strength  a  few  miles  farther  east.  It  is  repre- 
sented by  scattering  di'ift  knolls  and  occasional  low  ridges  whose  heig'ht 
seldom  exceeds  20  feet.  The  striae  east  of  this  reentrant  angle,  near  Wind- 
sor and  Mifflin,  instead  of  bearing  west  of  south  toward  the  moraine,  bear 
soutlieastward,  approaching  it  at  an  oblique  ang'le,  a  fact  which  strengthens 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  393 

the  view  that  this  poi'tion  of  the  district  is  a  shoulder  rather  than  a  distinct 
lohe.  By  this  interpretation  the  moraine  here  in  its  weakly  developed  por- 
tion is  lateral  rather  than  terminal.  Farther  east  the  striae  bear  southward 
or  at  right  angles  to  the  moraine,  so  that  the  moraine  is  there  terminal 
in  its  position,  and  its  strength  is  greater  than  where  lateral.  West  of  the 
reentrant  angle,  near  Lexington  and  Iberia,  striae  bear  obliquel)'  toward 
the  moraine,  but  it  is  nevertheless  strong,  the  movement  in  the  main  lobe 
being  more  vigorous  than  that  on  the  shoulder.  The  variations  in  the 
strength  and  direction  of  ice  movement  seem  therefore  to  afiPord  ample 
cause  for  such  variations  in  the  strength  of  the  moraine  as  are  displayed. 

In  the  midst  of  the  elevated  district  lying  southeast  of  Mansfield  there 
is  a  small  tract  known  as  Chestnut  Ridge,  on  which  careful  search  along 
several  routes  failed  to  disclose  any  drift.  It  takes  the  form  of  a  narrow 
neck  about  3  miles  in  width  and  10  or  12  miles  in  length,  which  extends 
from  Mohican  Creek,  just  above  Grreersville,  westward  nearly  to  Independ- 
ence. Its  altitude  is  scarcely  100  feet  greater  than  that  of  districts  border- 
ing it  on  the  north  and  south,  being  about  1,400  feet  above  tide,  and  it  is 
somewhat  lower  than  drift-covered  hills  lying  northwest  of  it,  which  in 
some  cases  reach  an  altitude  about  1,500  feet  above  tide.  These  hills  to 
the  northwest,  however,  are  not  heavilj^  glaciated,  the  drift  being  but  a  few 
feet  in  thickness,  and  showing  little  tendency  to  aggregation  in  knolls. 
Around  this  tract  of  thin  drift  curves  the  moraine  under  discussion,  the 
trend  being  from  south  of  east  to  north  of  west  on  its  north  side,  north  to 
south  on  its  west  side,  and  north  of  west  to  south  of  east  along  its  south 
side.  On  the  meridian  of  Mansfield  the  distance  from  the  portion  of  the 
moraine  on  the  north  to  that  on  the  south  of  this  tract  of  thin  drift  is  10  or 
12  miles;  but  on  the  meridian  of  Perrysville,  10  miles  east  of  Mansfield,  the 
distance  is  but  5  or  6  miles,  and  at  the  Mohican  Creek  it  is  scarcely  4  miles. 
The  space  is  so  narrow  in  this  eastern  portion  that  Wright  and  Wooster 
each  connected  moraiuic  features  on  the  south  with  those  on  the  north. 
Thus,  Wright  carried  the  glacial  boundary  from  near  Greersville  northward 
to  the  mouth  of  Lake  Fork  along  the  west  side  of  Mohican  Creek,  ^  and 
Wooster  carried  the  moraine  from  Fredericktown  direct  to  Perrysville." 
Taking  into  consideration  the  bearing  of  the  striae,  the  position  of  the  thin 

^  See  Glacial  Boundary  in  Ohio,  by  G.  F.  Wright,  1884. 

^See  map  (PI.  XXXI)  accompanying  Chamberlin's  paper  in  Third  Annual  Report,  U.  S.  Geol. 
Survey,  1883. 


394  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

drift  tract,  and  then  the  conrse  of  the  morainic  belts  bordermg  thein  on  the 
noith,  west,  and  south,  there  seems  reason  for  concluding  that  the  ice  cur- 
rents parted  a  few  miles  northwest  of  this  elevated  district,  one  portion  of 
the  ice  passing  southeastward  along  the  northern  side  of  the  highlands, 
while  the  other  passed  nearly  south  along  the  western  side,  and  then  swung 
eastward,  doubling  about  the  southern  side.  A  cause  for  this  parting  of 
currents  and  winding  of  the  ice  sheet  is  found  in  the  obstruction  presented 
by  this  highland  tract,  whose  highest  points  stood  200  feet  or  more  above 
the  general  elevation  of  the  districts  north  and  south  of  it,  the  highlands 
being  1,400  to  1,500  feet  above  tide,  while  the  bordering  tracts  are  1,200 
to  1,300  feet.  The  ice  sheet  seems  to  have  overridden  the  highest  hills,  but 
not  to  have  had  sufficient  force  to  continue  beyond  them,  while  the  stronger 
currents  on  the  lower  lands,  both  to  the  north  and  the  south,  continued  east- 
ward, and  b}'  their  convergence  nearly  coalesced  east  of  these  highlands. 
Though  partially  overridden  by  the  ice  sheet,  the  highlands  seem  not  to 
have  been  subjected  to  so  long  nor  so  vigorous  glaciation  as  the  lower 
tracts  that  surround  them. 

Northwest  and  west  from  Mansfield  the  moraine  consists  of  closely 
aggregated  knolls  15  to  20  feet,  more  or  less,  in  height.  Near  Lexington 
the  knolls  occasionally  reach  a  height  of  30  feet  or  more.  Basins  are 
numerous  in  the  vicinity  of  that  village  on  the  lowland  tracts  bordering 
Clear  Fork.  Several  were  observed  which  have  an  area  of  about  an  acre 
and  a  depth  of  15  or  20  feet.  They  occupy  a  gravel  plain  which  stands  40 
or  50  feet  above  the  stream.  This  g-ravel  plain  constitutes  the  head  of  a 
terrace,  and  is  of  importance,  since  it  apparently  indicates  that  the  ice  margin, 
at  the  time  the  main  moraine  was  forming,  was  as  far  west  as  Lexington. 
Listead  of  crossing  Clear  Fork  20  miles  southeast  of  Mansfield,  as  interpreted 
by  the  earlier  students,  it  seems  more  probable  that  it  crossed  the  stream  6 
miles  southwest  of  that  city. 

The  knolls  near  Fredericktown,  just  referred  to,  are  in  chains  which 
have  a  northwest-southeast  trend,  following  nearly  the  course  of  the  West 
Fork  of  Owl  Creek.  They  constitute  the  border  of  the  moraine  that  sweeps 
around  the  western  end  of  the  belt  of  thin  drift  whose  outline  was  given 
above,  and  they  lie  several  miles  east  of  the  main  morainic  belt.  Their 
contours  are  sharp,  and  the  larger  ones  rise  abruptly  to  a  height  of  25  or  30 
feet.     This  member  of  the  morainic  series  appears  to  continue  directly  east 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  395 

from  Fredericktown,  there  being  just  south  from  North  Liberty  and  Jelloway 
a  series  of  drift  knolls  and  drift  ridges  10  to  20  feet  high.  Eastward  from 
North  Liberty  the  drift  knolls  set  in  at  the  very  border  of  the  high  ridge 
that  seems  to  be  driftless,  but  westward  from  this  village  there  is  an  outlying 
belt  of  thin  drift.  As  noted  above,  the  morainic  features  within  the  tract 
lying  between  the  main  moraine  and  the  glacial  boundary  south  of  the 
abrupt  turn  in  the  boundary  are  not  so  clearly  outlined  as  in  the  main 
moraine,  yet  scarcely  a  square  mile  occurs  which  does  not  contain  drift 
knolls  of  rather  sharp  contour.  The  whole  may  perhaps  be  considered  a 
morainic  tract  formed  during  the  brief  space  in  which  there  was  lobation  on 
the  south  border  of  the  nearly  driftless  highland.  In  presenting  morainic 
features  it  differs  from  the  tract  with  thin  drift  which  lies  on  the  border  of 
the  highland,  there  being  in  the  latter  little  or  no  aggregation  in  knolls 
or  ridges. 

Betweei,  Mount  Vernon  and  Newark  the  moraine  prevsents  marked 
differences  in  topography.  For  5  or  6  miles,  perhaps  more,  on  its  western 
border  it  has  closely  aggregated  knolls  and  ridges  constituting  a  con- 
tinuous, well-defined  moraine.  East  of  this  main  belt  the  knolls  and  ridges 
of  drift  are  very  unequally  distributed,  there  being  areas  of  a  square  mile 
or  more  where  drift  knolls  are  as  closely  aggregated  as  in  the  main  belt; 
but  equally  extensive  tracts  appear  which  have  very  few  knolls.  No 
decided  differences  in  age  were  detected  between  the  main  moraine  and  the 
knolls  of  the  district  east  of  it.;  on  the  contrary,  the  one  seems  to  be  a  close 
successor  of  the  other.  The  eastern  part  of  the  moraine  shows  strong 
development  from  Mount  Vernon  southward  as  far  as  Utica  along  the  east 
side  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railway;  also  about  the  Licking  reservoir 
south  of  Newark,  and  south  from  there  to  Pleasantville.  The  knolls  in 
these  situations,  though  no  higher  than  in  bordering  tracts,  are  more  closely 
aggregated  and  consequently  give  stronger  expression  to  the  belt.  They 
are  ordinarily  but  10  to  25  feet  in  height,  are  usually  conical  in  form,  and 
have  gentle  slopes. 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  Licking  Valley,  both  to  the  northeast  and  south- 
west of  Newark,  the  drift  is  aggregated  in  knolls  even  where  it  fails  to  form 
a  continuous  sheet,  many  of  the  elevated  hills  and  ridges  showing  scarcely 
a  trace  of  drift,  while  the  lowland  tracts  among  thera  are  dotted  with  drift 
knolls.     In  the  district  northeast  of  Newark  these  features  are  displayed  to 


396  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

advantage  along-  the  direct  road  from  Newark  to  Wilkins  Run,  and  thence  to 
St.  Louisville,  and  in  the  district  southeast  along  the  road  from  Newark 
to  Linnville,  and  thence  west  along  the  National  road  to  the  valley  of  South 
Fork.  There  is  a  lowland  tract,  lying  northeast  of  Newark,  with  a  general 
elevation  about  100  feet  above  the  Licking  River,  which  Wright  refers  to 
in  his  paper  on  the  glacial  boundary  (p.  53)  as  a  terrace.  It  is,  however, 
dotted  by  drift  knolls  10  to  20  feet  in  height,  among  which  shallow  basins 
are  inclosed,  the  wlioh^  aspect  being  morainic.  In  structure  also  it  resembles 
a  moraine  rather  than  a  river  terrace,  since  it  contains  much  till  and  its 
assorted  material  is  frequently  disposed  in  arching  or  inclined  attitudes.  On 
the  north  side  of  the  Licking  Valley,  just  east  of  Newark,  is  a  less  elevated 
lowland  than  that  just  described,  standing  about  40  feet  above  the  river. 
It  has  slight  surface  inequalities,  but  they  are  perhaps  attributable  to  fluvial 
action,  and  being  made  up  almost  entirely  of  gravel,  the  name  terrace  is 
probably  applicable.  There  are  also  in  this  portion  of  the  valley  two  smooth- 
surfaced  gravel  terraces,  standing  about  30  feet  and  20  feet  above  the  river, 
the  lower  one  constituting  the  plain  upon  which  the  business  portion  of 
Newark  is  built.  On  each  of  the  several  forks  of  the  Licking,  which  unite 
at  Newark,  terraces  occur  at  heights  of  40  feet  or  less  above  the  streams. 
On  the  Soutli  Fork  the  head  of  the  upper  terrace  is  about  3  miles  south- 
west of  Newark,  where  the  valley  is  crossed  in  a  north-northwest  to  south- 
southeast  course  by  a  moraine.  On  the  Middle  and  North  forks  the  terraces 
are  well  displayed  for  a  few  miles  above  Newark,  but  were  not  traced  to 
their  heads.  A  low  gravel  plain  several  miles  in  extent  lies  in  the  angle 
between  the  three  forks  of  Licking  River  west  of  Newark,  and  carries  occa- 
sional low  drift  knolls.  These  knolls  were  apparently  formed  at  the  time 
the  gravel  plain  was  being  built  up,  and  are  thought  to  indicate  that  the 
head  of  the  gravel  plain  was  built  up  as  a  submarginal  deposit  to  about  its 
present  height  before  the  ice  sheet  had  withdi-awn  from  over  it. 

The  morainic  system  is,  on  the  whole,  stronger  northward  than  it  is 
southward  from  Newark.  Not  onh'-  are  the  belts  broader,  but  the  knolls 
and  ridges  are  sharper.  South  from  the  latitude  of  Newark  the  western  or 
main  member  is  only  3  to  5  miles  in  width,  and  with  the  exception  of  an 
occasional  large  gravelly  knoll,  the  height  of  its  swells  and  ridges  falls  below 
26  feet.  Tlaey  are,  however,  closely  aggregated,  rendering  the  belt  readily 
distinguishable  from  bordering  plains.     The  eastern  portion  of  the  morainic 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  397 

system  is  feebler  and  the  aggreg-atiou  less  close  than  in  the  western,  the 
majority  of  knolls  are  but  8  to  10  feet  in  height.  In  portions  of  Ross 
County,  however,  the  outer  belt  is  strong,  especially  between  Adelphi  and 
Hopetown,  where  the  moraine  swings  westward  to  the  Scioto  Valley.  The 
larger  knolls  there  are  commonly  20  to  40  feet  high,  and  associated  with 
them  are  numerous  lower  ones.  Some  near  Hopetown,  noted  by  Wright, 
are  about  100  feet  in  height.  They  are,  in  fact,  short  gravelly  ridges,  with 
a  trend  nearly  at  right  angles  with  the  course  of  the  moraine,  and  may  be 
allied  to  eskers.  Several  large  gravelly  ridges  occur  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Scioto  between  Paint  Creek  and  North  Paint  Creek  about  midway 
between  Chillicothe  and  Frankfort.  These  ridges  interlock  and  inclose 
deep  basins.  Their  height  is  in  some  instances  150  to  175  feet  above 
lowland  tracts  east  of  them,  but  scarcely  half  that  above  their  western 
bases,  which  are  on  a  hillside  slope. 

The  terraces  and  gravel  plains  along  the  Scioto  River  from  Circleville 
southward  seem  to  pertain  chiefly  to  the  inner  member  of  this  morainic 
system.  A  gravelly  tract  several  miles  in  width,  known  as  the  Pickaway 
Plains,  leads  down  the  river  from  Circleville.  It  is  dotted  here  and  there 
by  drift  knolls  and  ridges  of  considerable  size,  and  in  many  places  its  sur- 
face is  gently  undulatory,  but  fully  one-half  the  district  presents  a  plane 
surface.  Its  variations  in  topography  are  probably  due  to  the  combined 
effect  of  an  overhanging  ice  sheet  and  a  discharge  of  water  from  the  melting 
ice.  The  plane  portions  of  this  gravelly  area  vary  somewhat  in  their 
height  above  the  Scioto,  being  about  40  feet  in  the  vicinity  of  Circleville, 
while  8  or  10  miles  below  they  are  fully  50  feet.  This  diff'erence  is  not 
due  to  an  increase  in  the  altitude  of  the  gravel  plain,  but  to  a  greater 
rate  of  fall  of  the  river,  there  being  a  fall  of  about  50  feet  in  the  stream 
between  Circleville  and  Chillicothe,  a  distance  of  but  18  miles  in  direct  line. 
The  occasional  drift  knolls  on  the  gravel  plain  apparently  indicate  that  the 
ice  margin  overhung  the  Scioto  Valley  for  at  least  1 0  miles  below  Circle- 
ville at  the  time  the  later  moraine  was  forming.  The  terraces  along  the 
Scioto  are  discussed  on  a  subsequent  page. 

The  morainic  featnres  among  the  hills  of  western  Ross  Count}^  are 
variable.  Some  of  the  larger  knolls  have  already  been  referred  to.  There 
are  others  in  the  valley  of  Paint  Creek  whose  heig'ht  reaches  100  feet  or 
more,  and  others  in  a  group  near  Lattas  are  equally  high.     Aside  from  these 


398  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

large  knolls,  the  height  commonly  falls  below  25  feet.  Drift  knolls  10  to 
15  feet  high  occnr  on  the  elevated  tract  east  of  Lattas,  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Greenfield  and  Chillicothe  pike,  but  such  features  are  not  common  on 
the  high  ridges,  the  sharply  defined  niorainic  knolls  in  this  vicinity  being 
confined  mainly  to  lowlands  and  valleys. 

Of  the  four  members  that  appear  in  the  southwest  portion  of  this 
morainic  system,  the  outermost  one  is  by  far  the  strong-est.  Along  Paint 
Creek,  near  the  mouths  of  Rocky  Fork  and  Rattlesnake  Creek,  and  thence 
up  the  west  side  of  Rattlesnake  Creek  for  several  miles,  this  member  is 
characterized  by  numerous  large,  gravelly  knolls,  many  of  which  are  30  to 
40  feet,  and  a  few  75  to  100  feet  in  height,  while  among  them  are  many 
smaller  ones.  The  aggregation  is  close  and  the  contours  are  sharp,  so 
that  an  exceptionally  rugged  topography  is  presented.  From  northern 
Highland  County  northward  large  knolls  are  infrequent,  but  closely  ag-gre- 
gated  knolls  and  ridges  10  to  25  feet  or  more  in  height  occur.  Besides 
having  these  minor  ridges  and  knolls,  the  moraine  cai-ries  a  basement  ridge 
with  well-defined  relief  of  20  to  30  feet,  so  that  one  standing  at  the  base  of 
the  knolls  is  somewhat  above  the  outer  border  plain.  The  outer  members 
of  this  series  display  generally  a  ridge  with  well-defined  crest  on  which  the 
small  knolls  and  ridges  are  deposited.  The  height  of  these  knolls  seldom 
exceeds  25  feet  and  is  commonly  only  10  to  15  feet,  but  they  are  so  closely 
aggregated  as  to  make  the  belt  conspicuous.  The  intervening  tracts  between 
the  several  members  are  plane  or  very  gently  undulating,  with  scarcely  a 
knoll  worthy  of  notice. 

At  their  northern  ends  these  several  members  do  not  at  once  form  a 
bold  moraine,  but  for  a  space  of  10  miles  or  so  the  features  are  rather  more 
subdued  than  in  the  separate  members.  But  in  northeastern  Clark  County 
the  moraine  assumes  greater  prominence,  and  from  there  northward  through 
Champaign  and  Logan  counties  it  exhibits  as  strong  and  characteristic 
morainic  features  as  anywhere  in  its  course.  There  are  winding  and  inter- 
locking ridges  ranging  in  height  from  10  feet  up  to  75  feet  or  even  more, 
among  Avhich  numerous  basins  are  inclosed.  The  slopes  of  the  larger  knolls 
are  frequently  dotted  witli  small  knolls  and  ridges,  and  carry  an  occasional 
basin.  Near  Mechanicsburg  the  moraine  rises  abruptl}^  on  its  eastern 
border  to  the  unusual  height  of  75  or  100  feet,  and  a  series  of  ridges  whose 
height  is  30  to  50  feet  and  whose  contours  are  exceedingly  sharp,  lead 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  399 

northeast  from  this  village  for  a  distance  of  about  3  miles.  The  ridg-es  are 
somewhat  disjointed,  but  at  least  two  well-defined  chains  exist.  These  rido-es 
terminate  abruptly,  but  at  the  northern  end  of  the  eastern  one  is  a  network 
of  lower  ridges,  inclosing  a  small  lake.  From  here  the  inner  (eastern) 
border  of  the  moraine  is  shifted  2  miles  or  more  westward,  there  being  a  very 
flat  tract  toward  the  north.  The  moraine  west  of  the  plane  tract  just  noted 
consists  of  a  massive  ridge  with  north-south  trend,  which  has  on  its  crest  and 
slopes  a  series  of  knolls  and  ridges  of  varying  shape,  size,  and  degree  of 
sharpness.  The  highest  rise  30  to  40  feet  above  their  immediate  borders, 
but  the  ridge  on  which  they  are  situated  has  also  some  variation  in  altitude, 
so  that  in  following  the  crest  oscillations  of  150  feet  or  more  are  in  places 
made  within  a  distance  of  2  miles.  From  the  passes,  or  lower  portions  of 
the  ridge,  gravel  plains  lead  westward  into  Mad  River  and  Buck  Creek  val- 
leys, joining  the  main  stream  that  drained  the  Scioto  and  Miami  lobes.  The 
most  prominent  of  these  tributary  gravel  streams  noted  are  the  following, 
beginning  at  the  south:  (1)  On  a  tributary  of  Buck  Creek,  through  which 
the  Big  Four  Railway  passes  from  Mechanicsburg  to  Catawba  station;  (2) 
on  a  tributary  of  Buck  Creek  west  and  north  of  Mutual;  (3)  on  a  tributary 
of  Mad  River  from  Cables  westward;  (4)  on  a  tributary  of  Mad  River  from 
Mingo  westward;  (5)  on  Mackocheek  Creek;  (6)  Mormon  Bottoms,  east  of 
Zanesfield;  (7)  Hadley  Bottoms,  northeast  of  Zanesfield. 

In  each  of  these  tributary  plains  there  appears  to  have  been  an  out- 
wash  of  gravel  from  the  ice  sheet,  and  an  escape  of  waters  to  the  Mad  River 
plain.  From  the  crest  of  the  moraine,  which  forms  the  water  parting  in 
these  passes,  there  was  vigorous  drainage  westward,  producing  a  flat- 
bottomed  valley,  while  eastward  the  streams  flow  among  morainic  swells 
until  they  reach  the  till  plain  east  of  the  moraine.  This  district  afi"ords 
excellent  opportunities  for  studying  the  phenomena  of  glacial  drainage  as 
well  as  of  glacial  deposition. 

STRUCTURE    AND   THICKNESS   OF   THE    DRIFT. 

A  comparison  of  numerous  slight  exposures,  such  as  the  region  aftbrds, 
makes  evident  the  fact  that  the  sharply  morainic  tracts  have  a  larger  pro- 
portion of  assorted  material  than  have  those  with  subdued  expression.  The 
knolls  which  are  composed  entirely  of  till  have  usually  gentle  slopes. 
Those  which  contain  gravel  and  sand  with  the  till  may  have  gentle  slopes 


400  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

but  are  more  likely  to  be  shai'p  in  contour.  The  large  sharp  knolls,  75  to 
100  feet  in  height,  are  almost  wholly,  while  those  from  75  clown  to  30  feet 
are  mainly,  composed  of  gravel  and  sand.  This  relation  between  the  form 
and  structure  is  not  an  exceptional  one  confined  to  this  particular  morainic 
system,  but  a  common  one  in  nearly  all  the  moraines  yet  examined  between 
Wisconsin  and  New  York. 

The  list  of  well  sections  given  below  serves  to  bring  out  a  second  fact, 
namely,  that  the  thick  deposits  of  drift  in  the  valleys  contain  a  larger  pro- 
portion of  sand  and  gravel  than  deposits  of  similar  thickness  on  the  uplands. 
This  is  generally  true  not  only  of  the  morainic  tracts,  but  also  of  plains 
between  the  moraines.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  find  a  surface  deposit  of  till 
on  uplands  and  valleys  alike,  while  the  substrata  in  the  valleys  are  assorted 
material,  and  those  on  the  uplands  are  till.  This  I'elation  between  the 
structure  of  drift  in  valleys  and  that  on  uplands  seems  to  have  wide 
prevalence  in  hilly  portions  of  the  glaciated  districts.  Among  several 
causes  which  may  have  been  operative  in  producing  the  phenomena  are  the 
following:  First,  streams  flowing  from  the  ice  sheet  as  it  made  its  earliest 
invasion  would,  under  favorable  conditions,  deposit  much  assorted  material 
in  the  valleys  in  advance  of  the  ice  sheet;  second,  during  oscillatory  retreats 
the  ice  sheet  would  be  withdrawn  somewhat  from  the  valleys,  and  the 
assorted  material  would  then,  under  favorable  conditions,  be  added  to  the 
portions  outside  the  ice  sheet;  third,  while  the  ice  was  occupying  the  hilly 
districts  it  may  have  molded  itself  so  imperfectly  to  the  irregularities  of 
the  surface  as  to  have  left  comparatively  free  passage  for  waters  beneath  it 
along  the  principal  valleys.  In  the  cases  cited,  where  valleys  would 
probably  receive  contributions  of  assorted  material,  the  uplands  would  not 
be  likely  to  have  received  such  contributions,  and  it  is  scarcely  probable 
that  an  ice  sheet  under  conditions  of  free  drainage,  such  as  the  Scioto  lobe 
seems  to  have  had  when  this  morainic  system  was  forming,  could  do  other- 
wise than  fill  the  valleys  with  assorted  material  before  the  deposition  of  till 
had  fairly  begun.  When  the  valleys  became  so  filled  as  to  g-reatly  impede 
the  flow  of  water  the  subglacial  drainage  would  be  checked  and  till  would 
be  deposited  in  the  valle5^s  as  well  as  on  the  uplands.  To  what  extent  the 
valleys  were  filled  at  the  earlier  invasions  (lowan,  Illinoian,  Kansan  and  pre- 
Kansan)  is  not  clearly  determined,  though  the  amount  was  probably  great. 

In  the  detailed  account  of  well  sections  and  other  exposures  of  the  di'ift 
given  below,  the  districts  are  taken  in  the  following  order:   (1)  The  inter- 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  401 

Ltbate  tract  east  of  the  shoulder;  (2)  the  portion  of  the  moraine  ou  the 
shoulder;  (3)  the  eastern  limb  of  the  main  lobe;  (4)  the  western  limb  of 
the  main  lobe. 

INTERLOBATE  TRACT   EAST   OP  THE  SHOULDER. 

As  the  portion  of  this  interlobate  tract  that  lies  iiorth  of  the  bend  of 
the  Cuyahoga  was  being  occupied  by  the  ice  sheet  at  the  time  when  a 
later  series  of  moraines  was  forming,  the  discvission  of  its  structure  is 
deferred,  only  the  portion  of  the  moraine  that  lies  between  the  bend  of  the 
Cuyahoga,  near  Akron,  and  the  glacial  boundary  at  Canton  being  taken 
up  here. 

In  the  interlobate  tract  between  the  bend  of  the  Cuyahoga  and  Canton 
sections  showing  clayey  till  are  rare,  the  drift  being  of  a  very  stony 
character,  not  only  in  the  knolls  and  i-idges  but  in  the  lower  tracts  among 
them.  The  stony  drift  is  in  places  poorly  assorted,  and  apparently  represents 
a  slightly  naodified  till  from  which  the  clayey  ingredient  is  larg-ely  removed. 

In  the  Cuyahoga  and  Little  Cuyahoga  valleys  there  are  extensive 
exposures  of  an  exceedingly  fine  silt  or  sand  forming  the  main  body  of  the 
blufFs.  It  shows  distinct  lines  of  bedding,  which  are  usually  horizontal 
but  which  arch  slightly  in  places  or  exhibit  signs  of  disturbance.  A  few 
pebbles  and  very  rarely  a  large  stone  may  be  found  embedded  in  the  sand. 
The  silt  is  slightly  calcareous,  and  contains  in  jjlaees  nodules  of  carbonate 
of  lime  and  crystals  of  sulphate  of  lime.  It  is  decidedly  ferruginous,  there 
being  in  its  upper  or  oxidized  portion  numerous  balls  of  iron  oxide  and 
thin  horizontal  bands  of  iron  following  lines  of  bedding.  The  upper  10  to 
15  feet,  and  occasionally  as  great  a  depth  as  40  or  50  feet,  is  of  a  yellow 
color,  the  tints  of  which  are  somewhat  variable,  depending  upon  the  staining 
by  iron.  At  greater  depth  it  is  of  a  nearly  uniform  blue  color,  like  the 
ordinary  blue  till.  Exposures  of  it  100  feet  or  more  in  height  occur  in  the 
northwest  part  of  Akron,  along  the  Valley  Railway,  and  at  numerous 
points  Ijetween  Akron  and  Cleveland.  Borings  show  a  similar  silt  below 
gravel  at  Sunnnit  Lake  and  Clinton,  and  at  a  deep  well  near  Portage.  The 
gravel  is  connected  on  the  north  genetically  as  well  as  geographically  with 
moraines  that  cross  the  Cuyahoga  below  "the  bend,"  and  lead  southward 
across  the  ]n-esent  continental  divide  to  the  Tuscarawas  Valley.  The  silt  is 
apparently  confined  mainly  to  valleys  and  deeply  filled  lowland  tracts,  and 
was  probably  deposited  in  a  glacial  lake.     On  uplands  and  where  the  drift 

MON  XLI 26 


402  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

is  thin  there  is  usually  till,  gravel,  or  sand  resting  directly  upon  the  rock. 
A  fuller  discussion  of  the  silts  of  northern  Ohio  is  given  in  connection  with 
descriptions  of  later  moraines. 

About  1890  a  deep  well  was  made  in  the  southern  end  of  Copley  Marsh, 
one-half  mile  west  of  New  Portage,  in  which  the  drift  was  found  to  have  a 
thickness  of  nearly  400  feet,  and  the  rock  floor  an  altitude  about  as  low 
as  the  surface  of  Lake  Erie.  The  boring  is  on  a  tributary  of  Tuscarawas 
Eiver,  and  therefore  south  of  the  present  continental  divide.  However,  a 
broad  lowland  tract,  deeply  filled  with  drift,  leads  from  it  northward  to  the 
Cuyahoga  Valley,  indicating  that  tliis  deep  chamiel  once  had  a  northward 
discharge.  Borings,  though  not  numerous,  are  sufficient  to  indicate  that 
the  rock  floor  of  the  Cu^^ahoga  has  been  cut  to  a  very  low  level,  and  the 
valley  may  have  been  an  outlet  for  some  of  the  northern  Ohio  drainage, 
as  already  discussed  in  Chapter  ITT. 

In  the  Tuscarawas  Valley  at  Clinton,  near  the  inner  margin  of  this 
morainic  system,  several  flowing  wells  have  been  obtained  from  the  drift. 
They  are  on  low  ground  near  the  Ohio  canal,  and  but  a  few  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  river.  Their  depth  is  35  to  40  feet,  and  water  rises  about  5 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  canal.  They  are  mainly  through  blue  silt, 
which  is  described  by  the  well  owners  to  be  putty-like  and  free  from  grit. 
The  water  is  obtained  from  an  underlj'ing  gravel  bed.  There  are  several 
wells  between  Clinton  and  New  Portage  which  penetrate  a  similar  blue 
silt  and  obtain  water  from  gravel  beneath  it,  but  the  water  does  not  overflow. 
On  Charles  Harmon's  land,  in  the  Tuscarawas  Valley  near  Mud  Lake  below 
Clinton,  is  a  boring  which  struck  rock  at  80  feet,  but  this  is  a  remarkably 
shallow  depth  to  rock. 

At  Canal  Fulton,  which  is  situated  in  the  midst  of  the  moraine,  rock  is 
exposed  in  the  west  bluff  to  a  considerable  height  above  the  Tuscarawas 
River,  but  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  wells  60  to  80  feet  deep  do  not  reach 
rock.  In  these  wells  a  small  amount  of  blue  till  is  struck,  but  the  material 
is  mainly  sand  and  gravel. 

Newberrj^  has  made  the  following  statements  concerning  the  di-ift  in 

the  Tuscarawas  Valley  below  Canal  Fulton:^ 

From  Fulton  to  Millport  and  thence  to  Massillon  many  borings  have  been  made, 
and  in  these  where  the  course  of  the  aug-er  was  not  arrested  b^-  bowlders  the  drift 


1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  152-153. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  403 

deposits  have  often  been  found  to  be  more  than  100  feet  in  thickness.  For  example, 
two  wells  were  bored  bj-  Mr.  E.  Roberts  northeast  of  Millport.  In  one  the  gravel 
was  penetrated  to  a  depth  of  Si  feet  without  reaching  the  rock;  in  the  other,  it  was 
found  to  be  97  feet  in  thickness.  On  the  farm  of  General  Beatty  two  wells  were 
sunk  for  water  within  100  yards  of  each  other.  One  reached  rock  at  about  50  feet; 
the  other,  more  westerly,  is  100  feet  deep,  all  drift.  At  the  Charity  School,  as  I 
heard  from  the  Hon.  A.  C.  Wales,  a  well  was  sunk  to  a  depth  of  90  feet  through 
beds  of  sand  and  gravel  without  reaching  rock.  An  interesting  fact  connected  with 
this  well  is  that  near  the  bottom  logs  of  coniferous  wood,  apparently  cedar,  were 
taken  out. 

THE   SHOULDER   OF   THE   isCIOTO    LOBE. 

On  the  uplands  west  from  Canal  Fulton,  near  Fox  Lake,  the  drift  has 
a  known  thickness  of  80  feet  at  H.  Meibert's  wells,  and  60  to  80  feet  in 
several  wells  at  farmhouses  1  to  2  miles  west  of  Fox  Lake.  Southward  the 
uplands  are  more  thinly  coated,  and  many  hills  and  ridges  in  the  vicinity 
of  Fairview,  Dalton,  West  Lebanon,  and  Mount  Eaton  afford  numerous 
outcrops  of  rock  on  their  slopes  and  summits.  The  valleys  are,  however, 
filled  deeply  with  drift  and  contain  morainic  features.  Li  passing  from  these 
valleys  eastward  to  the  Tuscarawas  Valley  one  finds  considerable  increase  in 
the  amount  of  drift  on  the  uplands. 

At  Beach  City,  near  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine,  but  within  its 
limits,  borings  in  Sugar  Creek  Valley  strike  rock  at  90  to  110  feet,  the  drift 
being  mainly  assorted  material.  A  boring  at  Nathan  Rose's  farm,  1^  miles 
southeast  of  Beach  City,  peneti-ated  88  feet  of  drift,  a  portion  of  which  is 
cemented  gravel.  It  is  situated  on  the  gravel  plain  which  heads  in  the 
moraine  at  Beach  City.  In  the  vicinity  of  Wilmot  several  coal  shafts  have 
been  sunk.  Of  these  the  drift  in  Putnam's  shaft  is  43  feet,  in  Wyandot's 
71  feet,  and  in  Hurrah's  56  feet.  The  thickness  of  drift  on  the  hills  and 
ridges  from  Sugar  Creek  westward  to  Killbuck  Creek  probably  averages 
less  than  25  feet,  but  in  the  lowlands  it  is  so  thick  that  ordinary  wells 
seldom  reach  its  bottom. 

It  was  in  one  of  these  lowland  ti-acts,  in  eastern  Holmes  County,  that 
the  skeleton  of  a  megalonyx  was  discovered,  described  by  Claypole.^  It 
was  found  in  a  marsh  beneath  a  bed  of  peat  6  feet  in  thickness  and  on  a  bed 
of  shell  marl.  Such  marshes  are  not  uncommon  along  this  morainic  belt, 
but  are  a  less  prominent  feature  than  in  the  interlobate  tract. 

'Am.  Geologist,  February,  1891. 


404  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

In  the  comparatively  low  tracts  that  lead  back  into  hilly  districts  along 
the  glacial  boundary  in  Holmes  County  the  till  is  underlain  by  fine 
calcareous  sand  or  silt  of  blue  and  yellow  colors,  like  that  in  the  Cuyahoga 
Valley  near  Akron.  Wherever  this  silt  was  noted  the  drainage  is  northward 
from  the  unglaciated  toward  the  glaciated  tract.  This  situation  makes  it 
probable  that  the  silt  in  question  was  deposited  in  small  glacial  foot  lakes 
formed  in  advance  of  the  ice  sheet.  These  were  subsequently  invaded  by 
the  ice  sheet,  which  filled  the  place  the  lakes  had  held  and  deposited  till 
upon  the  silts.  An  excellent  exposure  showing  several  feet  of  silt  may  be 
seen  on  the  Weinsburg  and  Berlin  road,  about  a  mile  northeast  of  Berlin. 

On  the  elevation  where  Berlin  stands  there  is  scarcely  any  drift,  but  a 
mile  east  or  west  from  this  village  on  lower  land  it  attains  considerable 
thickness.  John  Miller,  I  mile  west  of  Berlin,  has  a  well  45  feet  deep, 
and  his  neighbor,  Chalmers  Sharlock,  one  40  feet  deep  which  did  not  reach 
rock.  These  wells  are  within  a  mile  north  of  the  southern  margin  of  the 
well-defined  drift,  if  not  of  the  glacial  boundary. 

At  Millersburg  rock  is  struck  in  the  \'icinity  of  the  court-house  at 
about  75  feet,  which  gives  the  rock  surface  an  altitude  slightly  below  the 
bed  of  Killbuck  Creek.  Drift  exposures  of  considerable  extent  occur  in 
the  north  part  of  Millersburg,  along  the  east  side  of  the  Cleveland,  Akron 
and  Columbus  Railway.  There  is  a  small  amount  of  ordinary  pebbly  till, 
but  the  great  bulk  of  the  drift  is  a  poorly  assorted  gravelly  sand  with  a 
slight  clayey  admixture.  Where  stratification  is  traceable  the  beds  are 
horizontal,  with  considerable  cross  bedding,  but  arching  or  contorted  beds 
were  not  observed. 

No  records  of  wells  of  sufficient  depth  to  show  the  thickness  of  the 
drift  were  obtained  along  Killbuck  Valley,  between  Millei'sburg  and  Woos- 
ter.  At  Wooster  tlie  drift  is  thin  on  the  slopes  of  the  valleys,  and  a  well  in 
the  village,  two  blocks  south  of  the  court-hotise,  struck  rock  at  40  feet. 
The  breadth  of  the  valley  bottom  in  the  vicinity  of  Wooster  is  such,  how- 
ever, that  a  channel  of  considerable  size  maybe  concealed  in  it.  J.H.Todd, 
of  Wooster,  lias  furnished  the  writer  with  records  obtained  in  the  vicinity 
of  that  city,  which  in  some  cases  extend  to  a  depth  of  about  100  feet 
without  reaching  rock,  while  on  neighboring  hills  the  rock  rises  200  feet 
above  the  Avell  ixiouths. 

Between  Killbuck  Creek  and  Lake  Fork  the  uplands  carry  compara- 


MAIN  MOEAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  405 

tively  thin  deposits  of  drift,  there  being  numerous  outcrops  of  sandstone  on 
the  large  ridges.  The  thickness  probably  averaged  no  more  than  25  feet; 
but  an  abandoned  valley  connecting  the  streams  along  the  line  of  the  Pitts- 
burg, Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Railway  is  deeply  filled  with  drift,  wells 
having  reached  a  depth  of  185  feet  without  entering  rock  (Todd). 

Along  Lake  Fork  the  terraces  till  the  valleys  in  pla,ces  to  a  lieight  of 
fully  100  feet  above  the  present  stream,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  the 
drift  extends  considerably  below  the  present  stream  bed.  A  gas-well 
boring  at  Loudonville  with  about  150  feet  of  drift,  entered  rock  at  an  altitude 
fully  50  feet  lower  than  that  of  the  bed  of  the  creek  at  its  nearest 
approach  to  the  village.  The  drift  consists  of  gravel  at  surface,  while  sand 
constitutes  the  main  part  of  the  section.  A  boring  for  water  at  Peter 
Long's,  in  Loudonville,  penetrated  125  feet  of  drift  without  entering  rock. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Perrysville  the  drift  is  heavy,  but  no  records  of  deep 
wells  were  found  to  show  its  full  depth.  There  are  knolls  50  feet  or  more 
in  height,  and  the  crest  of  the  moraine  south  of  the  village  rises  about  150 
feet  above  the  level  of  Black  Fork.  It  is  probable  that  the  thickness  is 
even  greater  than  the  height  of  the  moraine  above  the  creek.  In  a  tribu- 
tary of  Black  Fork,  3  miles  north  of  Perrysville,  a  well  at  Mr.  George 
Hay's  penetrated  150  feet  of  drift  without  reaching  rock,  and  George 
Maurer's  well,  on  the  adjoining  farm,  strikes  no  rock,  though  115  feet  deep. 
Near  the  northern  end  of  the  reentrant  portion  of  the  moraine  north  of 
Mansfield,  a  well  in  Black  Fork  Valley,  at  David  Forkler's,  penetrated  180 
feet  of  drift  without  i-eaching  rock.  In  the  lowland  tract  in  the  north  part 
of  Manstield  a  gas-well  boring  penetrated  250  feet  of  drift,  striking  rock 
at  an  altitude  about  900  feet  above  tide.  The  waterworks  plant  'in  this 
lowland  has  several  wells  100  to  140  feet  in  depth,  some  of  which  reach 
rock,  In  the  business  portion  of  Manstield,  on  the  slope  north  of  the  public 
square,  there  are  outcrops  of  rock  at  an  altitude  of  about  1,200  feet. 
Many  of  the  ridges  and  hills  in  the  vicinity  of  Mansfield  have  but  a  small 
amount  of  drift,  though  all  seem  to  have  been  glaciated. 


THE    EASTEHN    LIMB    OF   THE    MAIN'    LOBE. 


At  Lexington,  in  the  valley  of  Clear  Fork,  near  the  outer  border  of 
the  moraine,  wells  100  feet  deep  do  not  reach  the  bottom  of  the  drift,  but 
on  the  bordering  uplands  the  general  thickness  is  only  30  or  40  feet.  The 
highland  tract  in  southern  Richland  County  was  crossed  by  the   writer 


406  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

along  the  line  leading  direct  from  Mansfield  to  Fredericktown,  and  a  coating" 
of  drift  10  to  20  feet  thick  was  fomid  to  be  quite  generally  prevalent.  On 
a  jjrominent  point  about  3  miles  north  of  Bellville,  and  perhaps  1,450  feet 
above  tide,  a  well  at  Mr.  Shickler's  reached  rock  at  18  feet,  and  on  points 
about  the  same  altitude,  south  of  Bellville,  wells  penetrate  several  feet  of 
drift.  One-half  mile  north  of  Palmyra,  on  comparativel}^  low  ground,  a 
well  at  C.  Snyder's,  67  feet  deep,  penetrated  considerable  till  and  entered 
gravel  near  the  bottom  South  from  Palmyra  the  di-ift  is  much  thicker  than 
it  is  to  the  north.  Passing  west  to  the  less  elevated  countrj^  the  thickness 
of  the  drift  increases,  and  where  morainic  features  set  in  near  Darlington  it 
is  generally  50  to  60  feet,  or  even  more,  in  depth.  G.  McFen-ins's  well,  near 
Dai'lington,  has  a  depth  of  61  feet  without  reaching  rock.  It  penetrates 
much  till. 

In  Fredericktown  rock  is  exposed  along  the  east  side  of  Owl  Creek,  and 
the  creek  here  crosses  a  rocky  point  which  extends  westward  slightly  bevond 
the  I'ailroad  track,  making  a  rock  cut  necessary  south  of  the  station.  Mr. 
Cummings's  well  in  the  village,  at  a  level  about  60  feet  above  the  station, 
struck  no  rock  at  a  depth  of  80  feet;  but  just  east  of  this  well,  on  equally 
elevated  ground,  overlooking  Owl  Creek,  Wesley  Whitford  has  a  well  which 
struck  rock  at  25  or  30  feet.  The  wells  in  Fredericktown  usually  obtain 
water  at  about  40  feet  from  beds  of  gravel  between  till  sheets. 

For  several  miles  west  of  Fredericktown  the  preglacial  ridges  and 
valleys  are  quite  eftectuall}'  concealed  by  heavy  deposits  of  drift,  but  from 
Fredericktown  eastward  the  drift  sheet  is  thin,  its  general  thickness  being  not 
over  25  feet.  It  maintains  a  nearly  continuous  sheet  up  to  the  ^-ery  border 
of  the  neck  of  apparently  driftless  land,  that  has  alread}'  been  described  as 
leading  from  Independence  eastward  to  Mohican  Creek. 

In  the  village  of  Jellowa}',  which  is  near  the  south  border  of  this  neck, 
■flowing  wells  have  been  obtained  from  the  drift  at  a  depth  of  about  40  feet; 
and  at  Mr.  Richert's,  2  miles  west  of  Jelloway,  a  flowing  well  50  feet  deep 
was  obtained  witliout  reaching  rock,  while  a  well  on  higher  ground  at  his 
residence  struck  rock  at  50  feet.  These  wells  are  practically  at  the  border  of 
the  nearh'  driftless  neck,  there  being  scarely  any  drift  on  the  uplands  north 
of  Mr.  Ricliert's  or  at  Jelloway.  Thev  are,  however,  in  valleys,  and  show 
a  larger  amount  of  drift  than  the  uplands  adjacent  to  them.  The  drift 
penetrated  in  these  flowing  wells  is  said  to  be  a  pebbly  blue  clay. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  407 

East  of  Danville,  at  the  point  where  Wright  located  the  glacial 
boundary,  the  Cleveland,  Akron  and  Columbus  Railway  cuts  through 
morainic  accumulations  to  a  depth  of  36  feet  without  reaching  rock.  In 
Danville  a  well  is  reported  by  Wright,  on  the  authority  of  A.  J.  Workman, 
to  have  penetrated  136  feet  of  drift,  "passing  through  yellow  clay,  blue 
clay,  gravel,  quicksand,  and  cemented  gravel,  and  still  not  reaching  rock." 
Another  well  in  Danville,  65  feet  deep  and  through  similar  material,  was 
reported. 

On  the  uplands  between  this  outer  member  of  the  morainic  system 
and  Mount  Vernon  there  is  but  little  drift  compared  with  the  amount  in  the 
main  moraine  west  of  Mount  Vernon. 

In  the  valley  of  Owl  Creek,  near  Gambler,  the  following  section  of 
the  bluff  of  the  stream  is  reported  by  Read:^ 

Section  of  Owl  Creek  Bluffs  near  Gamhiei\  Ohio. 

Feet. 

1.  Yellow  clay,  with  drift  bowlders  and  pebbles  and  many  flat  fragments  of  local  rock 8 

2.  Blue  bowlder  clay,  unstratified,  with  rounded  granitic  bowlders,  gravel,  and  angular  fragments 

of  local  rocks 20 

3.  Laminated  blue  clay 3 

4.  Coarse  stratified  gravel 4 

5.  Coarse  stratified  sand 2 

6.  Yellow  laminated  clay 2 

7.  Blue  laminated  clay 2 

8.  Unstratified  bowlder  clay 4 

9.  Stratified  sand  and  gravel 8 

In  an  exposure  on  Grannys  Creek,  a  few"  miles  northeast  of  Mount 
Vernon,  a  section  of  bowlder  clay  fully  60  feet  in  height  is  extensively 
exposed.  In  this  section  the  surface  oxidation  extends  only  8  to  10  feet, 
the  clay  below  being  blue. 

At  Mount  Vernon  a  large  number  of  borings  have  been  made  in  the 
valley  of  Owl  Creek  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  flowing  wells.  At  the 
time  of  the  writer's  visit  to  the  city,  in  June,  1890,  fully  100  successful 
flows  had  been  obtained.  The  depth  of  the  wells  ranges  from  63  to  97  feet. 
Isaac  Lafever,  of  Chicago  Junction,  Ohio,  who  made  many  of  these  wells, 
states  that  they  penetrate  about  45  feet  of  loose  gravel  and  sand,  at  which 
depth  a  blue  clay  is  struck  which  extends  to  the  water  vein.  No  statistics 
were  obtained  as  to  the  rate  of  flow  or  to  the  height  to  which  the  water 
will  rise  above  the  surface.     The  flow  is  strong  from  a  height  of  2  or  3  feet 

'  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  1878,  p.  332. 


408  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

above  the  surface.  Mount  Vernon  derives  its  water  supply  almost  entirely 
from  these  flowing  wells. 

Several  attempts  to  obtain  natural  gas  have  been  made  in  and  about 
Mount  Vernon,  and  the  borings  show  much  variation  in  the  thickness  of  the 
drift.  The  writer  is  indebted  to  A.  D.  Bunn,  of  Mount  Vernon,  for  statistics 
concerning  the  drift  penetrated.  A  boring  at  the  waterworks,  on  ground 
about  the  same  altitude  as  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  station  (991  feet),  struck 
rock  at  224  feet.  The  drift  is  mainly  sand  and  gravel.  This  well  is  known 
as  the  Power-house  well.  About  2,000  feet  south-southwest  of  the  power- 
house well,  and  at  about  the  same  level,  234  feet  of  drift  was  penetrated.  In 
the  northern  part  of  the  cit}^,  on  ground  perhaps  lOO  feet  higher  than  the 
station,  a  well,  known  as  the  Banning  well,  penetrated  90  feet  of  drift,  mainly 
sand  and  gravel.  A  boring  at  the  railway  crossing  in  the  west  part  of  Mount 
Vei-non  penetrated  only  90  feet  of  drift.  About  a  mile  east-northeast  from 
the  railway  station,  in  a  tributary  of  Owl  Creek,  where  the  altitude  is  about 
the  same  as  at  the  station,  only  8  feet  of  drift  was  penetrated.  Two  and 
one-half  miles  northeast  of  the  central  part  of  Mount  Vernon  a  well  called 
the  Simpkins  well  penetrated  90  feet  of  drift.  Its  mouth  has  an  altitude 
about  100  feet  above  the  station.  A  well  made  many  years  ago  at  the  court- 
house is  reported  b}'  William  McClelland,  of  Mount  Vernon,  to  have  obtained 
water  in  gravel  at  a  depth  of  75  feet,  after  penetrating  much  blue  clay. 

At  Bangs  station,  4  miles  west  of  Mount  Vernon,  several  flowing  wells 
have  been  obtained  on  ground  having  about  the  same  elevation  as  the 
station,  1,102  feet.  Their  depth  is  40  to  45  feet,  and  when  first  struck  water 
would  rise  20  to  22  feet  above  the  surface.  A  well  at  Samuel  Finnerty's,  on 
somewhat  higher  ground,  has  a  depth  of  74  feet.  In  all  these  wells  there  is 
till  above  the  water  vein.  The  source  of  the  water  supply  is  probably  from 
adjacent  upland  tracts,  whose  altitude  is  150  feet  or  more  above  the  wells. 

On  the  elevated  tract  along  the  inner  member  of  the  morainic  system 
in  western  Knox  County  the  drift  is  so  thick  that  rock  is  rarely  struck  in 
wells,  and  scarcely  an  outcrop  of  rock  occurs  in  ravines.  The  appearance 
of  the  surface  supports  the  conclusion  that  the  hills  and  ridges  have  a  drift 
mantle  100  feet  or  more  in  thickness,  while  buried  valleys  have  400  feet  or 
more.  W.  G.  Tig] it  reports  that  a  well  at  Homer,  in  northeastern  Licking 
County,  passed  through  400  feet  of  drift.  J.  M.  McFarlaud's  well,  on  an 
elevated  tract  at  Appleton,  has   a  depth  of  167  feet  and  does  not  strike 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  409 

rock.  The  drift  is  gray  clay  with  thin  beds  of  sand.  W.  H.  Wood's  well, 
near  Locke,  has  a  depth  of  123  feet  without  reaching  rock.  This  well  is  in 
a  slightly  depressed  portion'  of  the  uplands,  and  was  made  for  the  purpose 
of  obtaining  a  flow.  Eleven  water-bearing  beds  were  passed  through,  but 
water  does  not  overflow  from  any  of  these  beds.  It  stands,  however,  within 
11  feet  of  the  surface.  An  ocher-like  bed  was  struck  at  the  depth  of  105 
feet,  whose  material  was  so  fine  that  it  would  not  completely  settle  in  water 
in  forty-eight  hours. 

At  Hartford  wells  are  only  20  to  40  feet  deep,  there  being  at  these 
depths  an  abundant  water  supply  from  sand  beneath  beds  of  till. 

In  Utica,  in  the  valley  of  Licking  River,  a  well  at  Levi  Knowlton's 
penetrated  58  feet  of  drift,  mainly  till,  without  reaching  rock.  Two  miles 
north  of  Utica,  at  R.  S  Tullos's,  a  flowing  well  on  comparatively  low 
groiuid  terminates  in  drift  at  85  feet.  The  drift  is  mainly  till.  On  the 
uplands  east  of  Utica  wells  in  the  moraiuic  area  penetrate  25  to  40  feet  or 
more  of  drift. 

At  Newark  several  borings  for  natural  gas  have  been  made,  in  some  of 
which  a  large  amount  of  drift  was  penetrated,  in  one  instance  235  feet,  in 
another  189  feet,  and  in  another  147  feet.  They  are  all  in  the  Licking 
Valley,  at  about  the  same  altitude  as  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  station  (819 
feet).  The  drift  is  principally  sand,  but  some  clay  appears  in  the  surface 
portions.  In  the  northern  part  of  the  city,  wells  penetrate  from  3  to  6  feet 
of  hard  clay  before  entering  the  gravel.  Exposures  of  till  are  numerous  in 
the  south  blufli'  of  Licking  River,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  city,  up  to  a  height 
of  about  60  feet  abo^'e  the  stream.  Bordering  Newark  on  the  northeast,  as 
above  noted,  is  a  lowland  tract,  standing  about  100  feet  above  the  Licking- 
River,  which  has  considerable  till  in  it.  There  is  also  sand,  suitable  for 
molders'  use,  and  gravel,  the  latter  being  sometimes  disposed  in  arched 
and  distorted  beds. 

West  from  Newark,  on  the  main  moraine,  the  drift  has  a  thickness  of 
50  to  75  feet  or  more  on  the  uplands  and  is  probably  mucli  thicker  in  the 
principal  valleys.  J.  C.  Wilcox's  well,  at  his  residence  near  Kirkersville, 
on  a  very  prominent  part  of  the  uplands,  is  70  feet  deep  and  does  not 
strike  rock.  Near  Etna  several  wells  have  a  depth  of  50  feet  without 
reaching  rock,  and  a  boring  made  some  years  ago  about  a  mile  east  of  the 
village  was  thought  to  have  gone  to  a  depth  of  183  feet  without  reaching 
rock,  the  information  being  given  from  memory. 


410  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

At  William  Watson's,  on  the  south  border  of  the  Licking  reservoir,  a 
gas-well  boring  penetrated  150  feet  of  drift.  It  is  on  ground  perhaps  100 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  reservoir.  Rock  is  exposed  on  Mr.  Watson's 
farm  at  levels  still  higher  than  the  well  mouth. 

A  series  of  gas  wells  on  Little  Walnut  Creek  show  a  large  amount 
of  drift  along  its  valley  from  near  the  source  of  the  stream  to  Can:' 
Winchester,  near  which  it  enters  the  Scioto  Valley.  The  writer's  nott.- 
were  obtained  from  the  well  drillers  or  officers  of  the  gas  companies  soon 
after  the  borings  were  made,  and  therefore  represent  quite  accurately  the 
thickness  of  drift.  The  structure  of  the  drift  was  not  so  well  observed, 
but  a  few  apparently  accurate  records  will  be  presented. 

A  well  at  the  border  of  the  canal,  between  Baltimore  and  Basil,  whose 
mouth  is  about  850  feet  above  tide,  has  302  feet  of  drift.  Its  drift  section, 
as  given  by  the  driller,  J.  H.  Taylor,  of  Louisville,  Ohio,  is  as  follows: 

Section  of  drift  beds  in  a  gaa  boring  near  Basil,  Ohio. 

Feet. 

1.  "Common  clay"  (till?) - 8 

2.  Coarse  gravel - - - -  12 

3.  Fine  quicksand - -  - 1 10 

4.  Gravel - 40 

5.  Sand - - - - ■ -  -  128 

6.  Blue  clay,  extending  to  Berea  grit 4 

Total  drift - -  - 302 

Gas  well  No  1,  at  Hadley  Junction,  is  reported  by  the  driller,  Frank 
Hugaboom,  of  Pleasantville,  Ohio,  to  have  penetrated  335  feet  of  drift.  The 
altitude  of  the  well  mouth  is  883  feet  above  tide,  making  the  rock  floor  only 
548  feet.  The  same  driller  reports  that  a  well  just  east  of  the  village,  on 
ground  about  900  feet  above  tide,  penetrated  148  feet,  and  another  near  by 
only  45  feet  of  drift,  while  on  much  highei-  ground  a  mile  or  so  east  of 
Hadley  rock  is  struck  at  about  30  feet.  Hadley  Junction  is  therefore 
near  the  east  border  of  the  valley.  The  deep  valley  extends  south  a  couple 
of  miles  from  Hadley  before  swinging  westward.  Wells  near  its  southern 
border  are  reported  by  Mr.  Hugaboom  to  have  the  following  amounts  of 
drift:  The  Lamb  well,  1  mile  west  of  Pleasantville,  225  feet;  Levi  Hite's 
well,  1\  miles  west  of  Pleasantville,  326  feet;  a  well  near  Mr.  Hite's  (owner's 
name  not  learned),  360  feet;  the  Watson  well,  near  Hite's,  225  feet.  In  all 
tlie  wells  reported  by  Mr,  Hugaboom  the  main  part  of  the  till  is  within  50 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  41 1 

feet  of  the  surface.  Below  this  depth  the  drift  is  principally  sand.  At 
Carroll  a  gas  boring  was  reported  by  a  citizen  to  have  passed  through  264 
feet  of  drift.  The  altitude  of  the  well  mouth  is  835  feet,  making  the  rock 
surface  561  feet  above  tide.  The  upper  15  feet  is  till,  the  remainder  mainly 
quicksand,  though  some  gravel  occurs.  In  a  boring  at  Canal  Winchester, 
reported  by  the  treasurer  of  the  natural  gas  company,  2 1 6  feet  of  drift 
was  penetrated.  The  altitude  of  the  well  mouth  is  769  feet,  making  the 
rock  floor  553  feet.  The  greater  part  of  the  drift  is  quicksand.  This  well 
boring  is  une-half  mile  north  of  Little  Walnut  Creek.  Along  the  creek 
near  Canal  Winchester  there  are  outcrops  of  shale,  and  2  miles  south  of  it, 
at  Lithopolis,  rock  rises  to  an  altitude  200  feet  or  more  above  the  level  of 
the  mouth  of  the  gas  well,  or  nearly  1,000  feet  above  tide  as  indicated  by 
the  East  Columbus  topographic  sheet. 

At  Lancaster  several  gas  wells  show  a  large  amount  of  drift.  The 
following  notes  were  obtained  from  Mr.  Slocum,  a  citizen  of  Lancaster, 
who  kept  careful  records  of  the  wells.  The  altitude  of  the  majority  of 
the  well  mouths  does  not  diflFer  greatly  from  that  of  the  railway  station, 
841  feet. 

Well  No.  1,  at  the  north  side  of  the  canal  and  west  side  of  Maple 
street,  altitude  about  B25  feet,  penetrated  131  feet  of  drift,  entirely  sand 
and  gravel;  a  log  was  struck  at  26  to  27  feet.  Well  No.  2,  just  east  of  the 
canal  reservoir  and  about  50  feet  above  it  (870  feet  above  tide),  penetrated 
60  feet  of  drift.  Wells  Nos.  3,  4,  and  5  start  on  the  sandstone  which  is  at 
the  surface  in  the  east  part  of  the  city.  Well  No.  6,  on  the  Fair  ground, 
penetrated  180  feet  of  drift;  a  log  was  struck  at  about  100  feet;  altitude 
of  well  mouth  about  850  feet.  Well  No.  7,  at  Forest  Rose  cemetery,  pene- 
trated but  little  drift.  Well  No.  8,  in  northwest  part  of  the  city,  passed 
through  180  feet  of  drift;  altitude  of  well  mouth  about  840  feet.  Well 
No.  9,  near  center  of  city,  south  of  King  street,  has  180  feet  of  drift; 
altitude  about  8  lO  feet.  Well  No.  10,  east  of  center  of  city  and  north  of 
Main  street,  has  about  180  feet  of  drift;  altitude  about  840  feet.  There 
are  several  others  not  made  b}'  the  city,  each  of  which  has  130  feet  or 
more  of  drift. 

As  above  noted  (p.  269),  there  is  in  Lancaster  a  drift  ridge,  upon  which 
the  coui't-house  stands,  containing  much  cemented  gravel  which  has  the 
appearance  of  having  suffered  considerable  erosion  and  leaching  prior  to 


412  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  Wisconsin  stage  of  glaciation.  In  the  deeper  part  of  the  valley,  also, 
the  drift  is  probably  of  pre -Wisconsin  age. 

Wright  reports  a  well  on  a  range  of  hills  north  of  Clear  Fork,  at  an 
altitude  about  3.50  feet  above  the  Hocking  Valley,  to  have  jienetrated  40 
feet  of  till,  and  another  20  feet.  West  of  this  range  of  hills,  at  Amanda,  a 
gas-well  boring  at  the  flour  mill  near  the  station  passed  through  60  feet 
of  drift,  mainly  till  The  altitude  here  is  but  100  feet  above  the  Hocking 
Valley  at  Lancaster  (933  feet  above  tide).  In  portions  of  the  village  rock 
is  struck  at  10  feet  or  less.  West  from  Amanda,  on  the  divide,  at  an  alti- 
tude 150  feet  above  the  station,  the  drift  is  shown  by  wells  to  be  in  places 
60  feet  thick.  Mr.  Stout  has  a  well  62  feet  deep,  mainly  till,  that  does  not 
reach  rock.  There  are  outcrops,  however,  between  Stout's  well  and  Amanda, 
where  the  rock  surface  has  an  altitude  but  25  feet  lower  than  that  of  the 
well  mouth  at  his  residence.  A  well  at  John  Crumley's,  3  miles  west  of 
Lancaster,  on  comparatively  low  ground  near  Hunters  Run,  penetrated  78 
feet  of  sand  and  gra^^el  and  did  not  reach  rock.  At  D.  Crumle}^'s,  on  the 
Circleville  and  Lancaster  pike,  about  3  miles  west  of  Lancaster,  a  well  has 
39  feet  of  drift,  the  upper  18  feet  being  yellow  till,  the  remainder  sand. 
Near  Crumley's  bold  ledges  of  sandstone  rise  to  a  height  of  125  feet  above 
the  well  mouth,  on  whose  surface  tliere  is  scarcely  any  drift.  A  similar 
isolated  sandstone  ledge  in  Lancaster,  called  Mount  Pleasant,  carries  scarcely 
any  drift,  aside  from  bowlders. 

On  the  uplands  south  of  CircleAdlle,  near  Thatcher,  the  drift  is  very  thin 
compared  with  its  thickness  east  and  northeast  of  Circleville,  the  difference 
being  due  mainly  to  the  absence  of  the  inner  or  main  member  of  the  morainic 
system  on  the  uplands  southeast  of  the  city  and  its  presence  on  those  east 
and  northeast. 

In  the  Scioto  Valley  at  Circleville  two  gas-well  borings  passed  through 
a  large  amount  of  drift,  one  in  the  west  part  of  the  city  having  penetrated 
140  feet,  and  one  on  slightly  higher  ground,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  city, 
187  feet.  The  rock  floor  is  520  and  540  feet  above  tide  in  the  two  borings, 
the  lower  altitude  being  at  the  east  well.  In  the  west  boring  the  drift  is 
mainly  gravel,  but  in  the  east  boring  there  was  a  thin  bed  of  gravel  at  the 
surface,  apparenth'  lielonging  to  the  outwash  from  the  moraine,  below  which 
there  was  a  heav}'  bed  of  blue  till. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  413 

In  a  sewer  excavation  on  Pickaway  street,  between  Franklin  and 
Mound  streets,  the  following  section  was  obtained: 

Section  in  a  sewer  ditch  in  Circleville,  Ohio. 

Feet. 

1.  Clay  and  clayey  gravel  of  dark-brown  color 2^-3 

2.  Gravel,  horizontally  bedded,  containing  many  cobblestones,  but  in  places  composed  only  of  fine 

sand 4-6 

3.  Yellow  till,  with  streaks  of  blue  till,  the  whole  being  calcareous  from  the  very  top,  showing 

either  that  leaching  had  not  occurred  before  the  deposition  of  gravel,  or  that  the  calcareous 
element  was  restored 5-6 

4.  Blue  till  exposed  near  bottom  of  sewer _ 1-2 

In  the  till  there  are  many  small  pockets  of  fine  gravel.  They  are  elon- 
gated horizontally,  though  they  do  not  lie  perfectly  horizontal,  their  inclina- 
tion being  in  some  cases  as  great  as  25°.  The  pebbles  in  the  till  and  also 
in  the  overlying  gravel  are  mainly  limestone.  The  gravel  deposits  capping 
the  till  are  probably  of  the  same  age  as  the  raorainic  liills  east  and  noi'th  of 
the,  city,  while  the  till  may  be  slightly  older.  Its  calcareousness  at  surface 
indicates  either  that  no  great  amount  of  leaching  had  taken  place  before  the 
gravel  was  deposited  on  it,  or  that,  leaching  having  occurred,  calcareous 
material  was  restored  to  it  from  the  overlying  calcareous  gravels,  or  possibly 
the  glacial  stream  that  deposited  the  gravel. 

In  a  gravel  pit  in  a  morainic  knoll  one-half  mile  north  of  Circleville, 
some  pebbles  were  collected  and  clasbified  with  the  following  results.  The 
size  determined  upon  included  only  pebbles  an  inch  or  less  in  diameter: 

Pebbles  in  a  gravel  ^it  near  Circleville.,  Ohio. 

Limestone - _ 126 

Shale  -^ 6 

Quartz 1 

Chert 5 

Granite 4 

Other  Archean  pebbles ' 4 

Total - 146 

The  pebbles  are  nearly  all  rounded  and  show  no  strise.  Many  nodules 
of  clay,  ironstone,  and  fragments  of  shale  several  inches  in  diameter  occur 
in  the  pit.  They  are  probabh"  of  Devonian  age.  There  are  cobblestones 
and  bowlderets  of  limestone  up  to  a  foot  in  diameter.  The  stratification  is 
nearly  horizontal,  but  is  subject  to  occasional  abrupt  departures  from  the 
horizontal. 

In  a  morainic  tract  west  of  Kingston  a  sharp  i-idge  witli  north-south 


414  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

trend  is  opened  by  a  road  crossing  it,  which  gives  an  excellent  section  20 
feet  deep  at  the  crest  of  the  ridge.  In  the  lower  10  or  12  feet  there  is 
a  gravel  of  medium  coarseness  interbedded  with  fine  gravel.  All  of  the 
beds  arch  with  the  surface  of  the  ridge.  Above  these  beds,  occupying  the 
summit  and  western  slope  of  the  ridge,  are  beds  of  coarser  gravel  which 
dip  with  the  slope  of  the  ridge  westward  at  an  angle  of  about  30°.  The 
lower  layers  extend  slightly  beyond  the  summit  of  the  ridge  and  rest  upon 
the  truncated  ends  of  beds  of  fine  gravel  that  dip  eastward.  Near  the  base 
of  the  west  side  of  the  ridge  the  gravel  beds  change  somewhat  abruptly 
to  till. 

No  records  of  deep  borings  were  obtained  along  the  Scioto  Valley 
below  Circleville.  A  deep  gas-well  boring  in  Chillicothe  begins  in  rock, 
being  at  the  base  of  a  rock  ledge.  The  drift  is  said  to  be  about  100  feet 
thick  in  a  gas  borhig  near  the  bend  of  the  Scioto  at  Richmonddale,  a  few 
miles  southeast  of  Chillicothe,  but  the  exact  amount  was  not  ascertained,  nor 
was  the  altitude  of  the  well  mouth.  The  Scioto  Valley  has  probably  been 
filled  with  drift  to  a  depth  of  100  to  2u0  feet  along  much  of  the  course 
between  Columbus  and  the  glacial  boundary. 

THE    WESTERN    LIMB    OF    THE    MAIN    LOBE. 

On  the  comparatively  low  upland  west  of  the  Scioto,  at  Anderson,  a 
well  at  Mr.  Langdon's  penetrated  60  feet  of  drift.  At  Mr.  Steel's,  near 
Anderson  station,  in  North  Paint  Valley,  wells  32  feet  deep  obtain  water  in 
gravel.  On  the  elevated  iipland  east  of  Lattas  a  well  at  Mr.  McConnell's  is 
reported  by  Wright  to  have  "passed  through  12  feet  of  yellow  clay  and  5 
feet  of  gravel.  About  13  feet  from  the  top  a  piece  of  wood  3  to  4  feet  long 
and  3  inches  through  was  found  in  clay.  From  this  point  the  eye  surveys 
a  vast  extent  of  till  in  the  valley  of  North  Fork  of  Paint,  which  is  about 
400  feet  lower."  At  several  houses  near  McConnell's,  wells  are  reported  to 
have  penetrated  25  feet  or  more  of  yellow  and  blue  till  before  reaching 
rock.  In  the  valley  of  North  Paint  Creek,  near  Austin,  there  is  a  till 
exposure  fully  50  feet  high,  yellow  for  a  few  feet  at  top,  the  remainder  of 
blue  color.  This  valley  has  but  little  gravel  above  Frankfort,  but  below 
that  village  it  carries  a  comparatively  level  gravel  plain. 

About  midway  between  Lattas  and  Grreenfield  are  several  wells  along 
the  Grreenfield   and  Chillicothe  pike   which  show  considerable  di-ift.     At 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  415 

W.  E.  Parrott's  60  feet  and  at  William  Stinson's  44  feet  were  penetrated 
without  reaching  rock,  and  other  wells  show  30  feet  or  more. 

Near  Spout  Spring  station,  midway  between  Greenfield  and  Bain- 
bridge,  there  are  exposures  of  horizontally  bedded,  well  assorted  drift,  100 
feet  or  more  in  thickness,  some  of  the  alternating  beds  being  of  fine  sand 
and  others  of  coarse  cobble.  Large  masses  of  cemented  gravel  and  cobble 
occur  at  diiferent  horizons  from  the  base  to  within  30  feet  of  the  top.  The 
pebbles  are  composed  largely  of  the  local  shales,  but  limestone  and  sand- 
stone pebbles  and  Canadian  crystallines  are  not  rare.  The  elevated  hills 
in  that  vicinity  are  very  thinly  coated  with  drift,  but  along  Paint  and  Buck- 
skin creeks  it  is  in  many  places  100  to  150  feet  thick,  filling  up  the  valleys 
and  resting  on  the  slopes. 

At  Greenfield  drift  exposures  in  the  west  bluff  of  Paint  Creek  show 
50  feet  of  till,  but  a  short  distance  west,  on  higher  ground,  rock  is  near  the 
surface. 

In  the  several  members  of  the  morainic  system,  from  Ross  and  High- 
land counties  northward  to  the  combined  moraine  in  Clark  County,  the 
general  thickness  of  the  drift  falls  between  50  and  100  feet,  there  being, 
as  a  rule,  20  to  30  feet  more  of  drift  in  the  morainic  tracts  than  on  the 
bordering  plains.  The  following  represent  the  more  important  well  records 
collected:  Josiah  Hopkins's  well,  in  the  fourth  or  inner  member,  a  few 
miles  east  of  Washington,  passes  through  70  feet  of  till  and  does  not  reach 
rock.  At  Washington  the  gas  well  penetrates  70  feet  of  drift,  mainly  till. 
B.  F.  Coffman's  well,  in  the  south  part  of  the  village,  penetrates  60  feet  of 
till.  At  Milledgeville  the  flouring  mill  well,  70  feet  in  depth,  does  not 
reach  rock. 

Wells  in  Jamestown  enter  rock  at  about  12  feet,  but  the  moraine  near 
Jamestown  rises  about  50  feet  above  the  altitude  of  the  village,  and  it  is 
probable  that  the  drift  has  a  corresponding  increase  in  thickness. 

At  South  Solon  a  well  at  Harrod's  drug  store,  187  feet  in  depth,  pene- 
trates 140  teet  of  drift,  largely  till.  At  A.  Gorden's,  on  the  crest  of  a 
morainic  ridge  one-fourth  mile  west,  a  well  boring  165  feet  in  depth  is 
thought  to  have  terminated  in  drift. 

At  Midway  the  town  well  has  a  depth  of  51J  feet  through  till,  and  a 
well  at  a  blacksmith  shop  has  a  depth  of  54  feet.  Neither  of  them  enter 
the  roclc 


416  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

At  Soutli  Charlestown  a  well  at  a  saloon  uortli  of  the  Little  Miami 
station  does  not  reach  rock  at  a  depth  of  75  feet. 

In  London  one  gas-well  boring-  penetrates  155  feet  and  another  200 
feet  of  drift.  In  both  wells  the  drift  is  mainly  till.  A  flow  of  water  comes 
from  the  rock  at  a  depth  of  250  feet.  At  the  waterworks  in  London  there 
is  a  strong  vein  of  water  in  gravel  below  till  at  60  feet  and  another  at  about 
150  feet. 

Chamberlin  some  years  ago  called  attention  to  hillocks  of  angular 
gravel  and  disturbed  stratification  between  London  and  Midway,  Ohio.-^ 
Several  other  exposures  in  that  vicinity  exhibit  the  phases  of  gradation  from 
till  into  gravel,  and  the  angularity  of  pebbles  in  the  gravel  to  which  Cham- 
berlin called  attention,  but  no  other  instances  of  disturbed  stratification  were 
observed.  From  the  frequent  occurrence  of  gravel  pits  it  is  inferred  that 
nearly  all  the  knolls  in  the  vicinity  of  London  and  Midway  may  contain 
gravel  in  their  deeper  portions,  even  where  the  surface  is  till.  Less  diffi- 
culty is  experienced  here  in  obtaining  gravel  for  road  ballast  than  in  some 
of  the  later  moraines  of  the  Scioto  lobe.  In  the  morainic  system  under 
discussion  gravel  knolls  are  sufficiently  abundant  throughout  its  entire 
length  to  furnish  gravel  at  convenient  points  for  all  the  pikes. 

Two  borings  for  oil  near  Vienna  Cross  Roads  penetrate  265  and  245 
feet  of  drift,  mainly  till.  One  is  located  1.^  miles  east  and  the  other  a  half 
mile  south  of  the  village,  each  at  an  altitude  1,200  feet  or  more  above  tide. 

At  Mechanicsburg  a  gas  boring  near  the  station  penetrated  130  feet 
of  drift,  and  one  at  Major  Baker's,  on  an  elevated  drift  ridge,  penetrated 
230  feet,  the  rock  surface  being  at  about  the  same  altitude  in  both  wells, 
925  feet,  more  or  less,  above  tide.  In  Baker's  well  the  upper  100  feet  is  a 
clay  with  comparatively  few  pebbles;  the  remainder  is  a  very  pebbly  clay 
with  but  little  sand  or  gravel  interbedded  with  it.  Several  wells  have 
been  obtained  at  about  120  feet  in  the  vicinity  of  this  village,  in  gravel 
below  till. 

At  Catawba  village  Eli  West  has  a  well  215  feet  in  depth  which  did 
not  strike  rock.  The  upper  125  feet  was  mainly  through  soft  blue  till. 
Beneath  this  is  a  harder  and  more  sandy  till,  which  is  probably  Illinoian. 
The  lower  25  or  30  feet  is  a  soapy  clay  with  few  pebbles. 

At  Fountain  Park  there  are  several  flowing  wells  whose  depth  ranges 


'  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  May,  1884. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  417 

from  37  to  98  feet.  Each  well  has  about  25  feet  of  till  at  the  surface, 
beneath  which  is  saud  and  gravel.  The  variations  in  the  depth  of  the  wells 
is  due  to  the  variations  in  the  distance  through  the  sand  to  a  gravel  bed 
coarse  enough  to  be  screened  by  the  strainer  placed  at  the  bottom  of  the 
drive  pipe.     A  gas- well  boring  at  Fountain  Park  struck  rock  at  106  feet. 

At  the  railway  station  in  Woodstock  a  flowing  well  obtains  water  from 
gravel  below  till  at  a  depth  of  50  feet.  On  the  uplands  south  of  Wood- 
stock and  Fountain  Park  rock  is  struck  in  places  at  about  50  feet. 

At  Cables  and  west  from  that  village  there  is  a  lowland  tract  crossing 
the  moraine,  and  near  the  water  parting  rock  is  exposed  to  a  height  of  5  or 
10  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Columbus  and  Indianapolis  Railway.  Above 
the  rock  are  heavy  beds  of  gravel  and  cobble  which  are  capped  by  till. 
The  eastern  slope  of  the  morainic  belt  (both  on  upland  and  lowland)  carries 
heavy  deposits  of  till,  but  the  western  slope  contains  much  more  gravel  than 
till,  and  the  lowlands  are  underlain  extensively  by  gravel,  as  indicated  by 
the  well  sections. 

In  northeastern  Champaign  and  southeastern  Logan  counties  there  are 
numerous  limestone  quarries,  the  rock  surface  being'  higher  here  than  it  is 
farther  south,  and  the  drift  correspondingly  thinner.  The  drift  has,  how- 
ever, in  many  places  a  thickness  of  50  to  75  feet  or  more. 

At  Middleburg,  near  the  inner  (eastern)  border  of  the  morainic  system, 
there  are  limestone  quames,  but  in  portions  of  the  village,  at  levels  as  low 
as  the  quames,  wells  penetrate  60  to  90  feet  of  till  before  reaching  rock. 

On  "Bald  Knob,"  a  large  gravel  hill  near  the  outer  border  of  this 
moraine,  in  southern  Logan  County,  a  well  was  sunk  many  years  ago  to  a 
depth  of  111  feet  without  obtaining  water.  It  was  entirely  through  coarse 
gravel  and  cobble. 

On  an  elevated  part  of  the  moraine  east  of  West  Liberty,  perhajDS 
200  feet  above  the  station,  a  well  on  Jonathan  Parker's  farm  penetrated 
194  feet  of  drift,  striking  shale  at  the  bottom.  A  well  immediately  north 
of  West  Liberty,  on  the  upland,  penetrated  about  170  feet  of  drift.  The 
altitude  is  90  to  100  feet  above  the  railway  station,  or  about  1,200  feet 
above  tide.  As  noted  previously,  a  gas  boring  in  West  Liberty  penetrated 
216  feet  of  drift. 

At  Zanesfield  a  boring  for  gas  is  thought  by  citizens  to  have  passed 
tln-ough  125  feet  of  drift,  but  no  reliable  record  could  be  found.     North  of 

MON   XLI 27 


418  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Zanesfield,  near  tlie  head  of  Rush  Creek  and  Mad  River  (which  have  a 
common  source  in  a  swampy  valley),  is  a  well  made  by  the  Buckeye  Port- 
land Cement  Company,  which,  as  noted  on  page  366,  penetrated  245  feet 
of  drift.  The  altitude  of  the  well  mouth  is  1,261  feet  above  tide.  On  either 
side  of  this  valley,  in  hills  that  stand  200  to  275  feet  above  the  well,  the 
rock  surface  is  higher  than  the  well  mouth,  being  in  places  about  1,400  feet 
above  tide.  The  well  was  at  the  border  of  a  marshy  lake  (now  di-y)  whose 
length  was  about  4  miles  and  breadth  three-fourths  of  a  mile.  The  cement 
maniifactnred  by  this  company  is  obtained  from  marl  beds  in  this  marsh. 
The  cement  company  made  a  boring  for  water  three-fourths  of  a  mile  north 
of  the  gas  boring  and  found  no  gravel  until  a  depth  of  100  feet  had  been 
reached,  thus  showing  that  the  beds  beneath  the  marsh  have  not  a  uniform 
structure. 

On  elevated  ground  near  the  crest  of  the  moraine  east  of  Zanesfield 
Joseph  Outland  has  two  wells  which  do  not  reach  rock  at  depths  of  50  and 
55  feet,  water  being  obtained  in  gravel  below  till. 

A  well  at  Aaron  Taylor's,  at  the  head  of  Mormon  Bottom,  on  low 
groimd  but  in  line  with  the  crest  of  the  moraine,  is  58  feet  deep  and  does 
not  strike  rock.  From  Taylor's  farm  water  flows  eastward  through  Mill 
Creek  to  the  Scioto  and  westward  to  Mad  River.  The  farm  is  located  at 
the  head  of  Mormon  Bottom,  a  gravel  plain  leading  west  to  Mad  River. 
One-half  mile  west  from  Taylor's,  at  Nelson  Ream's,  near  the  south  bluff 
of  Mormon  Bottom,  I'ock  is  struck  at  35  feet,  and  there  is  a  rock  quarry 
only  100  yards  south  of  the  well.  The  deep  part  of  the  valley  probably 
lies  to  the  north  of  Ream's  well. 

Immediately  east  from  the  head  of  Mormon  Bottom,  on  the  inner 
(eastern)  border  of  the  moraine,  is  the  village  of  East  Liberty,  which  has 
considerable  local  notoriet)^  on  account  of  its  flowing  wells.  There  are 
perhaps  100  of  them  whose  depth  ranges  from  20  to  65  feet.  The  water  is 
obtained  from  beds  of  gravel  in  the  drift.  The  source  of  supply  is  appar- 
ently in  the  higher  land  immediately  to  the  west,  a  rapid  decrease  in 
head  being  exhibited  in  passing  toward  the  east.  The  water  is  strongly 
chalybeate  and  is  in  good  repute  for  its  medicinal  value. 

Flowing  wells  are  obtained  at  many  points  along  the  eastern  border 
of  the  moraine  for  several  miles  north  from  East  Liberty,  near  the  head- 
waters of  the  several  tributaries  of  Mill  Creek.     Some  of  them  are  but  15 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  419 

or  20  feet  deep.  The  wells  penetrate  till  until  they  reach  the  water-bearing 
gravel.  The  variability  in  depth  at  East  Libert}^  is  due  mainly  to  varia- 
tions in  the  altitude  of  the  water-bearing  gravel,  but  in  part  to  the  altitude 
of  the  well  mouth.  Outcrops  of  rock  occur  along  the  inner  slope  of  the 
moraine  west  of  these  flowing  wells,  at  altitudes  100  feet  or  more  above 
them,  and  the  drift  is  thin  for  the  breadth  of  a  mile  or  more  between  these 
outcrops  and  the  morainic  crest.  Along  the  crest  of  the  moraine  the  drift 
is  so  thick  that  ravines  and  ordinary  wells,  which  sometimes  have  a  depth 
of  40  feet,  do  not  reach  the  rock,  and  the  highest  points  probably  have  100 
feet  or  more  of  drift.  Devonian  shales  occur  to  a  limited  extent  beneath 
the  elevated  portions  of  the  moraine,  but  do  not  seem  to  form  a  continuous 
belt. 

The  supposed  highest  point  in  Ohio,  as  indicated  above  (p.  357),  lies 
between  this  moraine  and  Bellefontaine  at  the  Hogue  Summit  on  a 
moraine  of  the  Miami  lobe,  its  altitude  being  given  by  F.  C.  Hill,  of  the 
Ohio  survey,  as  1,540  feet.  A  point  on  the  moraine  under  discussion  at 
New  Jerusalem  is,  by  aneroid,  but  25  feet  lower.  This  great  height  has 
been  ascribed  to  the  presence  of  Devonian  shales,  and  Mr.  Hill  estimated 
their  thickness  to  be  110  feet  beneath  the  Hogue  Summit  and  136  feet 
beneath  New  Jerusalem.  In  this  estimate  due  allowance  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  made  for  erosion  and  partial  removal  of  the  shale,  for,  as  already 
noted,  350  feet  of  drift  was  penetrated  near  the  Hogue  Summit.  The  most 
elevated  point  at  which  the  shale  was  noted  is  at  New  Jerusalem  Falls, 
one-half  mile  southeast  of  the  village  of  that  name,  where  its  surface  is 
about  100  feet  lower  than  at  the  New  Jerusalem  Summit,  or  1,415  feet 
above  tide.  The  shales  here  have  an  exposure  60  to  75  feet  in  height 
in  the  gorge  below  the  falls  The  New  Jerusalem  Summit  is  a  small 
drift  knoll  covering  but  an  acre  or  two,  its  highest  point  being  20  feet  or 
more  above  the  bordei'ing  portions  of  the  moraine  Its  highest  point  stands 
about  25  feet  higher  than  the  well  at  Mr.  Eastman's,  where  350  feet  of  drift 
occurs.  Attention  has  already  been  called  to  the  fact  that,  were  the  drift 
removed  from  Logan  County,  the  altitude  of  its  highest  points  would  fall 
100  feet  or  more  below  that  of  the  highest  points  of  the  rock  strata  in 
southern  Richland  County,  and  that  even  with  the  increase  in  height  pro- 
duced by  the  drift,  it  is  questionable  if  Logan  County  contains  the- highest 
points  in  the  State. 


420  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


BO^VLDERS. 


This  morainic  system  does  not  have  such  long-continxied  distinct  belts 
of  bowlders  as  characterize  the  equivalent  system  of  the  Miami  lobe,  but  it 
is  nevertheless  liberally  strewn  with  them  throughout  the  greater  part  of  its 
course.  The  number  on  its  surface  is  markedly  greater  in  the  till  tracts 
than  where  o-ravel  predominates,  though  not  rare  in  the  latter  situation. 
Wright  has  mentioned  some  of  the  larger  ones  that  have  been  discovered. 
One  at  Buck  Ridge,  west  of  Canton,  measured  55  by  46  by  18  inches. 
Another,  on  the  bluffs  of  Tuscarawas  River,  near  Navarre,  measured  7  by  5 
feet  and  is  3  feet  out  of  the  ground.  In  section  14,  Hardy  Township,  east 
of  Millersburg,  is  a  bowlder  7  by  5  feet,  projecting  3  feet  above  the  surface. 
Near  Oak  Grove  Nursery,  west  of  Millersburg,  at  an  altitude  430  feet  above 
Killbuck  Creek,  is  a  granite  bowlder  10^  by  6^  feet,  projecting  3^  feet 
above  the  ground.  In  the  valley  of  Baldwins  Run,  between  Lancaster  and 
Pleasantville,  a  granite  bowlder,  mentioned  by  Andrews,  of  the  Ohio  survey, 
as  well  as  by  Wright,  measures  18  by  12  feet,  6  feet  out  of  the  ground.  It 
is  described  as  hornblendic  in  character.  In  section  14,  Colerain  Township, 
Ross  County,  near  the  residence  of  Isaac  De  Long,  Wright  reports  several 
bowlders  6  bv  8  feet  in  diameter.  At  D.  H.  Pricer's,  on  an  elevated  upland 
north  of  Bainbridge  (altitude  about  550  feet  above  Paint  Creek  Valley), 
a  bowlder  of  hornblendic  rock  5  by  3  by  2  feet  is  reported. 

Bowlders  of  the  sizes  mentioned  by  Wright  are  exceptional,  the  great 
majority  being  but  1  to  3  feet  in  diameter.  They  are  mainly  Ai'chean  rocks 
except  at  the  border  of  the  drift,  where  there  are  in  many  places  masses  of 
local  rocks  which  have  been  transported  short  distances  by  the  ice  sheet 
and  mingled  with  material  derived  from  greater  distances.  Many  such  local 
bowlders  occur  along  the  border  of  the  shoulder  east  of  Mansfield.  The 
largest  ones  of  which  measurements  were  taken  are  on  Adam  Berry's  and 
John  Ferguson's  land,  about  li  miles  northwest  of  Newville.  A  reddish 
sandstone  is  represented  by  several  bowlders  15  feet  or  more  in  greatest 
diameter,  whose  thickness  is  5  or  6  feet.  A  white  sandstone  bowlder  was 
found  to  measure  14  by  24  feet,  and  stands  3  feet  out  of  ground;  another  is 
18  feet  square  and  has  been  quarried  down  nearly  to  the  ground;  another, 
near  by,  dips  into  the  hillside  at  an  angle  of  45°.  It  was  originally  large, 
but  has  been  reduced  greatly  by  quarrying. 

There  are  certain  bowlders  found  in  this  region  which  are  of  great 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  421 

importance  because  of  their  bearing  on  the  question  of  changes  of  ice 
currents.  Newberry  reports  "huge  bowlders  of  Corniferous  hmestone"  in 
Northampton  Township,  Summit  County,  which  he  thinks  have  been  brought 
from  the  ishmcls  in  Lake  Erie.^  If  so,  the  early  ice  movements  across  these 
islands  must  have  been  southeastward — a  very  different  course  from  that  of 
the  later  movements.  Bowlders  of  the  same  class  were  reported  to  the 
writer  from  Talmadge  Township  (which  is  southeast  of  Northampton),  but 
they  were  long  ago  burned  for  lime.  The  source  of  these  bowlders  should 
be  more  conclusively  demonstrated  before  inferences  are  drawn  as  to 
changes  of  ice  currents. 

It  has  been  reported  by  Whittlesey  that  copper  occurs  in  the  drift  as 
far  east  as  Weymouth,  Medina  County,  Ohio.^ 

Bowlders  of  red,  jaspery  conglomerate,  thought  to  be  from  the  Huronian 
rocks  north  of  Georgian  Bay,  are  not  rare  in  the  vicinity  of  Mansfield 
and  northward  from  there  to  Norwalk  and  Brownhelm,  and  they  are 
occasionally  found  still  farther  east,  one  being  reported  near  Andover,  Ohio. 
They  are  quite  common  in  western  Ohio,  northern  Kentucky,  and  Indiana, 
and  a  few  have  been  found  as  far  west  as  southeastern  Iowa.  Those  near 
the  eastern  limit  of  their  known  distribution  indicate  a  transportation  in  a 
direction  slightly  east  of  south,  though  their  main  distribution  appears  to 
have  been  west  of  south.  Chamberlin  and  Salisbury  have  cited  the 
following  evidences  of  southward  movement  into  Ohio  from  the  Huron 
Basin : 

To  the  east  of  the  Lake  Michigan  trough  lay  the  capacious  valle_y  of  Lake 
Huron,  Hanked  by  Georgian  Bay.  There  is  strong  evidence  that  these  valleys 
directed  these  glacial  streams  southward  in  the  retiring  stages  of  glaciation,  at  least, 
and  presumably  at  all  stages.  This  is  shown  both  by  striation  and  by  transportation. 
Copper,  presumed  to  come  from  the  Lake  Superior  region,  has  been  found  in  eastern 
Michigan  and  even  in  Ohio.  In  the  remarkable  bowlder  belt  of  Logan,  Champaign, 
Miami,  Montgomery,  and  Preble  counties,  Ohio,  and  Wayne  and  Randolph  counties, 
Ind. ,  are  numerous  peculiar  greenish  quartzite  bowlders  not  common  to  the  general 
drift.  Professor  Irving  has  identified  specimens  of  these  as  derivations  from  certain 
quartzites  of  the  typical  Huronian  region  north  of  Lake  Huron,  samples  in  his  col- 
lection being  indistinguishable  from  the  erratics  collected  bj'  one  of  us.  While  it  is 
possibly  that  both  the  native  copper  and  these  quartzites  may  have  had  an  origin 
farther  eastward,  these  instances,  taken  in  connection  with  a  wider  class  of  evidence, 


I  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  1873,  p.  206. 

2 Smithsonian  Contributions,  1866,  On  Fresh  Water  Glacial  Drift,  etc.,  p.  11. 


422 


GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


leave  little  room  for  doubt  that  the  basin  of  Lake  Huron  determined  a  southerly- 
movement  of  the  ice  current,  and  thereby  rendered  collateral  aid  to  the  Michigan 
Basin  in  directing-  the  broad  stream  east  of  the  unglaciated  island.' 

A  movement  to  the  east  of  south  from  the  region  north  of  Lake  Huron 
is  also  shown  by  strife  to  have  taken  place  at  some  time  during  the  Glacial 
epoch,  there  being  strise  with  southeastward  bearing  south  of  Greorgian 
Bay  and  southeast  of  Lake  Huron,  while  the  majority  of  those  north  of 
Lake  Huron  bear  southward.  The  evidence  from  strise,.  therefore,  supports 
rather  than  antagonizes  the  evidence  from  bowlders  that  there  were  south- 
ward movements  over  western  Ohio  at  some  time  during  the  Grlacial 
epoch.  The  later  movements,  however,  seem  to  have  been  southwestward 
through  the  Lake  Erie  Basin,  and  thence  southward  into  central  Ohio, 
with  lateral  movement  toward  the  southeast  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Scioto  lobe. 


In  the  following  table  are  arranged  all  the  published  as  well  as  the 
unpublished  observations  of  strise  pertaining  to  the  Scioto  lobe  so  far  as 
known  to  the  writer.  The  strise  all  appear  on  the  map  of  the  Scioto  lobe 
(PL  Xin),  where  their  relations  to  moraines  may  be  readily  seen. 

Table  of  strice  in  the  Scioto  lobe. 


Bearing. 


Observer. 


Hampden,  Geauga  County,  1  mile  south  of 

Hampden  Township,  Geauga  County 

Chardon 

Chardon,  2  miles  southeast  of 

Chardon,  2  miles  south  of 

Chardon,  4  miles  south  of 

Newberry  Township,  Geauga  County 

Chester  Township,  Geauga  County 

Eussell  Township,  Geauga  County 

Russell  Center,  1  mile  southeast  of 

Bainbridge  Township,  Geauga  County 

Mantua  Township,  Portage  County 

Solon  Township,  Cuyahoga  County 

Solon  Center,  1  mile  north  of 

South  Euclid,  Cuyahoga  County 

South  Euclid,  Cuyahoga  County 

1  Sixth  Annual  Report  U.  S 


N.  to  S 

S.  15°  E.  to  S.  10°  W 

S.  10°  E 

N.  to  S.  and  S.  5°  W 

S.5°  W 

S.5°W 

S.  50°  E 

S.  70°  E 

S.  50°  E.  toS.  70°  E 

S.  35°  E.  toS.  55°  E 

S.  49°  E 

S.  30°  E.  toS.  40°  E 

S.  45°  E 

S.  20°  E 

S.  45°W 

S.  20°  E.  toS.  25°  E 

Geol.  Survey,  pp.  318-319. 


Leverett. 

Read. 

Read. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Read. 

Read. 

Read. 

Leverett. 

Whittlesey. 

Whittlesey. 

Whittlesey. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Whittlesey. 


STRIDE  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE. 

Talle  ofstricB  vn  the  Scioto  fo5e— Continued. 


423 


Newburg,  Cuyahoga  County 

Peninsula,  Summit  County 

Twinsburg,  Summit  County 

Boston  Ledges,  Summit  Coimty 

Boston  Ledges,  Summit  County 

Hudson  Township,  Summit  County 

Northampton  Township,  Summit  County .. . 

Stows  Township,  Summit  County 

Cuyahoga  Falls,  Summit  County 

East  Akron  (Middlebury),  Summit  County  . 
Talmadge  "Coal  Hill,"  Summit  County. 


N.toS... - 

p 

10°  E 

to  S 

90° 

E 

c 

30°  E 

to  S 

■l'i° 

E 

W 

.  toE 

S.  30°  E.  to  S.  45°  E. 
S.  35°  E.  to  S.  90°  E. 
S.  30°  E.  toS.60°  E. 

S.  28°  E 

S.  30°  E.  toS.45°  E. 

W.  to  E -  -  - 

S.  30°  E.  to  S.  40°  E. 


Independence,  Cuyahoga  County S.  20° 


E. 


Brighton,  1 J  miles  south  of 

North  Linndale,  2  miles  southeast  of 

Berea,  2  miles  east  of - 

County  line  north  of  Brunswick 

Portage,  near  Akron,  Summit  County 

New  Portage,  Summit  County,  2  miles  north  of... 

New  Portage,  3  miles  southeast  of 

Akron,  2  miles  southwest  of 

Copley,  Summit  County 

Sharon,  Medina  County,  1  mile  southeast  of 

Sharon  Township,  Medina  County 

Sharon,  \\  miles  northeast  of 

Wadsworth,  Summit  County,  J  mile  east  of 

Wadsworth,  1  mile  north  of 

Doylestown,  Wayne  County 

Doylestovvn,  1 J  miles  south  of 

Doylestown  Township 

Mount  Eaton,  Wayne  County 

North  of  Massillon ■ 

Holmesville,  3  miles  west  of 

New  ville,  \  mile  north  of 

West  bluff  of  Black  Fork,  5  miles  east  of  Mansfield 

Hill  north  of  Windsor  station 

At  schoolhouse,  3  miles  northeast  of  Lexington 

Midway  between  Mansfield  and  Lexington 

West  Amherst,  Lorain  County 

Henrietta,  Lorain  County 

Birmingham,  Erie  County,  2  miles  south  of 

Townsend  Township,  Huron  County 

Sandusky  


N.  toS.  toS.  10°  E.... 
S.  5°  W.  to  S.  10°  W  . . 
S.  22°  W.  to  S.  34°  W  . 
N.  to  S.  to  S.  30°  E . . . . 
S.  10°  E.  toS.35°  E... 

S.  40°  E - . 

S.  37°E 

N.  toS.  toS.  20°  E... 

S.  30°  E 

S.  22°  E 

S.  40°  E 

S.  30°  E.  to  S.  35°  E. . 
S.  20°  E.  to  S.  32°  E.. 

S.  35°  E 

S.  40°  E 

S.  32°  E.  toS.  50°  E.. 

N.  to  S 

S.  40°  E.  toS.45°  E.. 
S.  65°  E.  to  S.  68°  E  . . 

S.8°  W 

N.toS... 

S.  45°  E 

S.32°  E - 

S.  10°  E.toS.  12°  E  .. 

S.  15°  E 

S.  30°  E - 

S.  20°  W.  to  S.  35°  W  . 
S.  19°  W.  to  S.  77°  W  . 

S.45°  AV 

S.  75°  W.  to  S.  81°  W  . 


Observt 


Whittlesey. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Read. 

Read. 

Read. 

Whittlesey. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Whittlesey. 

Whittlesey. 

Whittlesey. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Read. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Whittlesey. 

Leverett. 

Read. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Whittlesey. 

Wooster. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Read. 

Leverett. 

Wooster. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Bead. 

Newberry. 


424  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Table  of  strue,  in  the  Scioto  lobe — Continued. 


Bearing. 


Observe 


Put-in-Bay  Island,  Lake  Erie 

Kelleys  Island,  Lake  Erie 

Marblehead  peninsula 

Bellevue 

Republic,  4  miles  east  of 

Genoa,  Ottawa  County 

West  Sister  Island,  Lake  Erie 

West  Sister  Island,  Lake  Erie 

Findlay 

Seneca  Township,  Seneca  County 

Crawford,  Wyandot  County 

Crane  Township,  Wyandot  County 

Grand  Prairie  Township,  Marion  County 

Marseilles 

Eichland,  Logan  County,  \  mile  south  of 

Belle  Center 

Musselman's  quarry,  near  Big  Springs 

Big  Springs 

Middleburg,  Logan  County 

Delaware — 

Quarry  east  of  Jerome 

Piersol's  quarry,  near  Jerome - 

East  bluff  of  Scioto,  west  of  Powell 

East  bluff  of  Scioto,  7  miles  above  Columbus 

Columbus,  2  miles  west  of - 

Iberia,  2  miles  south  of - 

Sunbury,  Delaware  County,  2  miles  north  of. 

Sunbury -  - 

Near  Hopewell  Church,  2  miles  south  of  Carroll, 
Fairfield  County. 

Near  Buckskin  station,  Ross  County 

Rock  Mills,  north  of  Greenfield 

South  bluff  of  Lee  Creek,  near  mouth 

Leesburg,  2  miles  southeast  of 

Leesburg,  1  mile  west  of -  -  - 

Near  Leesburg -  -  ^ 

Near  Reesville 

Conklin's  quarry,  near  New  Jasper 

Bickett's  quarry,  near  New  Jasper 

Xenia,  4  miles  from,  on  Csesars  Creek 

Near  Ogden 

Wilmington,  in  Lytles  Creek  Valley 


W.  and  S.  80°  W 
W.  to  S.  80°  W  . . 


S.  15 
S.60 

S:78° 

S.65°  W 

S.25°  W 

S.65°  W 

S.80°  W 

N.toS 

S.  40°  W.  to  S.  45' 
S.  5°  E.  and  S.  23' 

S.20°  AV 

S.5°  W 

N.toS 

S.  10°  E. to  S.  10° 

S.25°  W 

S.  10°  W 

S.10°  W 

S.  8°  W 

S.  40°  W.  to  S.  45 

S.  8°  E 

S.  5°  W.  to  S.  12' 

S.  3°  E 

S.  16°  E 

S.  6°  E 

S.  20°  E 

S.  28°  E 

S.  45°  E 

S.  45°  E 

S.  15°  W 


W. 


N.  to  S 

S.30°  W 

S.  12°  W 

S.9°  W 

S.  18°  W 

S.  10°  W 

S.  45°  W.  to  S.  56°  W  . 

N.73°  W.. 

N.  85°  AV 

S.40°  W 

S.37°  W , 

S.32°  W 


Newberry. 

Newberry. 

Wright. 

Newberry. 

Leverett. 

Gilbert. 

Gilbert. 

Gilbert. 

Winchell. 

AVinchell. 

Winchell. 

AVinchell. 

Winchell. 

Winchell. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

AVooster. 

AA^ooster. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Chamberlin. 

Chamberlin. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 


STRI^  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  425 

The  general  absence  of  striae  on  the  numerous  outcrops  of  hmestone  in 
the  highlands  of  Logan  and  Champaign  counties  has  been  a  cause  of  sur- 
prise, for  they  abound  on  either  side  and  north  of  these  highlands  at  nearly 
every  outcrop  examined.  An  exceptionally  careful  search  was  made  for 
them  in  the  highlands,  as  it  was  deemed  important  to  gather  all  possible 
evidence  shedding  light  upon  the  direction  of  ice  movement  at  the  junction 
of  the  Miami  and  Scioto  lobes.  Their  absence  seems  to  indicate  that  the 
abrasion  was  less  vigorous  in  the  morainic  area  than  it  was  a  few  miles  back 
beneath  the  ice,  though  the  amount  of  drift  deposited  there  was  not  less, 
but  instead  rather  more,  than  in  the  region  within  the  morainic  system. 

South  from  Champaign  County  there  is  scarcely  a  rock  outcrop  along 
the  moraine  or  the  inner  border  plain  for  a  distance  of  40  miles  or  more, 
which  accounts  for  the  lack  of  observations  of  striae  in  that  region.  South- 
west from  this  moraine,  where  the  di-ift  is  thinner,  striae  are  found  in  nearly 
every  exposure  examined  between  it  and  the  outer  moraine,  and  in  the  dis- 
trict farther  west  covered  by  the  Miami  lobe.  The  ice  movement  appears, 
therefore,  to  have  been  vigorous  in  the  terminal  portions  of  the  lobe. 

The  small  number  of  striae  observed  near  the  eastern  border  of  the 
Scioto  lobe  and  southern  border  of  the  shelf  or  shoulder  is  probably  due  in 
large  part  to  the  texture  of  the  rock.  The  shales  in  the  southeast  part  of 
the  lobe  could  scarcely  retain  striae  long  after  exposure,  as  they  soon 
crumble  and  decay.  The  coarse  sandstone  farther  north  is  often  of  a  loose 
texture,  so  that  striae  could  not  be  preserved.  The  outcrops  of  Waverly 
sandstone  are  not  extensive  in  the  region  investigated,  and  only  certain 
layers  of  the  formation  would  retain  striae  after  long  exposure. 

The  large  number  of  striated  exposures  reported  from  the  vicinity  of 
the  Cuyahoga  River  is  due  to  their  remarkably  perfect  preservation  on  the 
Eo carboniferous  conglomerate,  and  vhat,  too,  in  the  most  exposed  situations, 
where  there  has  been  little  or  no  drift  covering  the  rock  since  the  ice  dis- 
appeared. The  sandstones  in  that  region,  being  a  firm  grit  rock,  are  also 
more  suitable  for  retaining  striae  than  in  the  regions  farther  west  and  south, 
whei-e  they  are  soft.  The  causes  for  the  variation  in  frequency  of  observa- 
tions of  striae  in  different  parts  of  the  lobe  embrace,  therefore,  differences 
(1)  in  abrading  power  of  the  ice  sheet,  (2)  in  concealment  by  drift,  and 
(3)  in  the  texture  of  the  surface  rocks. 


426  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

INNER  BORDER  PHENOMENA. 
GENERAL   FEATURES. 

The  district  here  discussed  as  the  inner  border  tract  embraces  the 
portion  of  the  Scioto  Basin  lying  between  the  inner  member  of  the  main 
morainic  system  and  the  Powell  moraine,  which  crosses  the  basin  a  few 
miles  north  of  Columbus.  The  main  part  lies  south  of  a  line  passing  east 
to  west  about  10  miles  north  of  Columbus,  though  narrow  projections 
toward  the  north  occur  near  both  the  east  and  the  west  border  of  the 
Scioto  Basin,  as  indicated  on  PI.  XIII. 

This  district  has  lower  altitude  than  border  districts.  Its  lowest  part 
is  along  the  Scioto  River,  there  being  a  gradual  rise  from  the  river,  both 
east  and  west,  to  the  moraine  just  described.  There  is  a  southward  descent 
along  the  sides  of  the  Scioto  Basin  as  well  as  along  the  stream.  The 
altitude  of  the  river  bluff  at  the  border  of  the  Powell  moraine  north  of 
Columbus  is  about  875  feet,  at  Columbus  800  feet,  and  at  Circleville  720 
feet.  The  east  and  west  borders  of  the  basin  are  about  300  feet  higher 
than  the  axis  followed  by  the  river,  and  descend  southward  at  about  the 
same  rate. 

WEAK   MORAINES. 

The  greater  part  of  this  district  presents  a  very  smooth  surface,  and 
portions  of  it  west  and  soiithwest  of  Columbus  are  known  as  "the  plains." 
A  few  quite  conspicuous  knolls  were  formed,  liowever,  on  the  east  side  of 
the  river,  and  may  indicate  the  position  of  the  ice  margin  at  a  stage  of 
halting  during  the  retreat.  The  position  of  the  larger  of  these  knolls  and 
ridges  is  indicated  on  PL  XIII.  A  conspicuous  group  known  as  the  Spangler  ' 
Hills  is  found  on  the  east  side  of  the  Scioto,  about  8  miles  south  of  Columbus. 
As  indicated  by  the  East  Columbus  topographic  sheet,  there  are  two  points 
that  rise  nearly  1 00  feet  above  the  border  plain.  Sma;ll  knolls  appear  near 
this  prominent  group  in  a  belt  about  2  miles  long  from  north  to  south,  and 
about  a  half  mile  in  width.  They  are  often  sharp  and  conical,  but  associ- 
ated with  them  are  ridges  which  are  more  or  less  winding.  The  sharpest 
knolls  are  gravelly,  while  those  with  the  gentler  slopes  contain  till.  From 
the  north  end  of  this  belt  northward  a  mile  or  more  there  are  low  swells 
inclosing  basins  8  or  10  feet  in  depth.  In  some  cases  the  basins  cover 
several  acres.  This  gently  undulating  tract  carries  a  slight  coating  of  till, 
perhaps  10  feet  in  thickness,  below  which  there  is  gravel.     The  next  knoll 


INNER  BORDER  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  427 

of  importance  toward  the  north  is  Baker  Hill,  on  the  Groveport  pike,  3 
miles  southeast  of  Colun"ibus.  This  rises  abruptly  about  50  feet  above  the 
bordering-  plain.  Its  highest  jjoint,  as  shown  by  the  East  Columbus  topo- 
graphic sheet,  is  819  feet  Orton  once  mentioned  to  the  writer  that  he  had 
noted  evidences  of  disturbed  stratification  in  it,  some  of  the  beds  being 
crumpled  and  contorted  as  if  by  a  shove  from  the  ice  sheet. 

There  are  no  knolls  near  this  hill  toward  the  north,  but  about  7  miles 
east  of  Columbus,  in  the  east  bluff  of  Walnut  Creek,  a  chain  of  knolls  and 
ridges  sets  in  which  is  maintained  with  slight  interruptions  from  there 
northward  for  8  or  9  miles,  and  possibly  may  find  a  continuation  in  sharp 
knolls  of  the  same  type  that  lie  along  the  west  border  of  the  main  moraine 
from  near  Hartford  northward  several  miles.  The  tract  east  of  Columbus 
includes  a  sharp  knoll  at  the  south,  40  feet  or  more  in  height,  standing 
by  itself,  a  short  distance  north  of  which  a  shai'p  ridge  in  form  somewhat 
like  an  esker  sets  in,  which  is  quite  distinct  for  a  mile  or  more.  It  is  10  to 
20  feet  high,  and  but  a  few  rods  wide.  It  contains  much  assorted  material, 
but  has  a  slight  capping  of  till,  and  its  surface  is  liberally  strewn  with 
bowlders,  features  which,  taken  in  connection  with  its  trend,  indicate  that 
it  is  a  frontal  ridge  of  morainic  character  rather  than  an  esker.  Between 
this  point  and  New  Albany,  which  is  8  miles  north,  a  few  sharp  knolls 
20  to  25  feet  high,  and  many  lower  knolls  occur,  forming  a  nearly  contin- 
uous belt.  No  knolls  of  this  class  were  found  on  a  line  east  from  Sunbury 
to  Hartford  and  northward  from  that  line. 

Since  the  belt  does  not  appear  to  have  a  northward  continuation  from 
New  Albany  distinct  from  the  main  moraine,  there  is  a  probability  that  it 
became  blended  with  that  moraine.  As  noted  above,  there  are,  from  the 
latitude  of  Hartford  northward  for  many  miles  along  the  west  borders  of 
the  main  moraine,  sharp  gravelly  knolls  and  ridges,  similar  to  those  near 
Columbus,  while  the  remainder  of  the  moraine  is  nearly  free  from  such 
knolls.  Quite  often  some  dependence  may  be  placed  upon  structure  in 
tracing  moraines;  thus  one  moraine  may  be  characterized  by  numerous 
gravel  knolls,  while  the  one  next  to  it  in  the  series  may  be  nearly  free  from 
them.  While  it  may  not  be  safe  to  conclude  from  this  class  of  evidence 
that  the  gravelly  knolls  in  the  main  moraine  are  contemporaneous  with 
those  in  the  inner  border  district  and  markedly  later  than  the  remainder  of 
tlie  ]Tioraine,  such  a  tentative  classification  seems  legitimate. 


428  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

THE    PICKERINGTON    ESKER. 

Besides  the  knolls  and  weak  moraines  above  mentioned,  there  are  two 
well-defined  esker  ridges  in  this  inner  border  district  which  help  to  give 
relief  to  the  nearly  monotonous  plain.  One  of  these  is  called  the  Picker- 
ington  esker,  the  other  the  Circleville  esker.  The  position  and  trend  of 
each  is  indicated  on  PI.  XIII. 

The  Pickerington  esker  derives  its  name  from  the  village  of  Picker- 
ington,  in  northwestern  Fairfield  County,  which  is  situated  at  its  northwest 
end.  The  length  of  this  ridge  is  about  5  miles,  its  soiitheastern  terminus 
being  in  the  moraine  just  west  of  Basil.  It  consists  of  a  very  small  ridge, 
onl)^  6  to  10  feet  high  and  4  to  8  rods  wide,  but  it  has  scarcely  a  break  in 
it  and  is  a  conspicuous  feature  for  one  so  low.  It  winds  considerably,  but 
has  a  general  west-northwest  to  east-southeast  trend.  It  is  utilized  for  a 
wagon  road  throughout  nearly  its  entire  length,  and  is  as  dry  as  a  gravel 
pike.  In  places  the  bordering  tracts  are  slightly  lower  than  the  adjacent 
plain  and  are  somewhat  boggy,  but  thei'e  is  not  a  well-defined  esker  trough. 
In  these  boggy  tracts  there  is  an  occasional  low  knoll  of  gravel.  The 
southeastern  end  of  the  esker  does  not  show  a  well-marked  delta ;  but  there 
seems  to  be  an  equivalent  in  a  greater  amount  of  sand  in  the  moraine  than 
north  or  south  from  the  esker.  The  sandy  portion  of  the  moi'aine  occupies 
2  square  miles  or  more,  and  seems  attributable,  in  part  at  least,  to  the  escape 
of  water  at  the  margin  of  the  ice  sheet  at  a  time  when  a  portion  of  the 
escaping  water  farther  back  beneath  the  ice  produced  the  esker. 

At  its  northwestern  end  the  esker  is  associated  with  several  drift  knolls 
or  short  ridges  of  considerable  prominence.  The  largest  one  is  just  east  of 
Pickerington  and  stands  30  feet  or  more  above  the  bordering  plain.  It  is 
one-fourth  mile  or  more  in  length  and  about  one-eighth  of  a  mile  in  width. 
Its  trend,  like  that  of  the  esker,  is  west-northwest  to  east-southeast.  It  is 
strewn  with  bowlders  that  are  slightly  embedded  in  a  yellow  clay  that  caps 
the  knoll.  The  nucleus  of  the  knoll  is  probably  sand  or  gravel.  Over  an 
area  of  perhaps  a  square  mile  north,  west,  and  south  of  this  knoll  there  are 
knolls  20  feet  more  or  less  in  height,  which  give  the  tract  a  morainic  aspect. 
The  bordering  country  on  all  sides  is  a  plain..  It  is  probable  that  their 
origin  is  in  some  way  connected  with  that  of  the  esker. 

The  esker  itself  is  made  up  of  gravel  and  sand  of  various  degrees  of 


INNER  BORDER  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  429 

coarseness.  On  its  surface  are  occasional  bowlders,  and  in  places  some  clay 
appears  as  a  capping-  to  the  gravel  and  sand.  The  bordering-  plains  are 
underlain  by  till. 

THE    CIKCLKVILLE    ESKER. 

The  Circleville  esker  lies  along-  the  east  side  of  the  Scioto  River  above 
Circleville,  in  places  foi'ming  its  bluffs,  while  in  other  places  it  is  a  mile 
from  the  river.  Its  generrl  trend  is  about  N.  25°  W.  to  S.  25°  E.,  but  for 
a  couple  of  miles  south  from  South  Bloomfield  it  is  nearly  north  to  south. 
Its  length  is  about  9  miles,  but  it  has  several  interruptions,  as  indicated 
below.  At  its  northern  end  there  is  a  group  of  knolls  which  apparently 
have  some  relation  to  it,  but  they  are  much  inferior  to  the  esker  in  size, 
thus  differing  from  the  knolls  at  the  corresponding  end  of  the  Pickerington 
esker,  which  exceed  it  in  size. 

The  northernmost  ridge  of  this  Circleville  esker  belt  is  in  section  3, 
Harrison  Township,  Pickaway  County.  The  ridge  is  about  a  mile  long, 
100  to  150  yards  wide,  and  is  15  to  50  feet  high.  The  northern  third 
trends  about  northwest  to  southeast,  but  the  remainder  trends  north- 
northwest  to  south-southeast,  or  even  more  nearly  south.  At  the  south 
end  of  this  ridge  and  just  north  of  South  Bloomfield  is  a  knoll  about  one- 
fourth  mile  long  and  half  as  wide,  standing  in  its  highest  points  20  to  25 
feet  above  the  boi-dering  plain.  It  trends  north  to  south.  Both  east  and 
west  of  this  one  are  a  few  knolls  10  to  15  feet  in  height.  There  is  then  an 
interruption  of  the  esker  for  a  mile  or  more;  but  about  a  mile  south  of 
South  Bloomfield  a  gravel  ridge  begins  abruptly  with  a  height  of  fully  40 
feet,  its  north  end  having  a  slope  of  35°  to  40°.  It  is  a  continuous  ridge 
for  H  miles,  terminating  near  the  mouth  of  Little  Walnut  Creek.  Its 
general  height  is  30  to  40  feet.  It  consists  in  places  of  a  central  ridge 
with  parallel  flanking  ridges,  connected  more  or  less  closelv  at  one  or  both 
ends  with  the  main  ridge,  the  width  of  the  system,  including  flanking 
ridges,  being  one-eighth  mile,  more  or  less.  South  from  Little  Walnut 
Creek  there  is  a  gap  of  fully  a  mile,  in  which  no  esker  ridge  appears. 
Much  of  this  interval  is  overflow  land,  and  it  is  possible  that  the  esker  was 
once  present,  but  has  been  washed  away.  South  of  this  interval  there  is  a 
sharp  ridge  about  one-fourth  mile  long  and  30  to  40  feet  high  in  its  highest 
parts.  This  is  succeeded  on  the  south  by  a  gap  of  about  one-half  mile. 
The  esker  there  sets  in  again  and  is  well  developed  for  fully  4  miles.     It 


430  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

consists  of  a  main  ridg-e  that  stands  20  to  40  feet  above  the  plain  on  its 
eastern  bordei-,  and  40  to  60  feet  above  the  Scioto  River,  which  flows 
along  its  west  side.  In  several  places  ridges  separate  from  the  main  ridge 
and  return  to  it  one-fourth  mile  or  so  south,  making  a  nearly  complete 
connection  with  it  at  each  end.  In  some  cases  very  sharp  basins  are 
inclosed  between  the  main  ridge  and  these  side  ridges.  Two  were  observed 
that  are  about  40  feet  deep.  One  of  these  was  dr}-,  tlie  other  contained 
a  pond.  The  ridges  on  each  side  have  sharp  slopes  of  fully  30°.  These 
slopes  afford  a  means  for  calculating  the  amount  of  filling  the  basins  may 
have  received  since  the  ice  retreated.  By  continuing  the  slopes  down- 
ward beneath  the  basins  from  opposite  sides,  they  would  meet  at  a  point 
about  20  feet  below  the  present  surface,  which  represents  the  possible  amount 
of  filling.  It  could  not  well  be  greater  and  it  may  have  been  less,  espe- 
cialh'  if  the  basin  originallj'  was  somewhat  flat  in  the  bottom;  but,  granting 
a  filling  of  20  feet,  it  follows  that  the  amount  is  small  for  such  steep  slopes 
of  loose  material  to  have  contributed,  and  it  affords  evidence  iii  favor  of 
the  brevity  of  postglacial  time. 

At  its  southern  end  the  esker  branches,  like  the  mouths  of  a  stream  in 
a  delta,  and  is  lost  in  a  marshy  plain.  Low  ridges  or  knolls  occur  in  this 
plain  south  of  the  terminus  of  the  esker  proper,  and  on  the  border  of  the 
plain,  in  the  northern  part  of  Circleville,  there  are  gravel  knolls  which  may 
bear  some  relation  to  the  esker,  though  they  are  situated  in  the  moraine. 
The  termination  of  the  esker  proper  is  but  a  mile  or  so  from  the  moraine. 
In  all  probability  the  esker  was  formed  before  the  ice  sheet  had  withdrawn 
from  the  moraine. 

But  few  exposures  occur  to  show  the  structure  of  the  esker.  A  well 
at  R.  D.  Harmon's  residence,  on  the  crest  of  the  esker,  about  3  miles  north 
of  Circleville,  penetrated  60  feet  of  sand  and  gravel  and  obtained  water  at 
about  the  level  of  the  Scioto  River.  The  water  contains  sulphur  in  such 
laro-e  amount  that  stock  will  not  drink  it.  The  sulphur  is  probabl}'  from 
sulphuret  of  iron  contained  in  fragments  of  shale.  Mr.  Stevenson  has  a 
well  near  the  base  of  the  ridge,  a  short,  distance  north  of  Harmon's,  which 
penetrated  6  or  8  feet  of  clay  and  then  30  feet  of  gravel  before  obtaining 
water,  probably  reaching  the  level  of  the  Scioto.  In  places  the  ridge  is 
capped  by  a  few  feet  of  clay,  through  which  pebbles  are  scattered,  but 
quite   as   often  the  gravel  is  at  the  surface.      At   a  slight   exposure  near 


INNER  BORDER  OF  THE  S(]10T0  LOBE.  431 

the  top  of  the  esker,  by  the  east  end  of  the  bridge,  3  miles  above  Civcleville, 
there  is  at  surface  a  clayey  gravel  with  a  depth  of  2  to  5  feet,  below  which 
is  a  series  of  beds  of  fine  gravel  dipping  sharply  westward  with  the  slope 
of  the  ridge.  These  terminate  abruptly  like  a  cross  bedding  in  a  layer  of 
cobble,  which  dips  shghtly  eastward.  In  an  exposm-e  south  of  South 
Bloomfield  there  are  cobble  beds  dipping  abruptly  southward.  This  expo- 
sure gives  only  a  partial  view  of  the  structure.  So  far  as  examined  the 
pebbles  are  largely  limestone,  but  fragments  of  black  shale  and  granitic 
rocks  are  not  rare.  An  interesting. feature  connected  with  this  esker  is  its 
very  slight  elevation  above  the  Scioto,  its  base  being  but  20  to  30  feet  above 
the  river  bed.  The  river  has,  therefore,  cut  down  but  a  few  feet  since  the 
Glacial  epoch,  and  that,  too,  notwithstanding  the  rapid  fall.  In  the  40 
miles  (by  direct  line)  from  Columbus  to  Chillicothe  the  stream  falls  nearly 
100  feet,  or  about  2  feet  per  mile  if  the  main  deflections  of  the"  stream  be 
taken  into  account.  This  slight  erosion,  like  that  shown  by  the  esker, 
appears  to  be  strong  evidence  of  the  brevity  of  the  postglacial  time. 

The  esker  lies  in  the  midst  of  a  gravelly  belt  through  which  the  Scioto 
River  flows.  The  width  of  this  belt  is  about  2  miles  in  northern  Pickaway 
County,  but  below  the  mouth  of  Little  Walnut  Creek  it  expands  to  a 
breadth  of  not  less  than  4  miles,  the  expansion  being  mainly  on  the  western 
side  of  the  river.  This  gravelly  tract  is  slightly  lower  than  the  bordering 
till  plains  and  its  border  is  very  distinctly  marked.  With  the  exception  of 
the  esker  it  stands  but  20  to  40  feet  above  the  Scioto  River.  The  esker  is 
slio-htly  ■  higher  than  the  till  tracts  adjacent  to  the  gravelly  belt.  This 
o-ravell}^  belt  was  apparently  formed  while  the  ice  sheet  still  covered  the 
region,  for  the  gravel  in  places  carries  a  thin  capping  of  till.  The  presence 
of  an  esker  in  its  midst  is  also  an  evidence  of  subglacial  deposition. 

STRUCTURE    AND   THICKNESS    OF   THE    DRIB'T. 

With  the  exception  of  the  valleys  of  the  princi]ml  streams  and  a  few 
small  areas  on  the  uplands  the  surface  portion  of  the  drift  in  this  inner 
border  tract  is  ordinary  till.  The  district  may,  therefore,  be  considered  a 
crreat  till  plain.  On  portions  of  it  there  are  thin  deposits  of  silt  or  clay 
which  are  less  pebbly  at  surface  than  at  a  depth  of  4  or  5  feet.  There 
does  not  seem  to  be  a  weathered  zone  or  interval  between  the  silty  portions 
and  the  pebbly  till  below,  but  instead  the  evidence  favors  the  idea  that 
there  is  a  transition  upward  from  pebbly  till  to  clay  with  but  few  pebbles. 


432  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Ill  the  upper  2  or  3  feet  there  are  ordinarily  not  more  than  one-fourth  as 
many  pebbles  as  there  are  5  or  6  feet  below  the  surface.  This  is  true  in 
the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Scioto.  At  higher  levels,  near  the  border  of 
the  basin,  pebbles  are  not  so  scarce.  On  the  contrary,  sm-face  bowlders  are 
numerous  near  the  border,  while  in  the  central  portion  they  seem  to  be 
covered,  in  places  at  least,  by  the  clay  just  mentioned.  Orton  called  the 
writer's  attention  to  several  exposures  in  the  city  of  Columbus  where 
bowlders  abound  at  a  depth  of  4  or  5  feet  beneath  the  silty  clay.  This 
peculiar  distribution  of  bowlders  has  not  been  observed  outside  the  city 
of  Columbus,  either  by  Professor  Orton  or  the  writer,  but  may  be  widely 
developed  in  the  silt-covered  portion  of  the  basin,  no  special  search  for  the 
bowlders  having  been  made. 

The  gravel  belts  along  streams  are  most  conspicuous  on  the  Scioto  and 
Olentangy  rivers,  Darby  Creek,  and  the  lower  course  of  Big  Walnut  (from 
the  latitude  of  Columbus  southward).  The  gravel  along  the  Scioto  is  in 
places  capped  by  a  few  feet  of  till  which  seems  to  indicate  that  its  deposi- 
tion occun-ed  before  the  final  retreat  of  the  ice  from  this  region  and  opposes 
the  view  that  it  was  an  outwash  from  the  Powell  moraine.  The  belt  on  the 
Scioto  is  narrow  above  Columbus,  but  is  well  defined  all  along  the  brow  of 
the  bluffs  of  the  rock  gorge  extending  back  100  to  200  yards  on  either  side 
of  the  rock  bluffs.  Below  Columbus  the  rock  bluffs  disappear  and  the 
gravel  belt  has  a  width  of  a  mile  or  more.  Its  eastern  border  is  followed 
nearly  by  the  canal  all  the  way  from  Columbus  to  Circleville.  The  west 
border  lies  back  from  the  river  at  varying  distances  from  a  few  yards  up  to 
nearly  a  mile  and,  in  the  vicinity  of  Circleville,  is,  as  noted  above,  2  or  3 
miles  from  the  river.  On  Olentang-y  River  the  gravelly  belt  is  one-half 
mile  or  more  in  breadth.  Possibly  it  marks  the  line  of  discharge  for  the 
main  glacial  stream  leading  down  from  the  Powell  moraine  north  of 
Columbus,  though  it  seems  quite  as  probable  that  its  deposition  preceded 
the  formation  of  that  moraine. 

On  Darby  Creek  the  gravel  in  the  lower  part  is  confined  to  the  valley 
of  the  stream,  but  in  the  upper  part  above  Plain  City  considerable  gravel 
is  found  in  the  plains  bordering  the  valley.  This  gravel  is  perhaps  an  out- 
wash  from  the  Powell  moraine,  which  lies  north  of  that  part  of  the  creek. 
South  from  Plain  City  the  bluffs  wherever  examined  contain  till.  In  the 
valley  in  Pickaway  County,  are  terraces  which  may  be  of  glacial  age, 


INNER  BORDER  OF  THE  8CI0TD  LOBE.  433 

standing  20  or  30  feet  above  the  stream,  and  occupying-  in  places  nearly 
the  whole  width  of  the  valley.  These  terraces  may  perhaps  have  suffered 
some  reduction  from  their  original  level.  If  not  they  indicate  that  less 
excavation  has  taken  place  since  they  were  formed  than  took  place  between 
the  withdrawal  of  the  ice  from  the  border  plain  and  the  deposition  of  the 
gravel. 

On  Big  Walnut  Creek  till  is  present  above  the  latitude  of  Colvimbus, 
but  from  that  latitude  southward  there  seems  to  be  but  little  within  a  mile 
or  more  east  from  the  creek,  the  drift  being  gravelly.  For  a  few  miles 
above  the  mouth  of  Black  Lick,  an  eastern  tributary,  the  interval  between 
the  two  creeks,  1  to  2  miles  in  width,  is  occupied  by  a  gravel  plain  which 
stands  20  to  30  feet  above  Big  Walnut  Creek.  The  belt  is  narrower  below 
the  moiith  of  Black  Lick,  but  continues  to  the  Scioto.  Bowlders  were 
observed  on  the  surface  of  the  broad  portion  of  this  plain,  about  2  miles 
above  the  mouth  of  Black  Lick,  which  are  either  at  the  surface  or  embedded 
a  foot  or  two  in  a  brown  clay  that  caps  the  gravel.  This  clay  is  seldom 
more  than  3  or  4  feet  thick,  and  usually  but  12  to  18  inches. 

In  Madison  County  there  are  belts  of  land  slightl}-  depressed  below 
bordering  till  plains  that  are  said  to  be  underlain  by  gravel.  They  are 
known  as  "glade,"  and  the  timber  on  them  differs  from  that  on  the  border- 
ing till  tracts,  being  nearly  all  white  oak  without  underbrush,  while  the 
bordering  tracts  have  a  variety  of  timber  and  much  underbrush.  The 
gravel  of  these  glades  is  probablj''  of  glacial  age,  but  the  mode  of  deposition 
and  points  of  connection  with  the  ice  margin  have  not  been  worked  out. 

The  following  represent  the  principal  well  sections  obtained  in  which 
the  drift  has  notable  thickness. 

At  Westerville  the  gas  well  passed  through  94  feet  of  drift. 

The  boring  for  gas  at  Plain  City  penetrated  119  feet  of  drift.  This 
boring  has  about  10  feet  of  gravel  and  sand  at  surface,  the  remainder  of  the 
drift  being  mainly  blue  till.  The  well  mouth  stands  15  feet  below  the  level 
of  the  railway  station,  or  919  feet  above  tide. 

At  Columbus  the  statehouse  well,  sunk  in  1857-1860,  penetrates  123 
feet  of  clay,  sand,  and  gravel.'  The  gas  well  made  on  the  banks  of  the 
Olentangy  River  in  1886  penetrated  104  feet  of  drift.^  The  altitude  of  the 
well  mouth  is  737  feet  above  tide.     At  J.  M.  Linton's,  near  the  Scioto,  2 

'Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  1873,  p.  113.  ^Ibid.,  Vol.  VI,  1888,  pp.  281-282. 

MON  XLI 28 


434  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

miles  south  of  the  statehouse,  an  artesian  well  passed  through  106  feet  of 
drift,  of  which  the  upper  50  feet  is  gravel  and  the  remainder  sand.  Water 
comes  from  below  shale  at  a  depth  of  148  feet.  The  water  rises  3  or  4  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  canal  at  Columbus. 

At  the  starch  factory  in  the  south  part  of  Columbus,  near  the  canal 
and  river,  several  flowing  wells  have  been  obtained  from  the  drift  at  depths 
ranging  from  40  to  90  feet.  They  are  said  to  pass  through  "hardpan"  just 
above  the  water  vein.  Whether  this  hardpan  is  till  or  cemented  gravel  was 
not  learned.     The  main  part  of  the  drift  penetrated  was  gravel. 

At  the  Lutheran  College,  in  the  east  part  of  Columbus  near  Alum 
Creek,  a  well  110  feet  deep  did  not  reach  hard  rock,  but  may  have  entered 
shale.  At  the  waterworks  on  Alum  Creek  several  flowing  wells  were 
obtained  at  depths  of  30  to  40  feet.  They  penetrated  about  12  feet  of 
gravel  at  the  surface  and  were  then  in  till  to  the  water  vein.  This  water 
is  strongly  chalyl^eate.  The  bluffs  on  Alum  Creek  on  each  side  of  the 
waterworks,  are  composed  of  till;  the  gravel  is  therefore  strictly  a  valley 
deposit.  Orton  has  made  the  following  statements  concerning  the  erosion 
near  Columbus:^ 

The  erosion  has  been  especiallj^  extensive  near  the  junction  of  the  t-\vo  rivers. 
For  3  miles  at  least  above  the  mouth  of  the  Olentangy  the  rocks  between  the  rivers 
have  been  cut  away  to  such  a  depth  that  no  trace  of  them  is  now  visible  even  in  the 
deepest  wells  that  are  dug'.  The  drift  deposits  that  take  their  place  do  not  rise  to  the 
same  altitude  that  the  surrounding  uplands  attain,  and  thus  the  whole  of  the  country, 
from  North  Columbus  westward  to  the  Scioto,  belongs  in  the  category  of  lowlands. 

Immediately  north  of  this  lowlaud  tract  the  altitude  is  not  only  greater, 
but  the  drift  much  thimier,  so  that  the  erosion  was  far  greater  than  is 
indicated  by  variations  in  the  level  of  the  present  surface. 

On  the  plain  southwest  from  Columbus  the  drift  is  10  to  50  feet  or 
more  in  thickness.  On  Darby  Creek  there  are  occasional  outcrops  of  rock 
in  Franklin  County  as  far  south  as  Harrisonville,  but  from  that  village  to  its 
mouth  no  outcrops  were  observed,  though  the  valley  is  in  places  75  feet  in 
depth.  In  the  portion  of  Deer  Creek  immediately  west  from  the  lower 
portion  of  Darby  Creek,  rock  outcrops  are  numerous.  The  heavy  drift 
does  not,  therefore,  extend  much  farther  west  than  Darby  Creek.  It  may 
occupy  the  entire  interval  between  that  creek  and  the  Scioto  in  Pickaway 
County. 

iGeolofry  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  1878,  p.  599. 


INNER  BORDER  OF  THE  SCIOTO  LOBE.  435 

Near  the  southwestern  border  of  this  plain,  iu  Madison  County,  the 
drift  probably  exceeds  100  feet  in  average  depth.  The  borings  for  gas  at 
London  are  the  only  ones  reported  that  have  reached  rock.  These,  as  pre- 
viously noted,  have  in  one  case  155  feet  of  di-ift,  and  in  another  200  feet. 
East  from  the  Scioto  numerous  exposures  of  rock  occur  along  the  main 
creeks,  and  some  hills,  near  Lithopolis,  rising  much  above  the  level  of  the 
plain,  have  rock  at  surface.'  This  does  not,  however,  prove  the  absence  of 
valleys  with  heavy  drift  deposits;  indeed,  such  valleys  probably  traverse 
this  district.  Orton  called  attention,  as  follows,  to  evidence  that  in  pre- 
glacial  times  the  Olentangy  Valley  was  a  prominent  channel  traversing  the 
Scioto  Basin  :^ 

The  levels  run  in  the  construction  of  the  Worthington  and  Dublin  turnpike 
show  that  low  water  in  the  Olentangy  west  of  Worthington  is  16  feet  lower  than  low 
water  in  the  Scioto  at  Dublin.  The  Scioto  exceeds  the  Olentangy  several  times  in 
volume,  and,  other  things  being  equal,  its  valley  should  be  much  deeper.  It  is  also 
to  be  noted  that  the  disparity  would  be  still  more  striking  if  the  actual  depths  of  the 
vallej's  were  taken  into  the  account.  The  Olentangy  runs  upon  drift  beds,  the  shales 
having  been  cut  out  to  an  unknown  but  probably  considerable  depth,  while  the  Scioto 
at  the  point  named  has  a  rocky  floor.  The  contrast  between  the  valleys  in  width  is 
equally  marked.  As  already  stated,  the  Scioto  Valley  in  the  northern  half  of  the 
county  is  but  a  narrow  gorge,  walled  with  vertical  cliffs.  Its  bottom  lands  are  of 
small  extent  and  often  there  is  no  interval  whatever.  The  valley  of  the  Olentangy, 
on  the  other  hand,  often  attains  a  width  of  2  miles,  and  is  seldom  less  than  half  a  mile. 

BOWLDER   BELTS. 

The  impression  prevails  among  the  residents  on  the  plains  southwest 
of  Columbus  that  there  are  bowlder  belts  some  miles  in  length  that  traverse 
the  district  at  angles  quite  different  from  the  trend  of  the  bordering 
moraines.  One  of  these  is  said  to  pass  from  the  uplands  1 J  miles  southwest 
of  Darbyville,  eastward  across  Darby  Creek  and  the  uplands  between  that 
stream  and  the  Scioto,  coming  to  the  Scioto  nearly  opposite  the  mouth  of 
Little  Walnut  Creek.  The  writer  has  crossed  this  supposed  bowlder  belt 
at  several  points  and  endeavored  to  outline  its  course  and  width,  but  found 
that  it  is  not  sufficiently  well  defined  to  admit  of  ready  mapping.  In  a 
general  way,  however,  it  may  be  said  that  bowlders  are  more  numerous 
along  the  line  designated  than  on  the  bordering  tracts,  though  intervals  of 
one-half  mile  or  more  occur  along  the  line  where  bowlders  are  rare,  while 


1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  598, 599. 


436  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

ill  places  on  bordering  tracts  they  are  numerous,  so  that  there  does  not 
appear  to  be  a  well-defined  belt.  Probably  the  bowlders  were  deposited 
during  the  retreat  of  the  ice  from  west  to  east,  sui'face  bowlders  having 
accumulated  on  the  ice  sheet  along  a  line  in  harmony  with  tlie  direction  of 
movement. 

Another  tract  where  bowlders  are  sufficiently  numerous  to  excite 
remark  lies  between  Midway  and  Mount  Sterling.  The  writer  did  not 
examine  this  district  so  carefully  as  the  other,  but  has  the  impression  that 
it  will  be  even  more  difficult  here  to  make  out  a  belt  or  train  of  bowlders 
than  ill  the  district  just  described.  Aside  from  these  two  districts  no  exten- 
sive tracts  were  reported  where  bowlders  are  conspicuous;  they  are,  how- 
ever, not  rare  in  any  part  of  this  inner  border  plain  except  where  silt 
deposits  occur,  as  noted  above. 

INNER    BOEDER    PHENOMENA    IN    THE    SHOULDER. 

In  the  shoulder  east  of  the  main  Scioto  lobe,  there  is,  between  the 
main  morainic  system  and  a  series  of  moraines  which  follow  the  continental 
divide,  a  hilly  district  covering  southwestern  Summit,  southeastern  Medina, 
northern  Wayne,  and  central  Ashland  counties,  in  which  occasional  small 
tracts  were  noted  that  have  morainic  topography,  but  the  greater  part  of 
which  is  nearly  free  from  drift  knolls  and  covered  with  but  a  thin  drift 
deposit.  It  is  thought  that  these  small  morainic  tracts  are  the  correlatives 
of  the  feeble  though  well-defined  moraines  which  appear  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  Scioto  Basin,  and  which  are  described  below  under  the  name  of 
Powell  and  Broadway  moraines,  since  they  lie,  as  those  moraines  do,  between 
the  main  morainic  system  and  that  series.  These  moraines  are  easily  trace- 
able in  the  smooth  Scioto  Basin,  but  hi  this  hilly  district  would  be  recognized 
only  by  very  careful  tracing.  The  ice  sheet  appears  to  have  formed  less 
continuous  ridged  or  morainic  deposits  in  this  district  than  in  the  Scioto 
Basin,  for,  after  careful  examination,  the  writer  has  been  unable  to  connect 
into  a  belt  the  several  patches  of  morainic  topography  which  were  observed. 
The  drift  has  an  average  thickness  of  scarcely  20  feet  on  uplands,  and  is 
composed  mainly  of  till.  It  is  thinner  and  more  compact  than  the  drift  in 
the  moraines  to  the  south.  The  valley  drift  has  greater  thickness.  That 
found  in  tributaries  of  the  Tuscarawas  and  of  Killbuck  and  Mohican  creeks, 
which  head  in  the  moraines  north  of  this  district,  is  considered  in  connection 
with  those  moraines. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  IN  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.       437 

SECTION  III.     IN  THE   GRAjSTD  RIVER  EOBE. 

MORAINES  OF  THE  SYSTEM. 

The  morainic  system  discussed  under  the  above  title  constitutes  a  part 
of  the  great  system  described  by  Chamberlin  as  the  terminal  moraine  of 
the  second  Glacial  epoch/  and  is  a  continuation  of  the  system  described  in 
Sections  I  and  II.  The  term  morainic  system  is  applied  because  of  the 
complexity  of  the  belt,  for  it  includes  several  moraines  whose  formation 
was  probably  continued  through  a  series  of  oscillations  of  the  ice  front. 
Chamberlin  called  attention  ^  to  its  massiveness  and  complexity,  showing 
that  it  usually  covers  a  breadth  of  several  miles,  and  contains  a  confusedly 
arranged  series  of  morainic  ridges  which  are  only  in  pai't  separable  into 
distinct  belts.  The  portion  comprising  the  outer  morainic  system  of  the 
Grand  River  lobe  is,  on  the  whole,  less  clearly  separable  into  distinct  belts 
than  the  correlative  system  in  lobes  farther  to  the  west. 

DISTRIBUTION. 

By  reference  to  Pis.  II  and  XV  the  course  and  breadth  of  the  moraine, 
and  also  the  size  and  form  of  the  ice  lobe,  may  be  learned.  There  is  a 
well-defined  morainic  belt  encircling  the  Grand  River  Basin,  and  leading 
northeastward  into  New  York  a  few  miles  beyond  the  point  of  the  reentrant 
angle  in  the  glacial  boundary  near  Salamanca,  N.  Y.  The  moraine  dies  out 
on  elevated  uplands  near  the  village  of  Cattaraugus,  and  some  uncertainty  is 
felt  concerning  its  continuation.  Whether  it  finds  its  continuation  along  the 
line  of  the  terminal  moraine  traced  by  Lewis  ^  from  the  reentrant  angle  south- 
eastward across  northern  Pennsylvania,  or  takes  an  eastward  course  fai-ther 
north,  embracing  part  of  the  moraines  discussed  by  Chamberlin  in  the 
Third  Annual  Repoi't,  *  remains  to  be  determined.  Should  the  latter  prove 
to  be  the  line  of  continuation,  the  moraine  traced  by  Lewis  may  fall  within 
the  early  Wisconsin  series. 

The  distribution  of  the  moraine  may  be  briefly  outlined  as  follows: 
P^'rom  the  reentrant  angle  near  Salamanca  southwestward  the  morainic 
system  is  found  to  run  nearly  parallel  with  the  Allegheu}-  Valley,  but  is 

1  Third  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  pp.  291-402. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  307,  310,  et  seq. 

'Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Eept.  Z,  by  H.  C.  Lewis. 
*  Third  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  pp.  347-350,  PL  XXXIII. 


438  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

separated  from  it  by  a  space  of  several  miles,  as  far  down  as  the  bend  of 
the  stream  near  Franklin,  Pa.  In  southwestern  Ne^  York  and  in  Warren 
County,  Pa.,  it  has  a  breadth  of  but  3  or  4  miles,  being  narrower  here  than 
in  any  other  part  of  the  district  examined.  In  western  Warren  County  it 
curves  to  the  southwest,  and  maintains  this  course  through  southeastern 
Crawford  County.  Its  breadth  increases  in  the  latter  county  to  about  7 
miles  at  the  south  line.  Near  the  corner  of  Crawford,  Mercer,  and  Venango 
counties  it  swings  southward,  and  at  its  curve  has  a  breadth  of  15  miles," 
the  greatest  breadth  exhibited  anywhere  inthe  eastern  limb. 

From  this  point  it  departs  more  widely  from  the  Allegheny.  The 
outer  border  touches  the  villages  of  Harrisville,  Center\alle,  and  West 
Liberty  in  Butler  County,  and  at  the  latter  village  swings  abruptl}^  west- 
ward, entering  Lawrence  County  near  Rose  Point.  The  inner  border  in 
this  portion  is  not  so  easily  mapped  as  the  outer,  being  much  less  regular 
and  presenting  a  less  marked  contrast  to  adjacent  districts. 

Around  the  southern  end  of  the  lobe  (in  Lawrence  and  Beaver  coun- 
ties. Pa.,  and  Columbiana  and  Mahoning  counties,  Ohio)  the  morainic 
system  spreads  out  to  a  breadth  of  15  miles  or  more.  The  southernmost 
point  reached  by  it  is  in  the  vicinity  of  Bayard,  in  southwestern  Colum- 
biana County,  Ohio.  In  eastern  Stark  County  the  belt  is  double,  there 
being  a  feeble  outer  member  which  passes  from  Bayard  north  of  west  near 
Osnaburg  to  Canton,  while  the  main  moraine  passes  northwest  through 
Freeburg,  Strasburg,  Barryville,  and  Marlboro  to  Hartsville,  near  which  it 
meets  the  main  moraine  belonging  to  the  shoulder  or  shelf  of  the  Scioto 
lobe.  The  outer  member  connects  at  Canton  with  the  outer  moraine  of  this 
shoulder. 

From  Canton  northward,  nearly  to  Chardon,  a  distance  of  about  50 
miles,  there  is  a  massive  interlobate  belt  which,  from  Canton  to  the  latitude 
of  Kent,  maintains  a  breadth  of  12  to  15  miles,  but  becomes  narrower  north 
from  there,  terminating  a  few  miles  south  of  Chardon,  with  a  width  of 
scarcely  a  mile.  It  is  nrobable  that  the  greater  part,  if  not  all,  of  the 
interlobate  belt  that  lies  north  of  Kent  and  west  of  the  Cuyahoga  River 
was  formed  from  the  west,  since  all  the  striae  yet  discovered  on  that  side  of 
the  river  have  a  bearing  east  of  south;  but  the  portion  on  the  east  side  from 
Kent  northward,  as  indicated  by  stride  bearing  west  of  south,  apparently 
belongs  to  the  Grand  River  lobe.     South  froui  Kent  the  line  of  junction  of 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  IN  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.       439 

the  two  lobes,  as  already  indicated,  is  less  clearly  shown,  since  no  striae 
have  been  discovered  within  the  moraine,  and  there  is  no  continuous  gravel 
plain  traversing  its  midst  from  north  to  south. 

Gravel  terraces  lead  from  the  interlobate  moraine  southward  along  the 
several  streams  which  have  their  source  in  it,  viz,  the  Tuscarawas  River 
and  the  branches  of  Nimishillen  Creek,  the  head  of  the  terrace  being  near 
Canal  Fulton  on  the  Tuscarawas  River,  and  near  Middlebranch  and  New 
Berlin  on  the  middle  and  west  branches  of  Nimishillen  Creek.  Farther 
north  the  moraine  incloses  several  lakes  which  are  sometimes  connected 
into  a  chain  by  a  sei'ies  of  marshes  and  gravel  plains,  but  have  either  narrow 
outlets  or  are  without  outlets  to  the  southward-flowing  streams.  Hence 
their  significance  is  not  clear.  It  seems  probable  that  a  shifting  of  the 
margin  of  the  ice  sheet  or  of  the  line  of  coalescence  between  the  lobes  had 
blocked  up  drainage  lines  that  led  southward,  and  left  portions  of  the 
channels  unfilled.  It  is  not  improbable  that  by  more  detailed  and  critical 
study  of  the  features  and  the  structure  of  the  interlobate  tract,  there  will  be 
found  sufficiently  clear  evidence  to  justify  a  decision  as  to  overriding  or 
shifting  of  the  ice  margin. 

RANGE    IN    ALTITUDE. 

The  course  of  this  moraine  being  over  prominent  ridges  and  deep 
valleys  on  the  western  slope  of  the  Alleghenies,  there  is  a  great  range  in 
altitude. 

The  following  table  of  altitudes  along  the  portion  of  the  moraine  in 
Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  is  based  largely  upon  barometric  readings,  but 
few  accurate  levels  being  available. 

Altitudes  along  outer  morains. 


Location. 

Altitude  above 
tide. 

Authority. 

Highlands  east  of  Conewango  River 

Conewango  Valley,  at  Eussellburg 

Feet 
2,050 
1,233 

1,950 
1, 450 
1,900-1,980 
1,350 
1,900 

Carll. 

Dunkirk,  Allegheny  Valley  and  Pittsburg 
R.R. 

Barometric. 

Highlands  west  of  Wrightsville 

Barometric 

440  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Altitudes  along  outer  moraine — Continued. 


Blue  Eye  Creek,  at  source 

Highlands    between    Blue    Eye    and   Big 

Brokenstraw  creeks. 

Spring  Creek  station 

Near  State  road,    line  of    Crawford    and 

Warren  counties. 

Eastman 

Oil  Creek  Valley,  at  Centerville 

Oil  Creek  Valley,  at  Hydetown 

Highlands  west  of  Hydetown 

Sugar  Creek  Valley,   near  Crawford  and 

Venango  County  line. 

Moraine  at  East  Randolph  church 

French  Creek  Valley,  at  Cochranton 

French  Creek  Valley,  at  Utica 

Moraine  at  county  line,  west  of  Utica 

Sandy  Creek  Valley,  at  Raymilton 

Sandy  Creek  Valley,  at  Sandy  Lake 

Moraine  at  Mr.  Barnes's,  west  of  Harrisville. 
Beaver  River  Valley,  Lawrence  Junction  . . 

Moraine  in  Beaver  Valley 

Highlands  east  of  Galilee 

Little  Beaver  Valley,  north  of  Galilee 

High  point  on  State  line  east  of  Palestine  . . 

State  line,  lowlands 

Palestine,  Ohio 

New  Waterford 

Columbiana  

Leetonia 

Salem 

Damascus  

North  Georgetown . 

East  Rochester 

Bayard 

Homeworth  

Summit  north  of  Homeworth 

Uplands  east  of  Homeworth 

Uplands  west  of  Homeworth 

Alliance 

Strasburg 

Louisville  


Fed. 
1,600 
700-1,  850 

1,395 
830-1, 880 

1,740 
1,238 
1,239 
,600-1,650 
1,340 

1,580 
1,065 
1, 035 
1, 425 
1,138 
1,165 
1,400 
774 
830-900 
150-1, 200 
1,000 
1,250 
1,000± 
1,015 
1,063 
1,113 
1,016 
1, 193-1,  334 
1, 188-1,  260 
1,170 
1,082 
1,076 
1,150 
1,200 
1,290 
1,300 
1, 100-1, 160 
1, 187 
1,187 


Barometric. 
Barometric. 

Pennsylvania  Railroad. 
Turnpike  survey. 

Turnpike  survey. 

Western  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  R.  R. 

AVestern  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  R.  R. 

Barometric. 

Barometric. 

Barometric. 

Erie  Railroad. 

Erie  Railroad. 

Barometric. 

Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  R.  R. 

Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  R.  R. 

Barometric. 

Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  R.  R. 

Barometric. 

Barometric. 

Barometric. 

Barometric. 

Barometric. 

Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  R.  R. 

Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  R.  R. 

Pittsburg,  Foi't  Wayne  and  Chicago  R.  R. 

Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  R.  R. 

Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  VI. 

Estimate  from  railroad. 

Barometric. 

Cleveland  and  Pittsburg  Railroad. 

Cleveland  and  Pittsburg  Railroad. 

Cleveland  and  Pittsbm-g  Railroad. 

Cleveland  and  Pittsburg  Railroad. 

Barometric. 

Barometric. 

Estimate  from  railroad. 

Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  R.  R. 

Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  R.  R. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  IN  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.       441 

Altifmdes  along  outer  moraine — Continued. 


Location. 

Altitude  above 
tide. 

Authority. 

Canton,  at  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chi- 
cago'station. 

Feel. 
1,047 

1,029 

1,100-1,150 

1,180 

1,123 
1,170 
1,179 
1,143 
1, 108 
1,151 
1,183 
1,053 
1,186 

1, 070-1, 133 
1,148 

1, 109-1, 200 
1,336 
1,336 
1,292 

Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  R.  R. 
Valley  Railroad. 

Barometric. 

Uplands    3    miles   northeast    of    Middle- 
branch. 

Barometric. 

Cleveland  and  Canton  Railroad. 

Cleveland  and  Canton  Railroad. 

Cleveland  and  Canton  Railroad. 

Suffield          

Cleveland  and  Canton  Railroad. 

Cleveland  and  Canton  Railroad. 

Ohio  geological  survey. 
Erie  Railroad. 

Kent                           

Erie  Railroad. 

Ohio  geological  survey. 

Colton's  survey. 

East  of  moraine,  U.  S.  Lake  Survey. 

West  of  moraine,  U.  S.  Lake  Survey. 

TOPOGRAPHT. 


In  Warren  and  Crawford  counties,  Pa.,  where  the  morainic  system  is 
narrowest,  there  is  a  hummocky  topography  in  its  entire  width  of  3  to  7 
miles.  On  the  highlands  the  knolls  are  lower  than  in  the  valleys,  but  in 
both  situations  they  are  sharp  and  inclose  basins  whose  slopes  are  so  abrupt 
that  they  are  often  difficult  to  cultivate.  The  knolls  in  the  valleys  range 
from  15  to  100  feet  in  height,  while  those  on  the  uplands  are  but  10  to  25 
feet.  The  individual  knolls  have  areas  ranging  from  a  fraction  of  an  acre 
up  to  1 0  acres  or  more.  The  valley  slopes  are  dotted  with  drift  knolls  whose 
contours  are  fresh  and  altered  scarcely  more  by  erosion  than  are  those  of 
the  upland  knolls.  The  heavy  forests  which  cover  this  region  have  served 
to  check  erosion  to  a  great  degree,  as  may  be  seen  by  a  comparison  of  fields 
which  have  been  cleared  and  cultivated  for  a  half  century  with  those  on 
which  the  forest  still   stands.     Cultivation  of  the  soil,  together  with  free 


442  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

access  and  escape  of  water,  have  produced  so  marked  an  effect  within  a  few 
years  as  to  render  it  probable  that  the  forests  or  some  other  protective  veg- 
etation took  possession  soon  after  the  ice  sheet  withdrew,  and  thus  preserved 
the  sharp  contours  of  the  moraine. 

In  Mercer  and  Lawrence  counties.  Pa.,  and  in  eastern  Ohio,  where  the 
morainic  system  is  much  broader  than  it  is  in  Crawford  and  Warren  coun- 
ties, Pa.,  much  variation  is  displayed.  The  outer  portion  for  a  width  of  5 
miles,  more  or  less,  presents  a  knob-and-ba,sin  topography  similar  to  that  in 
Warren  and  Crawford  counties,  while  the  inner  portion  has  a  gentle  swell- 
and-sag  topography,  with  an  occasional  tract  of  a  square  mile  or  more  where 
morainic  features  are  sharper.  In  this  inner  portion  the  higher  swells  are 
20  feet  or  moi'e  in  height,  but  the  majority  fall  below  15  feet.  Knolls  only 
10  to  15  feet  in  height  often  cover  an  area  of  several  acres.  In  some  local- 
ities swells  are  rare,  much  of  the  surface  being  nearly  plane,  but  as  a  rule 
they  are  sufficiently  numerous  to  give  the  moraine  a  topography  strikingly 
in  contrast  with  the  plane  tracts  on  its  inner  border.  The  outer  (knob-and- 
basin)  portion  in  eastern  Ohio  and  Mercer  and  Lawrence  counties,  Pa.,  may 
be  the  equivalent  of  the  entire  morainic  system  in  Warren  and  Crawford 
counties.  In  that  case  the  inner  (swell-and-sag)  portion  is  so  poorly  devel- 
oped in  the  latter  counties  as  to  have  escaped  recognition.  In  lobes  to  the 
west  a  full  equivalent  is  probably  found  in  moraines  with  swell-and-sag 
topography,  which  lie  north  of  the  main  morainic  system. 

In  the  interlobate  tract  west  of  the  Mahoning  and  Grand  rivers  the 
topography  is  bolder,  with  sharp  c(>nical  knolls  or  winding  ridg'es  and  hills 
of  dj-ift,  30  to  50  feet  or  more  in  height,  and  among  these  are  numerous 
marshes  and  lakelets.  The  greater  part  of  the  surface  is  strongly  morainic, 
but,  as  noted  above,  some  small  gravel  plains  occur  among  the  knolls, 
usually  bordering  the  marshes  and  lakelets.  Concerning  this  interlobate 
moraine,  and  contrasting  it  with  portions  of  the  kettle  moraine  farther  west, 
Chamberlin  remarks  as  follows:^ 

It  is  quite  characteristicallj^  developed,  though  it  has  a  predominant  gravelly 
constitution,  and  takes  on  the  kamelike  phase  of  accumulation.  It  is,  however, 
inferior  in  strength,  roughnessi,  and  coarseness  to  portions  of  the  range  elsewhere. 
This  is  the  most  pronounced  development  of  the  range  in  Ohio,  and  is  the  onlj^  por- 
tion, I  think,  to  which  attention  had  been  called  previous  to  the  recent  geological 
survey  of  that  State. 

'  Third  Ann.  Rept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  p.  339. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  IN  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.       443 

111  the  discussion  of  topography  just  given  the  remarks  have  been  of 
a  general  nature  in  order  that  the  sahent  features  might  be  clearlj^  set 
forth.     In  that  which  follows  the  topography  is  described  in  more  detail. 

In  locating  the  ice  margin  in  the  valleys  the  writer  has  used  the  com- 
monly accepted  criteria  of  hummocky  topography,  accompanied  often  by 
bowlders,  placing  the  margin  at  the  point  where  a  change  to  level-surfaced 
deposits  set  in.     This  has  led  to  a  different  interpretation  from  that  given 
by  Lewis  and  Wright  in  the  report  on  the  terminal  moraine  in  Pennsyl- 
vania,^ for  their  criteria  were  evidently  somewhat  different.     They  include 
in  the  moraine  only  the  till  deposits  and  bowlder  belts,  and  exclude  the 
large  knolls  and  ridges  containing  stratified  drift  so  commonly  found  at  the 
head  of  terraces,  classing  them  as  the  product  of  water  action  in  a  recess 
or  embayment  in  the  ice.    That  water  played  a  prominent  part  in  the  form- 
ation of  these  knolls  of  stratified  drift  at  the  head  of  glacial  terraces  can  not 
be  doubted,  but  it  is  equally  certain  that  these  knolls  constitute  integral 
parts  of  the  moraine,  since  their  form  is  such  as  would  have  been  produced 
only  by  the  aid  of  the  mechanical  action  of  the  ice  sheet.     The  presence  of 
surface  bowlders  also  shows  that  the  ice  occupied  the  valleys  till  the  knolls 
and  ridges  had  acquired    essentially  their  present   form.      The    morainic 
topography  and  the  surface  bowlders  seem  to  the  writer  more  essential 
characteristics  of  a  terminal  moraine  than  the  till.     Furthermore,  the  strati- 
fied material  and  the  till  in  these  valleys,  as  well  as  in  the  upland  portions 
of  the  moraine,  grade  into  each  other,  or  alternate  in  such  a  manner  that 
their  border  line  is  very  indefinite,  and  in  places  the  topography  affords  the 
only  reliable  basis  of  interpretation.     For  example,  in  one  valley,  that  of 
■  Oil  Creek,  no  till  or  bowlder  belt  was  discovered,  and  as  a  consequence 
Lewis  and  Wright  were  obhged  to  carry  the  ice  margin  across,  where, 
according  to  their  criteria,  there  was  no  evidence  of  its  presence.     In  this 
valley  they  placed  the  margin  about  2  miles  above  the  head  of  the  terrace, 
excluding,  because  of  its  gravelly  constitution,  the  best  developed  morainic 
topography  in  the  valley. 

The  valleys  which  illustrate  this  difi"erence  of  mapping  of  the  morainic 
border  are  those  of  the  Conewango  River,  Jacksons  Run,  Big  Brokenstraw 
and  Oil  creeks,  and  Beaver  River,  in  each  of  which  the  writer  has  extended 
the  morainic  border  southward  from  1  to  3  miles  beyond  the  hmit  set  by 

■  1  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Rapt.  Z. 


444  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Lewis  and  Wright.  Near  Mechauicsburg,  in  Butler  County,  there  are 
semistratified  hillocks  and  ridges  considered  by  them  extrainorainic,  which 
the  writer  has  included  in  the  moraine.  In  French  Creek  Valley  the  writer's 
mapping  of  the  morainic  border  agrees  with  theirs. 

In  the  Conewango  Valley,  at  Ackley,  the  moraine  presents  a  sharply 
defined  border,  rising  50  to  75  feet  above  a  plain  which  for  several  miles 
north  occupies  the  valley.  For  3  or  4  miles  below  Ackley  the  valley  is  so 
filled  by  morainic  deposits  that  the  stream  is  restricted  in  places  to  a  passage 
scarcely  twice  as  wide  as  its  bed,  and  is  bordered  by  knolls  rising  30  to  100 
feet  above  it.  The  knolls  are  in  groups,  loosely  connected  and  inclosing 
kettle  holes.  As  a  whole,  they  present  a  very  billowy  appearance.  Near 
the  south  line  of  Pine  Township,  a  mile  or  more  below  Russellburg,  the 
knolls  are  reduced  to  low  swells  and  finally  die  away  in  a  level  terrace. 
This  terrace  at  its  head  stands  about  30  feet  above  the  river  and  occupies 
the  valley  from  there  to  its  mouth,  descending  somewhat  faster  than  its 
present  flood  plain.  Bowlders  are  especially  numerous  near  Ackley,  and 
are  not  rare  on  any  part  of  the  moraine  between  Ackley  and  the  head  of 
the  terrace.  On  the  terrace  none  were  observed.  As  determined  by  Lewis 
and  Wright,  the  moraine  is  finely  developed  on  the  slopes  each  side  of  the 
Conewango  and  on  the  very  elevated  uplands.^ 

On  the  next  valley  west  of  the  Conewango,  that  of  Jacksons  Run,  the 
moraine  formed  a  complete  obstruction  to  the  passage  of  the  stream  and 
constitutes  a  divide  between  streams  flowing  to  the  north  and  to  the  south. 
Its  best  development  is  in  the  vicinity  of  the  village  of  Chandlers  Valley, 
where  kettleholes,  sharp  conical  hills,  and  winding  ridges  of  sandy  till  ■ 
abound.  The  ridges  are  about  20  to  40  feet  in  height.  A  mile  below  this 
village  is  the  head  of  the  terrace  formed  by  the  glacial  waters.  Between  the 
head  of  this  terrace  and  Chandlers  Valley  a  portion  of  the  drift  deposits  are 
nearly  level  topped  and  have  the  appearance  of  a  higher  terrace,  being 
banked  against  the  lilufi".  But  out  in  the  midst  of  the  valley  there  are 
knolls  at  lower  levels  than  the  high  bench,  and  the  terrace  that  leads  down 
the  valley  heads  among  these  knolls.  The  significance  of  the  higher 
bench  was  not  determined. 

On  the  uplands  between  Chandlers  Valley  and  Little  Brokenstraw  Creek 
the  moraine  is  as  finely  developed  on  the  elevated  points  as  on  the  lower 

'  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Kept.  Z,  p.  169. 


MAIN  MOKAINIC  SYSTEM  IN  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.       445 

parts  of  the  uplands,  consisting  of  sharp  hillocks  and  ridges  10  to  25  feet  in 
height,  among  which  shallow  basins  are  inclosed. 

In  Little  Brokenstraw  Valley  the  inner  (north)  border  of  the  moraine 
is  about  as  sharply  defined  as  on  the  Conewango.  The  valley,  which  is 
comparatively  open  for  some  miles  above  tlie  moraine,  is  so  filled  where  the 
moraine  crosses  that  the  stream  in  making  its  passage  through  winds  about 
among  the  drift  ridges.  The  height  of  the  most  prominent  knolls  and  ridges 
is  about  40  feet,  but  the  majority  have  a  height  of  only  20  to  25  feet.  This 
valley  was  not  examined  below  the  moraine,  hence  no  data  can  be  furnished 
concerning  its  terraces. 

The  best  display  of  morainic  topography  along  Big  Brokenstraw  Creek 
is  found  south  of  Spring  Creek  station.  For  a  mile  or  so  south  and  south- 
west of  this  station  the  valley  bottom  presents  a  very  diversified  surface, 
there  being  hummocks  and  basins,  ridges  and  sloughs,  with  sharp  oscilla- 
tions of  10  to  25  feet.  The  ice  here,  as  in  Jacksons  Run,  probably  over- 
hung, if  it  did  not  rest  upon,  the  drift  knolls,  and  determined  the  peculiar 
form  which  they  exhibit. 

Not  oulj'  is  there  morainic  topography  in  Oil  Creek  Valley  for  2  miles 
below  Lewis  and  Wright's  boundar}-  line,  but  there  is  abundaiice  of  till  on 
the  slopes  and  uplands  outside  their  boundary,  immediately  noi'th  of  Hyde- 
town,  and  sharp  drift  knolls  along  McLaughlin  Creek.  The  boundary 
should,  therefore,  be  located  along  a  nearly  direct  line  across  the  valley 
from  the  uplands  northeast  to  those  west  of  Hydetown.  The  head  of  the 
terrace  at  Hydetown  is  60  to  75  feet  above  the  creek  and  slightly  undula- 
tory.  The  moraine  rises  only  to  a  slight  altitude  above  the  head  of  the 
terrace.  It  does  not  fill  the  valley  so  completely  as  it  does  the  valleys  in 
Warren  County,  just  mentioned. 

An  interesting  change  in  the  rate  of  fall  of  the  present  stream  in  this 
valley,  near  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine,  was  noted  by  White.^  In  a 
distance  of  nearly  10  miles  by  course  of  stream  from  Centerville  to  Hyde- 
town the  fall  is  but  45  feet,  while  from  Hydetown  to  Titusville,  a  distance 
of  3 1  miles,  the  fall  is  70  feet.  This  change  of  fall  in  the  stream  coincides 
([uite  closely  with  tlie  outer  border  of  the  moraine,  the  rapid  fall  being 
outside  the  moraine  where  the  glacial  waters  formed  an  abruptly  descend- 
ing terrace,  and  the  slow  fall  in  the  midst  of  the  moraine  where  the  channel 
has  been  opened  since  the  ice  sheet  withdrew. 

'  Second  Geol.  Survej'  Pennsylvania,  Rept.  Q*,  pp.  28-29. 


446  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

In  the  valley  of  the  East  Branch  of  Sugar  Creek,  a  mile  or  more  south 
of  Townville,  the  moraine  is  better  developed  than  farther  south,  the  valley 
being  open — i.  e.,  more  free  from  knolls — as  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine 
is  approached.  No  well-defined  moraine-headed  terrace  was  observed,  but 
leading  down  the  valley  is  a  broad  plain  slightly  above  the  level  of  the 
stream.  This  plain  is  the  result  of  a  gravel  tilling  of  100  feet  or  more  in 
the  old  valley,  and  probably  bears  the  same  relation  to  the  moraines  as  do 
the  more  elevated  moraine-headed  terraces  of  other  valleys. 

On  the  west  or  Lake  Branch  of  Sugar  Creek  the  moraine  is  finely 
developed  from  Sugar  Lake  down  to  the  Venango  County  line,  where  ter- 
races set  in.  It  carries  numerous  sharp  conical  knolls  and  sharp  ridges, 
among  which  basins  are  inclosed.  Below  Coopertown  the  moraine  returns 
to  Sugar  Creek  Valley,  where  it  is  finely  developed,  though  its  knolls  are 
less  sharp  and  numerous  than  on  the  uplands  west  of  the  creek. 

In  French  Creek  Valley,  from  its  mouth  up  to  the  Venango  County 
Infirmarv,  a  distance  of  5  miles,  the  moraine-headed  terrace  appears  as  a 
smooth  plain,  standing  about  50  feet  above  the  level  of  the  creek.  Just 
west  of  the  infirmary  an  abrupt  rise  of  15  to  20  feec  is  made,  and  it  has 
above  this  point  an  undulating  surface.  Between  the  infirmary  and  Utica 
there  are  places  where  the  moraine  resembles  somewhat  a  pitted  plain,  its 
surface  having  a  nearly  uniform  altitude,  60  to  70  feet  above  the  creek, 
and  being  in  some  cases  broad  and  level  topped.  Basins  occur  on  it  that 
are  depressed  10  to  20  feet  below  the  general  level  of  the  glacial  filling. 
In  places,  however,  it  presents  a  hummocky  topography.  In  explanation 
of  this  peculiar  topogTaphy  it  is  suggested  that  the  ice  sheet  may  have 
encroached  upon  an  old  terrace  and  only  slightly  modified  the  surface. 
Above  Utica  the  drift  aggregations  in  the  valley  assume  the  ordinary 
morainic  type,  there  being  numerous  sharp  knolls  and  mnding  ridges  of 
luiequal  height  (15  to  60  feet),  among  which  small  basins  15  to  25  feet  in 
depth  occur. 

The  rate  of  fall  of  the  stream  increases  near  the  outer  border  of  the 
moraine,  but  not  in  so  marked  a  degree  as  on  Oil  Creek.  According  to 
levels  reported  by  White  ^  the  fall  from  Meadville  to  the  line  of  Crawford 
and  Mercer  counties  is  but  20  feet  in  a  distance  of  12J  miles,  while  from 
the  Crawford  County  line  to  its  mouth,  a  distance  of  15  miles,  there  is  a 

^  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Kept.  Q*,  p.  26. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  IN  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.       447 

fall  of  75  feet.  As  in  Oil  Creek  Valley,  this  change  in  rate  of  fall  is  prol^- 
ably  dne  to  the  relationship  to  the  ice  margin,  the  rapid  fall  being  outside 
of,  and  in  the  outer  part  of,  the  moraine,  while  the  lesser  rate  occurs  above 
the  moraine  and  in  its  inner  portion. 

On  Big  Sand}^  Creek  no  examinations  were  made  below  Raymilton; 
but  just  west  of  that  village  a  gravel  terrace  standing  about  50  feet  above 
the  creek  has  its  head  in  a  series  of  drift  knolls  whose  summits  scarcely 
rise  above  the  terrace.  For  several  miles  above  this  point  knolls  and  ridges 
abound,  but  their  height  seldom  exceeds  20  feet. 

In  Little  Shenango  Valley  strongly  murainic  topography  is  entered 
near  Clarks  Station,  the  valley  being  nearly  filled  with  loiolls  and  ridges 
for  a  distance  of  3  or  4  miles.  Their  height  ranges  from  10  to  40  feet  or 
more,  and  their  slopes  are  very  abrupt.  On  the  uplands  between  Big 
Sandy  and  Slippery  Rock  creeks  the  general  description  previouslj^  given 
will  apply,  there  being  in  the  outer  portion  of  the  morainic  system  a  knob- 
and-basin  and  in  the  inner  a  swell-and-sag  tract. 

On  the  southeast  side  of  Slippery  Rock  Creek,  in  northwestern  Butler 
County,  is  a  tract  of  sharply  ridged  drift,  which  Lewis  and  Wright  con- 
sidered extramorainic,  as  they  did  the  hummock}^  drift  of  some  of  the 
valleys  of  Warren  and  Crawford  couaties.  The  following  description  is 
taken  from  Lewis's  report:^ 

In  front  of  the  moraine  at  this  point  and  extending  for  a  mile  or  more 
southeastward  is  a  magnificent  kame-like  accumulation  of  sandy  stratified  drift.  A 
remarkable  series  of  hummocks  and  interlacing  hills  inclosing  basin-like  depressions 
rises  above  the  surface  of  the  surrounding  country  at  least  100  feet  in  height.  The 
sides  of  the  sandy  ridges  are  verj^  steep  and  the  whole  kame,  if  such  it  be,  is  as  fine 
as  any  along  the  whole  line  of  the  moraine.  *  *  *  This  kame-like  accumulation 
is  of  special  interest,  in  that  it  lies  in  front  of  the  moraine  and  that  it  is  not  in  the 
immediate  valley  of  a  modern  creek.  South  of  the  kame  another  one  of  almost 
equal  interest  starts  from  a  portion  of  the  moraine  a  mile  farther  west  and  forms  a 
steep  and  straight  ridge  2  miles  long.  It  runs  along  a  vallej^  and  in  part  along  a 
small  stream  in  a  dii-ection  south  of  east,  and  can  be  traced  continuously  from 
Mechanicsburg  to  within  one-half  mile  of  West  Libertj^  in  Brady  Township.  *  *  * 
It  lies  at  the  foot  of  the  moraine  and  is  a  steep  ridge  of  sand}'  stratified  gravel,  in 
which  are  no  large  bowlders,  and  all  the  pebbles  of  which  are  waterworn.  The 
ridge  is  narrow  and  straight  at  first,  but  in  Bradj^  Township  it  seems  to  consist  of 
several  reticulated  ridges.  It  evidentl}'  represents  an  ancient  water  course  and  is 
worthy  of  more  extended  study. 

^  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Rept.  Z,  p.  185. 


448  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

According  to  the  usual  methods  of  interpretation  the  last-described 
ridge  is  an  esker.  At  its  southeast  end,  near  Boyd's  residence,  in  western 
Brady  Township,  it  terminates  in  a  gravel  plain.  Along  the  north  .side  of 
the  esker  are  marshes  and  gravelly  knolls  and  ridges  associated  in  morainic 
fashion;  south  of  it  are  highland  tracts  on  which  there  is  scarcely  any 
drift.  The  height  of  this  ridge  and  of  the  associated  knolls  and  ridges  on 
its  north  side  is  scarcely  20  feet,  with  the  exception  of  one  knoll  just  north 
of  Mr.  Boyd's  residence,  which  is  about  50  feet  liigh.  The  large  ridge 
northeast  of  this  esker,  mentioned  first  in  Lewis'?  description,  may  have  a 
rock  nucleus,  there  being  on  its  north  slope  slight  outcrops  of  sandstone 
which  appear  to  be  in  situ;  one  of  them  has  a  continuous  horizontal 
exposure  of  fully  20  feet.  There  are  associated  with  this  several  loose 
blocks  of  sandstone.  The  esker  and  accompanying  knolls  and  ridges 
occupy  a  lowland  tract  south  of  Slippery  Rock  Creek,  into  which  the  ice 
sheet  projected  slightly  beyond  the  regular  border  line,  the  boundary  being 
nearl}^  a  north-to-south  line  on  its  east  side  and  an  east-to-west  line  on  its 
south  side.  These  features  are  such  as  Lewis  and  Wright  have  considered 
morainic  in  adjacent  districts  on  the  west  and  north,  and  it  is  not  apparent 
why  they  should  consider  them  extramorainic  here.  The  presence  of  short 
ridges  of  an  esker  type  is  quite  characteristic  of  the  moraine  for  several 
miles  to  the  north  from  this  so-called  extramorainic  belt,  and  there  is  much 
more  assorted  material  than  till  in  the  knolls  and  ridges.  This  gravelly 
portion  was  inclvided  by  Lewis  and  Wright  in  the  moraine.  They  also 
included  a  gravelly  portion  of  the  moraine  to  the  west  near  Rose  Point,  in 
which  there  is  little,  if  any,  till,  the  basins  and  lower  lands,  as  well  as  the 
knolls  and  ridges,  being  underlain  by  gravel. 

In  the  northern  part  of  Newcastle,  on  uplands  standing-  120  feet  more 
or  less  above  the  Sheuango  Vallej',  there  is  a  winding  gravel  ridge,  probably 
allied  to  the  eskers.  It  is  about  one-half  mile  long,  12-  to  15  feet  high,  and 
6  to  8  rods  wide.  Taken  as  a  whole,  its  trend  is  N.  60°  W.  to  S.  60°  E.,  or 
nearly  in  line  with  the  striation  in  that  vicinity,  which  is  S.  45°  E.,  but  in 
its  windings  it  has  variations  from  a  north-south  to  a  nearly  east-west 
course.  Its  structure  is  peculiar,  there  being  a  capping  of  till  3  to  5  feet 
thick  above  a  nucleus  of  assorted  material.  It  is  very  seldom  that  eskers 
carry  a  till  capping,  gravel  usually  being  found  on  the  surface  as  well  as 
lielow,  but  tlie  ridge  apparently  belongs  to  this  class  of  formations.  The 
till  which  caps  it  was  perhaps  englacial  material. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  IN  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.       449 

111  the  valleys  of  Shenango  and  Beaver  rivers  below  Newcastle  there 
is  a  peculiar  combination  of  moraine  and  terrace.  Near  the  mouth  of 
the  Shenango  there  are  terrace-like  benches,  about  100  feet  high,  that  are 
capped  by  till,  and  back  of  these  benches  on  the  slope  of  the  bluff  morainic 
features  appear.  A  few  miles  below,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  glacial  boundary, 
these  terrace-like  benches  break  up  into  a  series  of  reticulated,  nearly  level- 
topped  ridges,  among  which  basins  and  low  marshy  tracts  ai-e  inclosed. 
Nearly  the  entire  breadth  of  the  valley  is  occupied  by  these  ridges  and 
basins,  whereas  a  few  miles  above  a  broad,  low  tract  borders  the  river, 
leaving  the  bench  and  drift  knolls  referred  to  as  a  narrow  fringe  along  the 
bluffs. 

Below  Cliewton,  Beaver  River  enters  a  narrow  valley  or  gorge. 
Bordering  the  gorge,  at  a  level  130  to  150  feet  above  the  river,  there  is  a 
gradation  plain  nearly  a  mile  in  width,  which  is  concealed  above  this  village 
by  the  morainic  accunmlations.  This  gradation  plain  with  its  capping  of 
drift  has  been  considered  in  the  discussion  of  the  deposits  of  drift  older  than 
the  main  Wisconsin  moraine. 

The  moraine  is  best  developed  north  of  Chewton,  but  for  2  or  3 
miles  below  this  village  there  are  occasional  ridges  and  knolls  of  morainic 
type.     Foshay  and  Hice  have  described  some  of  these  as  follows : ' 

Toward  the  north  the  plain  bears  upon  its  surface  a  large  L-shaped  kame  a 
mile  in  length,  which  reaches  down  to  a  point  about  one-half  mile  above  Rock  Point. 
This  kame  is  composed  of  stratified  gravel  and  sand  and  has  a  hummocky  and  irregular 
outline.  Several  kettle  holes  are  to  be  seen  upon  its  surface.  The  direction  of  the 
long  arm  of  the  kamfe  is  north  and  south,  or  parallel  to  the  valley  of  the  base-level 
plain  here,  while  the  short  arm  lies  nearly  at  right  angles  to  the  long  one  and  runs 
eastward  from  it,  but  does  not  reach  to  the  bluffs  at  the  rock  gorge.  The  kame 
rises  to  a  height  of  25  to  40  feet  above  the  base-level  plain,  and  is  from  100  to  300 
yards  in  width.  It  overlies  the  clayey  deposit  of  the  subjacent  plain^  as  proved  by 
excavations  into  the  gravel  which  reached  the  clay  below,  a  thickness  of  11  feet  of 
the  latter  being  here  noted. 

On  the  base-level  plain  of  the  Conoquenessing,  which  is  half  a  mile  wide  and 
typically  developed  for  about  -t  miles  up  that  stream  and  half  a  mile  back  from  Rock 
Point,  there  is  another  kame  about  200  yards  in  length  and  40  feet  in  its  greatest 
height.  On  its  surface  it  bears  a  typical  kettle  hole,  and  also  another  partly  formed. 
The  direction  of  this  kame  is  approximately  north  and  south,  or  at  right  angles  to 
the  Conoquenessing  Valley  at  this  point.     The  Ellwood  Short  Line  Railroad  cuts 

^Glacial  grooves  at  the  southern  margin  of  the  drift,  by  P.  M.  Foshay  and  R.  R.  Hice:  BulL 
Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  II,  1891,  p.  460. 

MON    XLI 29 


450  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

through  the  highest  part  of  the  kame,  and  the  exposed  section  shows  stratified  sand 
and  gravel,  with  nunierous  bowlders  up  to  1  foot  in  diameter. 

On  the  western  side  of  the  Beaver,  just  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Conoque- 
nessing  Valley,  but  more  than  half  a  mile  back  from  the  rock  gorge,  there  are  two 
smaller  kame-like  deposits  of  gravel  which  abut  against  the  western-bounding  hill  of 
the  base-level  plain;  also  at  Clinton,  farther  southward,  there  is  another  good-sized 
kame-like  deposit.     All  these  lie  on  the  base-level  plain. 

Near  the  south  border  of  these  morainic  knolls  in  the  Beaver  Valley, 
at  the  mouth  of  Clarks  Run,  a  deposit  of  gravel  sets  in  which  is  apparently 
the  outwash  from  the  ice  sheet  at  the  Wisconsin  stage  of  glaciation.  It  is 
markedly  fresher  than  the  g-ravel  which  caps  the  gradation  plain  farther 
south,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Beaver.  The  altitude  at  the  head  is  about  875 
feet  above  tide,  or  nearly  the  same  as  the  gradation  plain,  but  it  falls  to  800 
feet  in  the  10  miles  to  the  mouth  of  the  Beaver,  and  the  remnants  of  it 
along  the  edge  of  the  Beaver  gorge  appear  at  levels  between  875  and  800 
feet.  This  deposit  at  the  mouth  of  Clarks  Run  has  been  cited  b}'  Wright 
as  a  delta  accumulation  of  the  same  age  as  the  Illinoian  di-ift  in  the  Ohio 
Valley  near  Ciiicinnati,  and  formed  in  a  lake  supposed  to  have  been  pro- 
duced by  the  obstruction  of  the  Ohio  by  the  ice  sheet.'  But  such  an  inter- 
pretation can  not  be  maintained  if  the  deposit  is  of  Wisconsin  age  (as  seems 
to  be  the  case),  for  the  Ohio  was  not  occupied  by  the  ice  sheet  at  that  time. 
The  coarseness  of  the  gravel  deposits  below  the  mouth  of  Clarks  Run  also 
favor  the  view  that  a  stream  of  considerable  vigor  was  discharging  through 
the  Beaver  into  the  Ohio. 

In  Little  Beaver  Valley,  near  the  line  of  Beaver  and  Lawrence  counties, 
a  gravel  plain  heads  in  the  moraine.  The  latter  consists  of  sharp  knolls 
and  ridges  20  feet  or  more  in  height.  It  here  lies  back  a  short  distance 
from  the  glacial  boundary,  there  being  considerable  till  along  the  borders 
of  the  valley  of  Little  Beaver  River  as  far  south  as  Darlington,  2  to  3  miles 
south  of  the  moraine.  The  till  in  this  extramorainic  tract,  as  noted  in  the 
discussion  of  the  early  Wisconsin  drift,  is  plentiful  in  the  lowlands  and 
around  the  base  of  the  hills,  but  there  is  little,  if  any,  on  tlie  highlands.  It 
has  not  a  hummocky  surface,  like  the  moraine.  With  the  exception  of  an 
occasional  low  swell,  its  sm-face  is  plane. 

'Additional  evidence  bearing  upon  the  glacial  history  of  the  Upper  Ohio  Valley,  Vjy  G.  F. 
Wright:  Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  XI,  1893,  pp.  195-199. 

Continuity  of  the  Glacial  period,  by  G.  F.  Wright:  Aia.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series,  Vol,  XLVII,  1894, 
pp.  162-166. 


MAIN  MOEAINIC  SYSTEM  IN  THE  GRAND  ElVER  LOBE.       451 

111  Columbiana  and  Mahoning  counties,  Ohio,  the  drift  knolls  are 
grouped  irregularly,  some  sections  having  a  very  hummocky  surface,  while 
others  have  only  scattering  drift  knolls.  The  outer  border  of  the  moraine 
was  not  studied  sufficiently  to  warrant  a  description  of  the  terraces  con- 
nected with  it.  It  was  noted,  however,  that  in  the  so-called  "fringe"  Wright 
has,  in  portions  of  Columbiana  County,  included  moraine  hillocks  of  as 
characteristic  a  type  as  those  in  the  main  moraine,  from  which  it  appears 
that  his  mapping  of  the  "fringe"  encroaches  somewhat  on  the  moraine.  For 
example,  at  Bayard  and  east  from  there  toward  East  Rochester  the  valley 
of  Little  Sandy  Creek  contains  numerous  sharp  drift  knolls  and  ridges,  10 
to  15  feet  high,  among  which  are  sharply  defined  basins,  the  contours  of 
the  moraine  hillocks  here  being  fully  as  sharp  as  anywhere  in  the  belt. 
The  sharpness  of  contour  renders  it  improbable  that  these  knolls  are  much 
older  than  the  main  moraine,  and  the  topography  is  such  as  to  make  them 
a  part  of  the  moraine  rather  than  of  the  outlying  drift. 

The  moraine  is  well  developed  from  Bayard  northward  nearlj^  to 
Alliance,  both  in  the  lowland  tract  which  the  Cleveland  and  Pittsburg 
Railway  utilizes  and  the  highlands  each  side,  and  no  perceptible  break 
occurs  to  warrant  its  being  distinctly  separated  from  the  main  belt.  A  few 
miles  to  the  west,  however,  the  outer  portion  becomes  distinctly  sepai-ated 
by  a  nearly  plane  interval  2  or  3  miles  wide.  The  outer  belt  carries  low 
drift  knolls  5  to  15  feet  high,  among  which  are  shallow  basins  of  fresh 
appearance.  Bowlders  are  very  numerous.  The  main  belt  from  the 
meridian  of  Bayard  northwestward  to  the  interlobate  moraine  contains 
knolls  and  ridges  20  to  40  feet  high,  and  shows  an  increasing  sharpness 
upon  approaching  the  interlobate  tract. 

The  interlobate  tract  has  for  2  or  3  miles  eastward  from  the  Cleveland 
and  Canton  Railway  (which  it  is  thought  may  follow  nearly  the  border 
between  the  glacial  lobes)  clusters  of  knolls  and  ridges  15  to  50  feet  or 
more  in  height,  alternating  with  or  surrounding  basins  and  marshy  tracts 
occupied  by  lakes  or  ponds.  Farther  east  a  gentle  swell-and-sag  topography 
is  fouiM.  In  the  vicinity  of  Ravenna  and  north  from  there  through  Shalers- 
ville  Township,  Portage  County,  there  are  large  gravelly  knolls  30  to  50 
feet  or  more  in  height,  arranged  usually  in  groups.  There  are  also  lakes 
and  marshes  of  considerable  extent,  some  of  the  larger  ones  having  an  area 
of  2  or  3  square  miles.     South  of  Ravenna  the  marshes  and  lakelets  are 


452  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

usually  smaller,  though  some  Dear  Hartsville  are  equally  large.  North 
from  Shalersville  Township  there  is  but  little  aggregation  into  knolls  along 
the  east  side  of  the  Cuyahoga.  The  ice  from  the  Grand  River  lobe  striated 
the  hills  of  Hiram  Township,  and  probably  extended  as  far  west  as  the 
river;  but  the  moraine  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  was  apparently  formed 
by  ice  which  approached  from  the  northwest,  and  is  accordingly  discussed 
later  in  connection  with  the  district  covered  by  that  portion  of  the  ice 
sheet  (pp.  545-546,  550-551). 

STKUCTUEE    AND    THICKNESS    OF    DRIFT. 

In  Pennsylvania  the  moraine  throughout  the  greater  part  of  its  course 
consists  mainly  of  a  loose  sandy  till,  there  being  a  smaller  amount  of  clay 
than  is  commonly  found  in  the  till  of  less  rugged  districts.  However,  there 
are  places  on  the  uplands,  both  in  the  midst  of  the  moraine  and  in  the  inner 
border  district,  where  a  stiff  clay  occurs. 

In  Ohio  the  moraine  contains  much  till,  which  is  of  a  looser  character 
than  that  on  the  plains  that  lie  between  it  and  Lake  Erie.  This  difference 
leads  to  an  important  agricultural  distinction,  tlie  loose  and  warm  soil  of  the 
moraine  being  called  "wheat  land,"  while  the  compact  and  cold  soil  of  the 
tract  between  this  morainic  system  and  Lake  Erie  is  called  clay  land  or 
"dairy  land."  This  distinction  does  not  prevail  so  strikingly  now  as  when 
the  country  was  first  settled,  for  by  an  extensive  system  of  underdraining 
by  tile  the  soil  of  the  dairy  land  has  been  opened  and  rendered  warm. 
The  richness  of  soil  does  not  appear  to  differ  greatly  in  the  two  districts, 
and  there  is  no  apparent  reason  why  the  dairy  land  may  not  in  time  become 
good  wheat  land. 

The  interlobate  moraine  west  of  the  Grand  River  Basin  contains  many 
gravel  knolls  along  its  central  portion,  but  the  eastern  and  western  borders 
carry  a  large  preponderance  of  till.  The  till  along  the  eastern  border  of 
the  moraine,  from  Ravenna  southward  to  Alliance,  is  very  compact,  and  this 
area  is  called  a  "clay  district,"  being  similar  to  the  clay  or  dairy  lands  of 
the  inner  border  plains. 

In  Pennsylvania  the  amount  of  drift  is  not  sufficient  to  conceal  the 
main  preglacial  ridges  and  valleys,  though,  as  shown  in  Chapter  III,  it  has 
altered  the  drainage  systems  to  some  extent.  In  Ohio  only  the  larger  hills 
and  ridges  rise  above  a  general  level  to  which  the  drift  filling  reaches,  and 
changes  of  drainage  are  much  greater  than  in  Pennsylvania,  portions  of 


MAIN  MOKAINIC  SYSTEM  IN  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.       453 

some  of  the  large  streams  being  in  new  channels.  For  example,  the  Cuya- 
hoga, from  Kent  to  the  bend  near  Akron,  is  in  an  entirely  new  channel,  and 
the  preglacial  course  of  the  outlet  of  the  upper  Cuyahoga  is  not  known, 
the  drift  sheet  being  so  thick  as  to  conceal  quite  effectually  the  preglacial 
ridges  and  valleys  north,  west,  and  south  from  Kent,  and  to  some  extent 
east  from  that  city.  In  the  main,  however,  eastern  Ohio,  like  northwestern 
Pennsylvania,  has  not  sufficient  di-ift  to  conceal  the  main  preglacial  valleys 
and  ridges.  In  both  States  the  channels  have  been  filled  to  such  an 
extent  and  in  such  a  manner  as  to  cause  the  present  direction  of  flow  to  be 
frequently  the  reverse  of  the  ancient,  or  to  have  otherwise  changed  the 
drainage,  so  that  much  uncertainty  attaches  to  the  mapping  of  preglacial 
or  interglacial  drainage  systems. 

In  the  following  report  of  well  sections  appear  many  which  have 
already  been  published  by  the  Pennsylvania  Geological  Survey,  as  well 
as  those  collected  by  the  writer: 

The  section  of  a  well  in  the  Chautauqua  Valley  at  Jamestown,  N.  Y., 
reported  by  Gilbert  D.  Harris,'  shows  220  feet  of  drift.  The  altitude  of  the 
well  mouth  is  1,325  feet.  A  well  with  similar  altitude  at  Bemis  Point 
reached  a  depth  of  310  feet  without  entering  rock. 

For  the  Conewango  Valley  Carll  has,  in  his  report  of  Warren  County, 
Pa.,^  a  tabulated  record  of  the  amount  of  drive  pipe  used  in  42  wells  along 
the  valley  from  the  State  line  southward  to  Warren.  From  this  table  it 
appears  that  the  drift  ranges  in  thickness  from  50  to  270  feet.  Fifteen  of 
the  42  wells  pass  through  over  100  feet  of  drift  and  24  pass  through  90  feet 
or  more.  It  is  Carll's  opinion  that  the  wells  which  show  a  relatively  small 
amount  of  drift  are  not  in  the  deep  part  of  the  ancient  chaimel.  They  are 
all,  however,  in  the. Valley  bottom,  the  range  in  altitude  of  the  well  mouth 
being  from  1,188  feet  in  Warren  to  1,240  feet  at  the  State  line,  with  no 
wells  between  whose  mouths  are  more  than  20  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
one  at  the  State  line.  The  valley  floor  shows  a  range  from  964  to  1,162 
feet  above  tide.  The  character  of  the  drift  is  reported  onl)  for  the  well  at 
the  State  line,  where  it  consists  of  blue  clay  to  a  depth  of  245  feet,  below 
which  is  25  feet  of  gravel  and  clay. 

In  the  valley  of  Jacksons  Run,  near  Chandlers  Valley,  a  well  sunk  by 

1  Am.  Geologist,  March,  1891. 

'■'  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Rejit.  I*,  p,  309. 


454  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Henry  Lawson  penetrated  75  feet  of  drift,  but  several  wells  in  Chandlers 
Valley  strike  rock  at  20  to  30  feet. 

In  the  valley  of  Little  Brokenstraw  Creek  at  Lottsville  is  a  well 
showing  an  extraordinary  amount  of  drift,  450  feet,  and  the  well  did  not 
reach  the  rock.     Carll  furnished  the  following  record.' 

Section  of  Smith  loell,  or  Lottsville  No.  2. 

Feet. 

1.  Surface  loam  and  some  gravel 8 

2.  River  gravel,  not  coarse  nor  fine,  medium 22 

3.  Quicksand 7 

4.  Clay,  with  some  seams  of  quicksand  and  occasionally  a  few  pieces  of  gravel  pronounced  to  be 

limestone 163 

5.  Alternating  bands  of  quicksand  and  fine  and  coarse  gravel  of  many  colors 200 

6.  Clay - 30 

7.  Sand  and  gravel 20 

Total - - 450 

Authority,  A.  M.  Smith,  one  of  the  owners. 

AVell  mouth  above  ocean  in  feet  (barometric) ,  1,410. 

In  connection  with  this  section  Mr.  Smith  stated  that  the  record  was 
given  from  memory,  since  they  had  thought  to  begin  a  written  record  when 
they  entered  the  rock;  but  after  driving  450  feet  of  pipe  with  no  more 
indication  of  rock  than  at  35  feet,  the  undertaking  was  abandoned.  In  a 
footnote^  Carll  makes  the  following  remarks  concerning  this  deeply  eroded 
valle3^  at  Lotts^dlle: 

It  can  not  be  questioned,  however,  that  a  remarkably  deep  valley  was  eroded 
here,  and  inasmuch  as  we  have  evidence  in  other  places  of  deep  cuttings  that  seem 
uncalled  for  on  the  theor}'  of  regular  slopes  to  old  stream  beds,  it  suggests  the  inquiry 
whether  the  under  ice  currents,  under  certain  peculiar  combinations  of  circumstances, 
might  not  be  capable  of  excavating  in  'soft  measures  to  a  considerable  depth  below 
the  level  of.  the  main  outlet  for  the  subglacial  waters. 

It  is  the  present  writer's  opinion  that  this  interpretation  may  be  appli- 
cable to  this  and  other  valleys  in  which  a  remarkably  low  altitude  of  the 
valley  floors  near  the  inner  border  of  the  moraine  have  been  found. 

An  analysis  of  clay  from  this  well,  taken  from  a  depth  of  150  feet,  was 
made  by  A.  S.  McCreath  at  the  State  laboratory,  and  with  it  is  given  Mr. 
McCreath's  analysis  of  clay  from  the  "gravel  pit"  oil  wells  near  Titusville.^ 

'  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Kept.  I*,  p.  233. 
^Ibid.,  pp.  234-235. 
'Ibid.,  p.  235. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  IN  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.       455 

Analyses  of  clay  from  wells  at  Lottsville  and  Titusville. 


Smith's  well.       Titusville 


Silica 

Alumina 

Protoxide  of  iron 

Lime 

Magnesia 

Alkalies 

Titanic  acid 

Carbonic  acid  and  water 

Total 


Per  cent. 
65.12 
15. 939 
5.464 
1.55 
1.848 
3.58 
.75 
6.00 


Per  cent 
51.01 
20.93 
6.831 
3.01 
2.511 
4.  372 
1.09 
9.619 


100.  251 


99.  373 


Carll  reports^  drift  at  Spring  Creek  station,  on  Big  Brokenstraw  Creek, 
137  feet  thick,  and  near  that  station  drift  200  feet.  The  structure  is  not 
made  known. 

A  well  at  Major  Mills's,  3  miles  southeast  of  Spartansburg,  was  reported 
by  J.  Smith,  of  Union  City,  to  have  penetrated  214  feet  of  drift.  Though 
in  a  valley  the  altitude  is  probably  1,600  feet.  The  drift  consists  of  gravel 
and  cobble  in  the  upper  100  feet  and  of  alternations  of  till,  gravel,  and 
sand  in  the  remainder  of  the  well  section. 

A  well  near  the  railway  summit  between  Corry  and  Spartansburg  is 
reported  by  White"  to  have  penetrated  150  feet  of  drift.  The  well  mouth 
is  1,575  feet  above  tide,  or  about  200  feet  below  the  bordering  uplands. 

In  Corry  two  wells  at  the  Downer  oil  works,  near  the  Erie  station  and 
at  about  the  same  level  (1,431  feet  above  tide),  are  reported  by  T.  A.  Allen 
to  have  eacli  penetrated  about  175  feet  of  drift,  the  greater  part  of  which 
is  sand  and  gravel.  Carll  reports  a  welP  at  the  Downer  oil  works  which 
penetrates  only  48  feet  of  diift;  his  authority  is  also  T.  A.  Allen.  There 
is  possibly  an  error  recorded  in  the  present  report,  since  Mr.  Allen  gave  the 
thickness  of  drift  from  memory  after  a  lapse  of  about  twelve  years. 

In  the  east  part  of  Corry  a  well  was  recently  put  down  by  Thomas 
Pine  which  penetrated  201  feet  of  drift  and  of  which  a  careful  record  was 
kept.     It  passed  through  16  feet  of  till  and  gravel  at  the  top,  below  which 

^  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Kept.  I',  p.  29. 
='Ibid.,Rept.  Q*,pp.36,227. 
'Ibid.,Rept.  I*,p.  228. 


456 


GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


is  185  feet  of  a  blue  gray  clay  or  very  fine  sand,  described  to  be  "without 
grit."  A  soft  shale  was  then  penetrated  to  a  depth  of  13  feet,  where  water 
-was  struck  which  rises  above  the  surface  and  forms  a  strong  artesian  well. 
The  altitude  of  the  well  mouth  is  about  1,415  feet  above  tide. 

White  reports^  a  well  1  mile  south  of  Concord,  in  Erie  County,  Pa., 
which  penetrated  119  feet  of  drift.  The  altitude  of  the  well  mouth  is  1,375 
feet. 

Along  Oil  Creek,  in  Crawford  County,  several  deep  wells  have  been 
sunk  which  penetrated  heavy  di-ift  deposits,  of  which  the  following  is  a 
tabulated  statement: 

TcMe  of  wells  along  Oil  Creek. 


Thickness 
of  drift. 

Altitude  of 
well  mouth. 

Altitude  of 
rock  floor. 

Feci. 

Feel. 

Feet. 

150 

1,575 

1,425 

75 

1,310 

1,235 

100 

1,270 

1,170 

80 

1,300 

1,220 

100 

1,290 

1,190 

60 

1,290 

1,230 

160 

1,270 

1,110 

200 

1,265 

1,065 

•  160 

? 

? 

190 

1,240 

1,050 

226 

1,260 

1,034 

180 

1,240 

1,060 

Head  of  Oil  Creek,  north  of  Spartansburg. 

Nickle's  well,  near  Glyndon 

Kinney's,  1  mile  northeast  of  Centerville.. 
Phillip's,  1  mile  northeast  of  Centerville  .. 
Well  one-half  mile  northeast  of  Centerville 

Centerville 

Tryonville,  near  bridge 

Preston  farm,  below  Tryonville 

Gray's  well,  below  Tryonville 

Reed  estate,  above  Hydetown 

Gray's  well,  above  Hydetown 

Bartlett's  well  at  Hydetown 


White. 

Leverett. 

White. 

Leverett. 

White. 

Leverett. 

White. 

White. 

White. 

White. 

Carll. 

Leverett. 


In  the  well  records  collected  by  the  writer  assorted  material  constitutes 
the  bulk  of  the  section;  in  those  collected  by  the  geologists  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania survey  the  character  of  the  drift  is  not  reported. 

On  the  uplands  west  of  Hydetown,  at  an  altitude  about  300  feet  above 
the  creek,  there  are  wells  which  have  a  larger  amount  of  drift  than  is  com- 
mon outside  the  main  valleys.  They  are  on  a  small  tributary  of  East  Sugar 
Creek.  One  on  F.  B.  Schreiner's  farm  penetrated  190  feet,  and  one  on  Mr. 
Totham's  farm  178  feet,  and  a  second  one  on  the  same  farm  60  feet  of  drift. 
These  were  reported  by  Mr.  Aikin,  of  Hydetown,  who  assisted  in  drilling 
them.     Mr.  Aikin  states  that  they  show  a  much  larger  amount  of  drift  than 


'  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Rept.  Q*,  p.  234. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  IN  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.       457 

is  commonly  met  with,  the  rock  usually  being  struck  at  30  feet  or  less  on 
the  uplands.  A  well  at  Mr.  Mosier's,  2  miles  northeast  of  Townville,  in  a 
lowland  tract  near  the  head  of  Muddy  Creek,  has  125  feet  of  drift. 

White  notes^  a  well  with  130  feet  of  drift  on  East  Sugar  Creek  in 
southeastern  Crawford  County  near  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine.  The 
altitude  of  the  well  mouth  is  1,260  feet.  Several  other  wells  along  Sugar 
Creek  betweec  the  moraine  and  Coopertown  peneti-ated  100  feet  or  more  of 
drift.  The  well  mouths  are,  as  a  rule,  but  15  to  20  feet  above  the  creek. 
At  Coopertown  the  drift  extends  about  60  feet  below  the  flood  plain  of  the 
creek,  and  at  the  mouth  of  Sugar  Creek  near  the  Venango  Infirmary,  at  a 
level  about  1,000  feet  above  tide  it  extends  but  30  feet  below  the  present 
flood  plain,  as  shown  by  several  wells.  "White  reports^  a  well  with  80  feet 
of  drift  on  West  Sugar  Creek  near  Sugar  Lake. 

In  the  valley  of  French  Creek  several  wells  show  a  large  amount  of 
drift.  White  mentions^  a  well  4  miles  below  Meadville,  which  penetrated 
285  feet  of  drift  and  did  not  reach  rock,  though  265  feet  below  the  present 
stream  and  at  the  bottom  only  about  800  feet  above  tide.  Cai-11  in  several 
places'*  refers  to  a  well  near  that  locality  (which  is  perhaps  the  same  one) 
by  which  he  was  enabled  to  fix  the  level  of  the  rock  floor  at  800  feet 
above  tide. 

A  well  at  Valonia,  a  suburb  of  Meadville,  sunk  b}'  the  Meadville  Dis- 
tillery Company  in  the  autumn  of  1891,  shows  a  larger  amount  of  drift  than 
has  been  brought  to  notice  elsewhere  in  the  district  covered  by  the  Grand 
River  lobe.  It  was  reported  by  Xeno  Putnam,  of  Harmonsburg,  Pa.,  who 
obtained  the  statistics  from  the  well  driller.  The  well  is  about  one-fourth 
mile  above  the  junction  of  French  and  Cussewago  creeks  and  midwaj- 
between  the  two  streams.  Its  mouth  is  about  8  feet  above  French  Creek, 
or  1,075  feet  above  tide.  The  following  is  the  section  as  reported.  Prob- 
ably Nos.  1  and  2  are  alluvium. 

'  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Kept.  Q*,  p.  180. 

2  Ibid.,  Kept.  Q*,  p.  34. 

'Ibid.,  Rept.  Q*,  p.  167. 

*Ibid.,  Rept.  P,  pp.  356,  357,  358,  359. 


458  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Section  of  drift  in  French  Creeh  Valley  near  Meadville. 

feet. 

1.  Soil  (alluvium) 10 

2.  Drift  (alluvium) - 8 

3.  Gravel  27 

4.  Blue  clay 30 

5.  Quicksand 325 

6.  Gravel  75 

Distance  to  rock 475 

The  rock  surface  is  therefore  about  600  feet  above  tide  and  only  27 
feet  above  the  surface  of  Lake  Erie.  Putnam  also  reports  a  well  made  by 
Mr.  Flood  in  the  midst  of  the  valley  near  the  Meadville  post-office  which 
has  182  feet  of  drift.  No  other  wells  have  been  reported  from  the  midst 
of  the  valley  in  Meadville,  consequently  the  breadth  of  the  deep  portion 
is  not  known.  Possibly  there  was  excessive  cutting  here,  such  as  Carll 
suggested  for  the  Lottsville  gorge  (p.  454). 

kX,  Cochran  ton  a  well  at  the  creamery  penetrated  156  feet  of  drift 
without  reaching  rock.  The  altitude  of  the  well  mouth  is  1,064  feet.  The 
following  is  the  section  as  reported  by  the  well  driller: 

Section  of  well  at  Cochrantmi,  Pa. 

Feet. 

1.  Gravel  and  sand  with  some  cobble  and  bowlderets 40 

2.  Blue  pebbly  claj'  (till?) 105 

3.  Gray  and  blue  sands,  with  gravel  at  bottom  of  well 10 

Total  depth 155 

N.  R.  Pressler,  of  Cochranton,  states  that  an  oil  well  boring  4  miles 
below  Cochranton,  near  the  east  side  of  the  valley,  on  ground  about  1,130 
feet  above  tide,  has  155  feet  of  drift,  and  another  a  few  rods  distant  has  136 
feet.  From  these  wells  a  lowland  tract  connects  toward  the  southeast 
with  Sugar  Creek  Valley  below  Coopertown.  This  lowland  or  valley  is 
interpreted  to  be  the  old  channel  of  the  Middle  Allegheny  discharging  to 
the  Lake  Erie  Basin,  as  shown  in  Chapter  IIL 

About  4  miles  northeast  of  Cochranton,  in  a  small  valley  near  Decker 
Run  post-office,  a  well  penetrated  71  feet  of  drift  and  obtained  a  flow  of 
water  from  the  rock  at  78  feet.     The  drift  in  this  well  is  nearly  all  gravel. 

In  the  lower  part  of  French  Creek  Valley,  for  4  or  5  miles  above  its 
mouth,  oil  wells  are  very  numerous,  and  so  far  as  learned  none  of  them 
pass  through  more  than  60  feet  of  drift.  The  rock  floor  is  950  to  975  feet 
above  tide,  or  350  to  375  feet  higher  than  it  is  25  miles  upstream  at  the 
distillery  well  near  Meadville,  reported  above. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  IN  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.       459 

In  nortlieastern  Mercer  County  there  is  an  extensive  elevated  tract  in 
which  the  drift  is,  as  a  rule,  30  feet  or  more  in  thickness.  On  its  surface 
bowlderets  are  very  numerous. 

In  Big'  Sandy  Creek  Valley,  at  Polk  Station  (Waterloo),  rock  is  struck 
at  about  the  level  of  the  creek  bed,  the  thickness  of  drift  being  30  to  45 
feet.  At  Raymilton  there  are  many  borings  for  oil,  and  none  of  them  show 
an  ancient  channel  excavated  below  the  level  of  the  present  creek  bed. 
The  greatest  amount  of  drift  penetrated  in  the  village  was  in  William 
Raymond's  borings,  which  are  on  a  terrace  about  50  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  creek.  Two  borings  here  penetrated  54  feet  of  drift.  At  James  Winan's, 
2^  miles  above  Raymilton,  a  boring  near  the  creek  passed  through  87  feet 
of  drift,  striking  the  rock  floor  about  20  feet  below  the  level  at  Raymilton 
In  the  village  of  Sandy  Lake,  Hugh  Baird  made  a  well  on  a  drift  knoll  at 
his  residence,  which  did  not  reach  rock  at  120  feet.  It  was  principally  in 
blue  till.  At  Stoneboro,  on  the  south  side  of  Sandy  Lake,  a  well  at  the 
ice  houses,  110  feet  deep,  did  not  strike  rock,  though  it  reached  a  level  40 
feet  below  the  level  of  the  rock  floor  at  Raymilton.  From  Sandy  Lake  a 
swampy  valley  leads  west  to  Little  Shenango  Creek,  whose  summit  is  but 
a  few  feet  above  the  level  of  the  lake.  Were  the  drift  removed  at  the 
^jresent  divide  its  altitude  would  be  lower  than  at  Raymilton,  and  it  is  not 
improbable  that  in  preglacial  times  there  was  a  divide  near  that  village, 
the  valley  being  much  narrower  there  than  at  Sandy  Lake. 

Along  the  Little  Shenango  the  drift  is  of  unknown  depth.  Mrs.  Had- 
ley's  well  at  Hadley  station,  about  9  miles  below  the  Sandy  Lake  Swamp, 
is  nearly  200  feet  deep  and  reaches  a  level  about  100  feet  below  the  creek 
and  80  feet  below  the  rock  floor  at  Raymilton,  yet  sti'ikes  no  rock.  No 
other  records  of  deep  wells  along  this  stream  were  obtained. 

On  the  uplands  in  eastern  Mercer  County  and  one-half  mile  west  of 
Harrisville,  near  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine,  a  well  at  Mr.  Barnes's 
residence,  25  feet  in  depth,  does  not  strike  rock.  It  penetrates  8  to  10  feet 
of  oxidized  till,  and  then  blue  till  to  a  depth  of  23  feet,  where  a  sand  bed  is 
reached.  About  50  rods  east  of  this  is  the  eastern  border  of  the  moraine, 
and  a  rock  ridge  neai'by  rises  to  a  height  of  20  to  30  feet  above  the  mouth 
of  Mr.  Barnes's  well. 

At  Harrisville^ is  a  gravel  plain  formed  as  an  outwash  apron  to  the 
moraine.     In  it  wells  obtain  water  at  12  to  15  feet. 


460  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

In  Neshamiock  Valley  east  of  Mercer  the  drift  in  an  oil  boring-  made 
several  years  ago  was  thought  by  citizens  of  Mercer  to  be  fully  100  feet  in 
thickness.  In  the  valley  of  Neshannock  Creek  at  Leesburg,  in  southern 
Mercer  County,  White  reports^  a  well  Avhich  penetrated  90  feet  of  sand 
and  silt,  reaching  a  level  80  feet  below  the  creek. 

In  the  west  part  of  Newcastle  Mr.  Davison  has  a  well  150  feet  deep 
which  extends  to  a  level  50  feet  below  the  Shenango  River  and  does  not 
reach  rock;  it  is  principally  through  till,  but  has  some  quicksand  interstrat- 
ified.  In  the  north  part  of  Newcastle  there  are  heavy  deposits  of  gravel 
which  have  a  capping  of  till  a  few  feet  thick,  some  excavations  showing  a 
depth  of  50  to  60  feet  of  gravel.  The  top  of  the  gravel  is  about  900  feet 
above  tide,  or  115  to  120  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Shenango  River.  In  the 
southern  part  of  the  city,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  many  exposures  of  the 
drift  are  made  in  grading  streets.  They  show  an  interbedding  of  till  and 
gravel,  the  beds  lying  in  oblique  attitudes,  rising  usually  toward  the  south. 
In  one  exposure  the  till  is  interbedded  with  a  fine  sand,  and  both  are  arched 
and  disturbed.  In  this  exposure  considerable  variation  in  the  color  of  the 
till  is  displayed,  some  of  it  being  a  very  dark  blue,  while  both  above  and 
below  it  there  is  a  yellow  or  brown  till.  In  one  exposure  a  thin  bed  of  blue 
till  rises  toward  the  south  and  thins  out,  finally  disappearing  at  a  level  about 
15  feet  above  the  northern  end  of  the  exposure,  2  or  3  rods  distant.  There 
are  also  exposures  where  poorly  assorted  gravel,  cobble,  and  small  bowlders 
are  imbedded  together  in  a  matrix  of  sand.  In  the  extreme  south  end  of 
the  city  large  gravel  pits  are  opened,  in  one  of  which  the  following  peculiar 
exposure  was  found :  There  is  assorted  material  next  the  bluff's,  the  lower 
portion  of  which  grades  horizontally  into  till  in  the  direction  of  the  valley, 
and  this  till  is  overlain  by  gravel  in  contorted  beds,  as  if  disturbed  by  the 
ice  sheet  after  deposition;  j^et  this  upper  gravel  has  a  nearly  plant  surface 
like  a  terrace. 

White  reports"  a  well  in  Newcastle,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Neslian- 
nock,  made  by  Reis,  Brown,  and  Bergher,  which  penetrated  (1)  gravel  15 
feet,  (2)  blue  mud  and  quicksand  125  feet,  and  here  struck  "slate."  The 
altitude  of  the  well  mouth  is  803  feet  above  tide.  Mention  is  also  made  in 
a  general  way  ^  of  several  deep  drift  sections  from  near  the  junction  of  the 
Mahoning  and  Shenango  and  along  Beaver  River. 

*  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  JRept.  Q',  p.  83.     ^Ibid.,  Rept.  Q^  p.  184.     "Ibid.,  Rapt.  Q',  pp. 
13-18. 


MAIN  MORAINIC  SYSTEM  IN  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.       461 

In  the  vicinity  of  Edenburg  several  wells  were  drilled  at  the  time  of 
the  oil  excitement  of  1861  to  1864.  They  showed  the  existence  of  a  broad 
deep  valley  there  that  in  places  extends  175  to  200  feet  below  the  lowland 
tract  along  the  river,  or  to  a  level  scarcely  600  feet  above  tide.  The 
significance  of  this  deep  excavation  is  discussed  on  pp.  150-151. 

Near  Mount  Jackson,  on  the  uplands  west  of  Beaver  River,  at  an 
altitude  about  1,200  feet  above  tide,  White  notes  ^  wells  40  feet  deep  as 
not  reaching  rock,  and  also^  drift  30  feet  thick  on  the  uplands  bordering 
Beaver  River  near  Wampum  at  an  altitude  275  feet  above  the  stream.  The 
latter  point  is  very  near  the  southern  margin  of  the  drift. 

Near  New  Galilee  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Railroad 
has  a  large  gravel  pit,  a  brief  description  of  which  is  given  by  White.^ 
It  has  a  depth  of  60  feet  and  exposes  "rounded  bowlders  of  granite,  lime- 
stone, sandstone,  etc.,  together  with  fragments  of  coal  and  much  coarse  sand, 
filling  up  the  intervals  between  the  bowlders  and  also  occurring  in  irregular 
lenticular  masses  by  itself"  The  top  of  this  pit  is  stated  by  White  to  be 
130  feet  above  Little  Beaver  River.  In  the  publication  referred  to,  Pro- 
fessor White  considered  it  a  remnant  of  a  terrace,  but  in  a  subsequent  report  ^ 
he  considers  it  independent  of  Little  Beaver  River.  His  later  decision  is 
sustained  by  the  fact  that  the  moraine-headed  terrace  on  this  creek  is  but 
15  to  20  feet  above  the  stream  at  the  point  where  it  leaves  the  moraine. 

In  Cokunbiana,  County,  Ohio,  no  wells  showing  a  large  amount  of 
drift  have  come  to  the  writer's  knowledge.  The  general  thickness  on  the 
uplands  is  as  great  as  in  western  Pennsylvania,  and  it  is  probable  that  some 
of  the  valleys  are  deeply  filled  with  drift. 

In  Mahoning  County,  Ohio,  heavy  drift  deposits  are  exposed  along  the 
south  bluff  of  Mahoning  River,  the  thickness  in  places  being  as  great  as 
75  feet.  In  the  liver  valley  several  deep  wells  have  been  made  which  show 
a  variable  thickness  of  drift.  Two  borings  at  Niles  were  reported  by 
Foshay  to  penetrate  a  large  amount  of  drift;  one  at  the  Niles  Rolling  Mill 
has  190  feet,  striking  rock  at  a  level  about  170  feet  below  the  river  bed; 
the  other  at  a  farm  house  north  of  the  city  is  175  feet  deep  and  does  not 
reach  rock,  though  it  terminates  at  a  level  about  150  feet  below  the  river. 

Between  Niles  and  the  State  line  no  borings  in  the  Mahoning  Valley 

'  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Eept.  Q^,  p.  8.  '  Ibid.,  Kept.  Q'',  p.  14. 

''Ibid.,  Kept.  Q^  p.  7.  -"Ibid.,  Kept.  Q^,  p.  17. 


462  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

are  reported  which  have  so  much  as  100  feet  of  drift.  One  at  Haselton 
has  90  feet  as  reported  by  Foshay,  and  84  feet  as  reported  in  Geology  of 
Ohio.  At  Lowellville  the  valley  bottom  is  underlain  at  slight  depth  by 
rock,  and  the  river  has  a  rock  bed.  If  a  deep  channel  exists  there  it  must 
be  very  narrow. 

On  the  uplands  south  of  Youngstown,  in  the  vicinity  of  Boardman, 
borings  for  coal  on  George  Baldwin's  farm  penetrate  about  100  feet  of  drift, 
and  on  Emery  Titus's  farm  near  by,  90  feet  of  drift  was  penetrated,  but  on 
adjacent  farms  and  in  the  village  of  Boardman  rock  is  struck  at  slight 
depth.  There  is  nothing  in  the  topograph}^  at  Baldwin's  or  Titus's  to 
indicate  an  ancient  valley,  the  altitude  being  about  that  of  the  general 
level  of  the  uplands. 

In  Stark  County  wells  on  the  uplands  in  the  vicinity  of  Freeburg 
penetrate  30  to  40  feet  of  drift,  mainly  till;  the  thickness  in  the  valleys  is 
not  known,  the  majority  of  wells  being  but  20  to  30  feet  deep.  In  the 
interlobate  moraine,  a  well  at  the  elevator  at  Hartsville,  in  northern  Stark 
County,  45  feet  deep,  does  not  reach  rock.  At  Congress  Lake,  just  north 
of  Hartsville,  the  Cleveland  and  Canton  Railway  Company  have  di'iven 
spiles  to  a  depth  of  65  feet  without  reaching  rock. 

In  Portage  County  several  wells  show  a  heavy  drift  deposit.  At 
Firestone  Brothers,  1  ^  miles  northwest  of  Atwater,  there  is  1 45  feet,  mainly 
assorted  material.  At  Benjamin  Whittlesey's,  IJ  miles  southwest  of 
Atwater,  a  well  139  feet  deep  does  not  reach  rock.  In  Atwater  an  uncom- 
pleted well  at  the  feed  mill  near  the  depot  was  down  78  feet  at  the  time  of 
the  writer's  visit  and  had  not  reached  the  bottom  of  the  drift,  but  rock  is 
near  the  surface  in  that  vicinity.  At  Sandy  Lake,  near  J.  Cady's,  a  well 
strikes  rock  at  173  feet.  The  dinft  is  mainly  sand.  At  Campbellsport,  2^ 
miles  southeast  of  Ravenna,  a  well  on  Richard  Thompson's  estate,  230  feet 
deep,  does  not  reach  rock.  The  altitude  of  the  well  mouth  is  983  feet.  In 
this  well  there  was  miich  blue  quicksand  in  the  upper  70  feet,  below  which 
was  gravel  and  sand.  Scarcely  any  till  is  struck  by  wells  in  this  section.  On 
the  bordering  uplands  the  drift  is  nearly  all  till.  George  Cline  has  a  well, 
in  the  southwest  part  of  Rootstown  Township,  217  feet  deep,  which  struck 
no  rock,  and  so  far  as  the  writer  could  ascertain  no  outcrops  of  rock  occur, 
and  none  is  struck  in  wells  within  a  radius  of  a  mile.  On  the  west  side  of 
the  Cuyahoga,  north   of  Kent,  several  wells  show  drift    175   to  300  feet 


OUTWASH  IN  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.  463 

deep,  bnt  since  these  are  located  in  the  moraine  west  of  the  river  the}^  are 
more  properly  discussed  in  connection  with  that  moraine.  On  the  east 
side  of  the  river  from  Ravenna  northward  the  drift  is  not  thick,  and  out- 
crops of  rock  are  numerous.  The  greatest  amount  noted  was  66  feet,  in 
H.  C.  Babcock's  well,  in  the  southwest  part  of  Shalersville  Township. 

BOWLDERS. 

Over  nearl}'  the  whole  of  this  morainic  system  bowlders  are  a  common 
feature  on  the  surface,  and  they  are  to  a  considerable  extent  incorporated 
in  the  sui-face  portion  of  the  drift.  A  few  places  were  noted  where  they  are 
especially  numerous,  viz,  near  Salem,  Ohio,  along-  the  inner  part  of  the  knob- 
and-basin  portion  of  the  moraine;  in  Beaver,  Lawrence,  and  Mercer  coun- 
ties. Pa.,  in  the  outer  part  of  the  moraine,  and  along  French  Creek,  in 
western  Venango  County,  north  of  Utica.  The  bowlders  seem  to  be 
scattered  broadcast  rather  than  confined  to  narrow  belts. 

CHARACTER  OF  THE  OUTWASH. 

In  the  description  of  the  moraine,  numerous  references  have  been  made 
to  moraine-headed  gravel  terraces  and  gravel  aprons  which  connect  closely 
with  the  moraine  and  clearly  represent  the  outwash  from  it.  These  terraces 
in  most  cases  merge  at  their  heads  into  the  gravelly  knoUa  of  the  moraine. 
They  usually  descend  somewhat  rapidly  for  the  first  few  miles,  beyond 
which  their  slope  is  more  gradual,  differing  but  little  from  that  of  the 
present  stream  bed.  They  lead  down  the  tributaries  of  the  Alleghen}^  to 
the  main  stream,  and  thence  down  to  the  Ohio  and  along  that  valley  as  far 
down  as  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum,  where  contributions  from  the  Scioto 
lobe  have  been  received. 

The  material  is  so  coarse  as  to  indicate  a  current  of  considerable 
strength.  It  is  coarser  than  that  readily  transported  by  the  present  streams 
except  in  their  flood  stages,  and  seems  to  indicate  that  the  streams  then  had 
at  times  a  volume  fully  as  gi'eat  as  the  present  greatest  flood  stages.  The 
silt  and  fine  sand,  which  are  now  such  conspicuous  ingredients  in  the  flood 
plains  of  the  Ohio  and  Allegheny  rivers  and  their  tributaries,  were  swept 
away  from  their  glacial  valley  deposits;  as  a  consequence,  the  glacial 
terraces  are  composed  largely  of  gravel,  some  of  which  is  very  coarse. 


464 


GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AxVD  OHIO  BASINS. 


These  deposits  bear  clear  evidence  that  the  valleys  which  thej^  occupy 
had  been  opened  to  their  full  depth  at  this  stage  of  glaciation,  otherwise 
there  could  not  have  been  a  free  discharge  through  them. 


The  following  list  of  striae  embraces  not  only  those  within  the  limits 
of  this  morainic  system,  but  also  all  that  have  been  observed  by  the  writer 
within  the  area  of  the  Grand  River  lobe,  together  with  those  previously 
reported  in  the  Ohio,  Pemisylvania,  and  other  geological  reports  or  papers. 
Some  cross  striations  occur,  and  some  which  do  not  bear  toward  the  moraine, 
but,  taken  as  a  whole,  the  trend  is  outward  from  the  Lake  Erie  and  Grand 
River  basins  toward  the  moraine,  even  in  the  most  hilly  portions  of  the 

district. 

Tcihle  of  strice. 


Bearing. 


Obser%'er. 

Observation  or  publica- 
tion. 

Caril 

Report  P,  p.  64. 
Notes  of  1882. 

Chamberlin  . . . 

Leverett- 

Notes  of  1890. 

Leverett 

Notes  of  1890. 

White 

Leverett 

Notes,  1890. 

Carll    

Report  I»,  p.  48. 
Report  I',  p.  53. 
Report  Q*,  p.  144. 

Carll 

White 

White 

Report  Q*,  p.  146. 

White          

Report  Q*,  p.  146. 
Report  Q*,  p.  147. 

White 

Leverett 

Notes,  1890. 

Leverett 

Notes,  1890. 

Leverett 

Notes,  1890. 

Leverett 

Notes,  1890. 

Wright 

Report  Z,  p.  179. 

AVhite 

Report  Q^  p.  166. 
Notes,  1890. ' 

Leverett 

Panama,  N.  Y.,  4  miles  north  of . . . 

Corry,  Pa.,  1  mile  south  of 

Meadville,  Pa.,  2  miles  east  of 

East  of  Frencli  Creek,  opposite 
Conneaut  outlet. 

Meadville  and  vicinity  (general)  .. 

Evansburg,  hills  southwest  of 

Near  Adamsville 

Near  Adamsville 

East  Fallowtield  Township,  Craw- 
ford County. 

East  Fallowfield  Township,  Craw- 
ford County. 

East  Fallowfield  Township,  Craw- 
ford County. 

East  Fallowfield  Township,  Craw- 
ford County. 

Snodgrass  Run,  near  Jamestown, 
Pa. 

J.  O.  Ander.eon's  quarry,  east  of 
Jamestown,  Pa. 

Milledgeville,  hill  south  of 

Utica,  hill  2  miles  northwest  of 

Near  Raymilton 

Big  Sandy  Creek 

Greenville,  4  miles  east  of 


N.  toS 

S.  45°  E 

S.  35°  to  38°  E.... 
S.  62°  E 

S.  30°  E 

S.  32°  to  35°  E..., 
S.  37°  to  58°  E... 

SW 

S.  30°  E  

S.  30°  to  40°  E... 

S.  35°  E  

S.  30°  E 

S.  50°  E 

S.  10°  W.  to  18°  E 

S.  70°  E 

S.  80°  E 

SE 

SE 

SE 


STRIDE  IN  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE. 
Tahle  of  strice — Continued. 


465 


Near  Salem  Church,  4  miles  south- 
east of  Greenville. 

Near  Salem  Church,  4  miles  south- 
east of  Greenville. 

Southwest  partof  Hempfield  Town- 
ship, Mercer  County. 

Greenville,  hill  west  of 

Orange ville,  State  line  south  of 

Near  State  line,  southwestof  Sharon 

Sharon,  2  miles  south  of 

Sharon,  4  miles  south  of 

Sharon,  hill  east  oi -■ 

Mercer,  2  miles  east  of 

Near  Newcastle 

Near  Rock  Point,  in  Beaver  Valley. 

Bartholomew's    quarry,    5    miles 
southwest  of  Andover,  Ohio. 

Farmdale  (on  Sugar  Creek) 

Vernon       Township,       Trumbull 
County,  Ohio. 

Burg  Hill 

Brookfield 

Hubbard,  IJ  miles  northeast  of 

Youngstown 

Near  New  Lisbon 

FowlerTownship.Trumbull  County 

Cortland,  IJ  miles  southeast  of.... 

Cortland,  1^  miles  southeast  of 

AVarren,  Ohio,  3  miles  north  of 

Austintown 

Lordstown    Township,    Trumbull 
County. 

Braceville     Township,    Trumbull 
County. 

Farmington  Township,  Trumbull 
County. 

Thompsons  Ledge,  Geauga  County 

Thompson      Township,      Geauga 
County. 

Mountville      Township,     Geauga 
County. 

.MON    XLI 30 


SSE.  and  SE. 
S.  8°  to  50  E. 


S.  20°  E.  and  SE. 


S.28° 
S.  55° 


White... 
Leverett . 
White... 


N.  toS !  White 

S.12°  E 

SE 

S.20°  E 

SE 

SE -- 

SSE 

S.  10°  W.  and  S.  25°  E.. 


S.10°  E 

S.  20°  to  40°  E 


SSE 

S.50°  E 

S.10°  E 

N.  to  S 

N.  toS 

S.  4°  to  45°  E 

SSE -  - 

S.10°  E.  to  8°  W.. 

SSE 

S.  35°  E.  to  31°  W- 
S.  to  S.  20°  E 


S.  45°  to  50°  W. 
S.30°  W 


S.52°  W 

S.  50°  E.  and  S.  40°  to  50°  AV 


S.  40°  W. 


Report  Q^  p.  190. 
Notes,  1890. 
Report  Q^  p.  190. 


Leverett Notes,  1890. 

Leverett Notes,  1890. 

Report  Q',  p.  122. 

Leverett Notes,  1890. 

White Report  Q^  p. 

White Report  Q^  p.  108. 

Leverett Notes,  1890. 

White i  Report  QS  p.  8. 

Foshay i  Bull.  G.  S.  A. ,  1890. 

Leverett .'  Notes,  1890. 

Leverett Notes,  1890. 

Read i  Vol.  I,  p.  530. 

Carll ;  Report  I',  p.  434. 

Whittlesey Vol.  V,  p.  770. 

Leverett ,  Notes,  1890. 

Newberry '  Vol.  HI,  p.  782. 

Miller A.  A.  A.  S.,  1866. 

Read Vol.I,p.530. 

Carll Report  I',  p.  434. 


Leverett 

Carll 

Whittlesey  .. 
Whittlesey  .. 

Whittlesey  - . 

Whittlesey  . . 


Leverett . 
Read 


Notes,  1890. 
Report  I'',  p.  436. 
Vol.  V,  p..  770. 
Vol.  V,  p.  770. 

Vol.  V,  p.  770. 

Vol.  V,  p.  770. 

Notes,  1890. 
Vol.  I,  p.  530. 

Vol.  I,  p.  530. 


466  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

TaMe  of  strim — Continued. 


Parkman  Township,  Geauga  County 

Near  Welshfield 

Kennedys  Ledge,  Portage  County. . 

Nelson  Center,  Portage  County 

Garrettsville,  1  to  2  miles  south- 
east of. 

Palmyra 

Edinburg. 

Hiram,  1  mile  south  of 

Hiram  (college  grounds) 

Hiram,  1  mile  south  of 

Chardon,  2  miles  south  of '... 

Chardon,  4  miles  south  of 

Chardon,  2  miles  southeast  of 

Leroy  Township,  Lake  County 


S.  30°W 

S.  58°W 

S.  10°  to  14°  VV 
SAV 

S.  55°  to  86°  W 

S.  30°  W 

S.  60°W 

S.  18°  to  30°  W 
S.  40°  to  62°  W 

SW 

S.  5°  W 

S.  to  S.  12°  W. 
S.  toS.  5°  W.. 
S.  45°  W 


Whittlesey Vol.  V,  p.  770. 

Leverett Notes,  1890. 

Leverett ,  Notes,  1890. 

Colton I  Notes,  1890. 

Leverett Notes,  1890. 


Newberry Vol.  Ill,  p.  135, 


Newberry 
Leverett . . 
Colton  . . . 
Colton  . . . 
Leverett . . 

Leverett j  Notes,  1890. 

Leverett |  Notes,  1890. 

Read j  Vol.Lp.530, 


Vol.  Ill,  p.  135. 
Notes,  1890. 
Notes,  1890. 
Notes,  1890. 
Notes,  1890. 


Ill  the  majority  of  the  striated  exposures,  the  bearings  of  which  are 
given  in  the  above  table,  no  striking  peculiarities  were  noted.  The  expo- 
sures are  usuall}^  but  a  few  square  yards  in  extent  and  exhibit  well-defined 
grooves  of  various  sizes  from  an  inch  or  more  in  breadth  down  to  those 
more  properl}^  denominated  strise.  Nearly  all  the  striated  exposures  yet 
discovered  are  on  the  Carboniferous  sandstone  and  conglomerate.  Owing 
to  the  coarseness  of  texture  of  these  rocks,  they  received  few  fine  strise, 
but  coarse  strise  are  common,  and  glacial  planing  is  very  marked  in  many 
of  the  exposures.  The  occasional  strise  noted  in  the  above  table,  whose 
bearings  are  out  of  harmony  with  the  general  glaciation  of  the  districts  in 
which  the}'  occur,  can  not  perhaps  be  wholly  accounted  for  at  the  present 
stage  of  investigation,  but  it  is  probable  that  local  topography  exerted  a 
measurable  if  not  a  controlling  influence  on  the  movement  of  the  ice  sheet 
at  such  places.  No  clear  evidence  was  discovered  that  they  were  the  product 
of  a  distinct  ice  invasion  of  a  much  earlier  or  of  a  much  later  date  than  the 
general  glaciation. 

J.  C.  Anderson's  quarry  near  Jamestown,  Pa.,  where  an  instance  of 
cross  striation  was  found,  is  situated  on  the  north  side  and  about  100  feet 
above  the  bottom  of  an  east-west  valley.  There  is  a  general  glaciation, 
including  glacial  planing  and  grooves  bearing  S.  18°  E.,  across  which  there 


STRIDE  IN  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.  467 

are  scattered  striae  formed  subsequently,  which  bear  S.  2°  to  10°  W.  The 
rock  surface  dips  southward;  i.  e.,  away  from  the  advanciug  ice  sheet.  The 
later  striatiou  and  possibly  the  whole  glaciation  may  be  due  in  large  part 
to  a  sloughing  of  the  ice  from  the  quarry  toward  the  valley,  giving  the 
striae  a  more  southerlj-  course  than  the  ice  sheet  had  as  a  whole,  for  nearly 
all  the  striae  in  the  Adcinity  have  a  southeastward  bearing. 

At  the  exposure  4  miles  southeast  of  Greenville,  near  Salem  Church, 
where  cross  striae  occur,  a  projecting  point  of  the  east  blufF  of  the  Shenango 
River  is  glaciated.  The  glaciation  where  the  Greenville  and  Mercer  road 
crosses  covers  a  part  of  the  north  slope,  the  crest,  and  considerable  of  the 
south  slope  of  this  ridge-like  point.  On  the  north  slope  and  crest  the  striae 
have  a  general  southeasterly  bearing,  with  variations  of  but  a  few  degrees, 
but  on  the  south  slope  great  divergence  occurs.  About  20  rods  south  of  the 
crest  and  15  feet  or  so  lower  is  an  exposure  in  which  the  heavy  glaciation 
is  S.  17°  E.  About  20  rods  farther  south  is  a  glaciated  surface  which 
descends  southward  with  the  slope  of  the  hill,  the  descent  being  about  4  feet 
in  a  distance  of  40  to  50  feet.  The  striae  vary  from  S.  8°  to  50°  E.,  the 
earlier  and  heavier  glaciation  being  nearly  southeast.  The  later  glaciation 
varies  from  S.  8°  to  35°  E.,  and  includes  several  large  grooves.  It  consists 
of  scattering  striae  and  grooves,  with  but  httle  glacial  planing,  the  earlier 
glaciation  being  but  slightly  effaced.  The  deflection  toward  the  south  on 
the  south  slope  of  this  point  of  land  may  have  been  influenced  largely  by 
the  lower  land  there.  The  absence  of  cross  striaj  on  the  north  slope  and 
crest  seems  to  favor  this  idea. 

In  the  quarries  1^  miles  southeast  of  Cortland,  Ohio,  where  cross  stn« 
occur,  there  are  two  sets,  an  earlier,  bearing  S.  10°  E.,  and  a  later,  bearing 
about  S.  8°  W.  The  earlier  is  a  heavy  glaciation  with  grooves  several  feet 
long,  the  later  a  series  of  irregular  gouges  a  few  inches  in  length.  This 
quarry  shows  signs  of  disturbance,  the  blocks  in  it  inclining  toward  the  west 
with  a  dip  of  several  degrees.  Whether  or  not  the  disturbance  occurred 
while  glaciation  was  going  on,  and  whether,  if  it  did  take  place  at  that  time, 
the  change  of  dip  caused  the  change  of  bearing,  the  writer  was  unable  to 
decide. 

In  Bartliolomew's  quarry,  southwest  of  Andover,  Ohio,  the  heavier 
glaciation  is  S.  25°  E.  The  hghter  glaciation,  bearing  S.  5°  to  S.  10°  W., 
consists  of  scattering  grooves.  The  relative  ages  of  these  sets  was  not 
determined,  there  being  no  place  where  both  sets  occur  on  a  single  surface. 


468  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  ledges  southeast  of  Garrettsville,  Ohio,  which  exhibit  striae  ranging- 
from  S.  55°  to  86°  W.,  do  not  present  clear  evidence  that  separate  sets  are 
inscribed,  there  being  ntimerous  striae  and  grooves  with  intermediate  beaiings. 
This  is  also  the  case  with  the  striae  at  Hiram,  Ohio,  there  being  in  the  ledge 
west  of  Hiram  College  striae  at  all  angles  from  S.  40°  to  62°  W. 

In  the  above  table  appear  several  cases  of  cross  striation  which  were 
noted  by  the  earlier  observers,  but  which  the  writer  has  not  examined. 

INNER  BORDER  PHENOMENA. 
GENERAL    FEATURES. 

The  iimer  border  district  is  limited  in  this  discussion  to  the  small  area 
between  this  morainic  system  and  the  Cleveland  moraine,  the  latter  being 
described  in  a  later  chapter.  This  district  is  about  lU  miles  wide  in  Chau- 
tauqua County,  N.  Y.,  and  Warren  and  Crawford  counties.  Pa.,  and  15  to 
25  miles  in  Mercer  County,  Pa.,  and  Trumbull,  Mahoning,  and  Portage 
counties,  Ohio,  comprising  in  these  counties  almost  the  whole  area  drained 
by  the  Mahoning  and  Shenango  rivers.  Lying,  as  it  does,  adjacent  to  the 
outer  morainic  system,  it  presents  nearly  as  much  variation  in  altitude  as 
the  district  covered  by  that  system.  The  drift,  like  that  in  the  morainic 
system,  conceals  to  some  extent  the  glacial  ridges  and  valleys  in  the  Ohio 
portion,  but  is  insufficient  to  do  so  in  the  Pennsylvania  portion  because  of 
the  higher  elevation  and  consequent  greater  depth  of  the  river  channels, 
though  its  thickness  is  as  great  as  in  Ohio.  The  drift  in  the  valleys  has 
great  range  in  depth,  as  shown  by  borings  at  Jamestown  and  Fentonville, 
N.  Y.;  Lottsville  and  Corry,  Pa.;  French  Creek  Valley,  near  Meadville,  the 
Shenango  Valley  at  and  below  Gt-reenville,  Pa.,  and  the  Mahoning  Valley  at 
Niles,  Ohio.  There  is  an  average  depth  of  over  100  feet  and  an  occasional 
depth  of  450  to  475  feet.  It  seems  probable  that  the  Shenango  Valley  has 
throughout  its  entire  length  a  narrow  gorge  filled  to  a  depth  of  125  feet  or 
more,  there  being  borings  at  Greenville,  New  Hamburg,  Big  Bend,  Sharon, 
and  Newcastle,  all  of  which  have  between  100  and  150  feet  of  drift.  In 
certain  other  valleys  borings  showing  deep  drift  are  ver}'  rare,  but  this  does 
not  disprove  the  existence  of  channels  as  deep  as  in  the  Shenango,  for  the 
valleys  have  not  been  adequately  tested  by  borings.  Indeed,  it  is  probable 
that  all  the  large  valleys  have  throughout  uiuch  of  their  course  nearly  as 
much  filling:  as  the  Shenantfo. 


INNER  BORDER  OF  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.  469 

The  following'  table  represents  the  deepest  wells  and  sections  of  drift 
in  this  inner  border  district  not  previously  mentioned: 

List  of  wells  with  thick  drift. 

•'  Feet. 

Greenville,  Pa.,  ^D.C.Moyer's 127 

Greenville,  Pa. ,  schoolhouse ^^'^ 

Greenville,  Pa.,  Dr.  Leet's 1"" 

Greenville,  Pa.,  Mr.  Packard's ^'■'" 

Jamestown,  Pa.,  N.  E.  Webb's,  no  rock  struck 70 

Big  Bend,  Pa. ,  at  tavern,  no  rock  struck - 112 

New  Hamburg,  Pa.,  boring  for  gas  in  Shenango  Valley 147 

Transfer,  Pa.,  drug  store,  no  rock  struck 60 

Swamp  south  of  Pymatuning  station,  no  rock  struck  by  spiles 100 

Sharpsville,  Pa.  (see  Kept.  Q  ^  p.  18) 63 

Oakland  No.  2,  Mercer  County,  Pa.  (see  Kept.  Q^  p.  115) 110 

Sharon  Furnace,  Pa.  (see  Kept.  Q^  pp.  118-119) 100 

Middlesex,  Pa.  (see  Kept.  I^) 136 

Hubbard,  Ohio,  Loveless's  livery  stable - 146 

Hubbard,  Ohio,  rolling  mill - 140 

Near  Churchill,  Ohio,  prospect  bore  for  coal,  no  rock  struck 100 

Churchill,  Ohio,  ordinary  wells  reach  rock  at 10-25 

Kinsman,  Ohio,  at  fair  ground,  no  rock  struck - 137 

Kinsman,  Ohio,  G.  W.  Burrill's,  no  rock  struck 97 

Braceville,  Ohio,  several  wells,  no  rock  struck 90 

Cyclone,  Ohio,  Thos.  Richard's,  south  of  village,  no  rock - 100 

WEAK   MORAINES. 

This  district  is  not  entirely  free  from  morainic  features,  there  being 
portions  of  it  that  are  strongly  morainic,  but  on  the  whole  the  drift  has  a 
nearly  plane  surface  and  no  well-defined  belt  of  morainic  topography  trav- 
erses the  entire  district.  At  Corry,  Pa.,  there  are  morainic  features,  and 
a  moraine-headed  terrace  leads  from  Corry  east  to  Big  Brokenstraw  Creek. 
This  moraine  does  not  have  a  well-defined  continuation  north  or  northeast 
from  Corry,  but  is  finely  developed  for  several  miles  southwestward,  with 
numerous  knolls  and  sharp  ridges  10  to  25  feet,  and  occasional  ones  50  to 
75  feet  in  height.  There  is  a  groiip  of  knolls,  ranging  in  height  from  30 
to  75  feet,  in  a  valley  near  Cook,  in  the  southern  part  of  Erie  County, 
occupying  a  tract  perhaps  one-half  mile  square.  A  mile  or  so  northwest 
of  Cook  is  another  cluster  fully  as  large,  situated  on  the  slope  of  the 
valley.  These  knolls  are  at  the  southwestern  end  of  the  inorainic  belt. 
Southwest  from  this  locality,  in  Crawford  and  Mercer  counties,  there  is  a 
general  absence  of  morainic  features  on  the  uplands,  but  in  several  of  the 

'  The  Shenango,  at  Greenville,  is  flowing  on  a  rock  bed,  the  deep  channel  being  east  of  the  stream. 


470  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

valleys  di-ift  knolls  appear,  and  in  places  are  as  numerous  as  in  the  morainic 
tracts  found  in  valleys  farther  north  (described  in  Section  IV,  next  chapter). 
Several  valleys  are  more  free  from  knolls  for  a  few  miles  immediately  north 
from  the  outer  morainic  system  than  they  are  at  a  greater  distance.  Thus 
in  the  Conewango  Valley  the  bottom  and  slopes  are  very  smooth  from  the 
inner  border  of  the  morainic  system,  nearly  to  Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  and  there 
di'ift  knolls  appear.  Along  Oil  Creek  and  its  tributaries  the  valleys  are 
quite  smooth  from  the  moraine  to  the  sources  of  the  creek.  Along  French 
Creek  there  are  scarcely  any  knolls  between  the  inner  border  of  the  moraine, 
8  to  9  miles  below  Meadville,  and  Saegerstown,  5  miles  above  Meadville. 
On  Conneaut  outlet  there  are  very  few  drift  knolls,  and  the  Shenango 
Valley,  in  Mercer  County,  is  comparatively  free  from  morainic  features. 
On  the  uplands  for  8  to  12  miles  east  from  the  Shenango,  and  in  northern 
Mercer  County,  diift  knolls  are  very  rare. 

In  Ohio  the  greater  part  of  Trumbull,  the  northwestern  part  of 
Mahoning,  and  the  eastern  part  of  Portage  counties  have  a  nearly  plane 
drift  surface,  the  principal  exception  being  a  morainic  loop,  described  later, 
which  encircles  the  Grrand  River  Valley.  There  is  outside  the  morainic 
loop  a  weak  morainic  belt,  scarcely  a  mile  in  width,  which  the  writer  traced 
from  Windham  Center,  Portage  County,  northward  to  Parkman,  Geauga 
County,  but  could  not  trace  farther  south  than  Windham.  It  consists  of  a 
series  of  ridges  and  knolls,  10  to  25  feet  high,  among  which  are  basins  and 
sloughs.  It  perhaps  represents  a  temporary  halt  of  the  ice  margin,  so 
slight  as  to  leave  perceptible  traces  along  only  a  portion  of  its  line. 

ESKEKS. 

About  2  miles  west  of  Sheakleyville,  Pa.,  on  comparatively  elevated 
ground,  near  Mr.  Porter's,  is  a  sharp  ridge  about  one-half  mile  long,  50  feet 
or  more  in  height,  and  about  40  rods  in  width,  with  an  east- west  trend.  So 
far  as  opened  it  consisted  of  gravel.  Its  form,  trend,  and  structure  indicate 
that  it  is  an  esker,  but  its  connection  with  other  ridges  of  this  type  is  vague, 
and  it  has  no  fan  at  its  eastern  end. 

In  the  valley  of  Sandy  Creek,  east  of  Sheakleyville,  there  are  two  low 
ridges  side  by  side,  each  having  a  northwest-southeast  trend  and  a  form 
like  an  esker.  Neither  of  them  exceeds  40  rods  in  length,  10  to  12  rods  in 
height,  and  6  rods  in  width.  It  is  probable  that  many  small  ridges  of  this 
kind  exist  which  have  escaped  the  writer's  notice.     Their  trend  being  at 


INNER  BORDER  OF  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.  471 

right  angles  with  the  moraine  and  in  the  direction  of  the  ice  movement,  and 
their  constrnction  gravelly,  they  are  regarded  as  small  eskers. 

The  most  prominent  instance  noted  of  this  class  of  ridges  remains  to 
be  described.  Along  Lackawannock  Creek  from  its  mouth,  at  the  "big 
bend"  of  the  Shenango  soiitheast  for  1^  miles,  there  is  a  large  drift  ridge 
30  to  40  rods  in  width  and  40  to  75  feet  in  height.  It  is  quite  continuous 
for  about  a  mile,  and  extends  in  the  form  of  disconnected  knolls  for  one- 
half  mile  farther.  The  main  ridge  has  knobs  and  basins  along  its  crest 
and  on  its  slopes.  There  are  also  along  its  south  side  occasional  low  drift 
knolls.  The  valley  in  which  it  lies  is  100  to  120  rods  wide  (two  to  three 
times  the  width  of  the  ridge).  The  surface  of  the  ridge  is  gravelly,  but  no 
deep  exposures  occur.  It  is  probably  an  esker,  though  it  is  broader  and 
has  a  more  hummocky  surface  than  eskers  commonly  have.  Its  trend 
harmonizes  with  the  ice  movement,  as  shown  by  striae  in  that  vicinity.  It 
does  not  connect  with  the  moraine  on  the  southeast,  nor  does  it  have  an 
esker  fan  at  its  terminus.  The  valley  in  which  it  lies  has  its  head  within 
2  to  3  miles  southeast,  on  quite  elevated  upland,  and  there  are  few  drift 
knolls  in  its  upper  course. 

DEUMLINS  (?). 

In  Lewis's  report^  is  a  description  of  a  "rounded  hill  of  compact  till" 
lying  in  the  Shenango  Valley  at  Sharpsville.  The  description  led  the  writer 
to  suspect  that  it  might  be  a  drumlin,  but  an  examination  shows  that  its  form 
is  due  to  erosion,  it  having  been  cut  off  by  ravines  on  the  one  side  from 
the  remainder  of  a  quite  extensive  tract  having  the  same  altitude  as  the  top 
of  the  hill,  while  its  lower  side  faces  a  lower  plain  of  the  Shenango  Valley. 
No  drumlins  were  observed  by  the  writer  within  the  district  covered  by  the 
Grand  River  lobe;  but  Chamberlin  reports  having  observed  hills  with 
drumlin  form  in  the  vicinity  of  Cony,  Pa.,  though  they  may  have  a  rock 
nucleus. 

TILL   PLAINS. 

The  drift  on  the  uplands  is  very  largely  till,  and  constitutes  in  Ohio  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  "  clay  belt"  or  "dairy  lands "  previously  described. 
The  fill  is  thickly  interspersed  with  fragments  of  shale  from  the  districts 
farther  north.     It  has  not  the  porous  structure  that  characterizes  the  moraine, 

1  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Kept.  Z,  pp.  188-189. 


472  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

even  the  elevated  rock  ridges  of  northwestern  Pennsylvania  having  a  suffi- 
ciently compact  till  coating  to  make  the  soil  cold  and  wet.  In  the  valleys 
of  this  district  tlie  di-ift  is  chiefly  assorted  material  or  a  sandy  till,  as  in  the 
moraine,  and  for  this  reason  the  valleys  often  contain  drier  ground  than 
the  uplands. 

TERRACES. 

The  Shenango  Valle)'  has  at  many  points  terrace-like  benches  50  to 
100  feet  above  the  level  of  the  creek,  but  these  have  not  been  carefully 
worked  out  and  correlated.  They  were  noted  at  Big  Bend,  where  the 
height  is  about  50  feet  above  the  stream;  at  Sharpsville,  where  it  is  about 
90  feet,  and  below  Newcastle,  where  two  occur,  one  at  50  and  another  at 
about  100  feet.  White  notes ^  terraces  between  Sharon  and  Newcastle  whose 
height  is  given  as  20,  50,  and  120  feet  above  the  stream.  As  a  rule  these 
terraces  are  built  up  in  a  previously  eroded  valley,  but  below  Sharps^dlle  a 
terrace-like  bench,  75  to  80  feet  high,  exists  which  has  in  part  a  rock  plat- 
form and  in  part  a  substratum  of  till,  only  the  upper  portion  being  assorted 
material.  This  assorted  material  was  evidently  formed  by  a  stream,  but 
the  head  of  the  terrace  has  not  been  traced  out.  It  is  probable  that  careful 
study  of  the  ten-aces  on  this  and  other  valleys  will  bring  to  light  a  relation- 
ship between  the  streams  which  formed  them  and  successive  positions  of  the 
margin  of  the  retreating  ice  sheet. 

CORRELATION   AND   CHRONOLOGICAL  POSITION. 

The  number  of  moraines  in  the  Grand  River  lobe  is  much  smaller  than 
in  any  of  the  lobes  farther  west.  The  Cleveland  and  the  Euclid  morainic 
belts  extend  west  only  about  to  Cleveland,  hence  the  outer  morainic  system 
and  the  fragmentary  moraines  between  it  and  the  Cleveland  moraine  are 
the  sole  representatives  of  the  whole  series  in  western  Ohio,  a  series  com- 
prising not  fewer  than  ten  somewhat  distinct  moraines. 

The  small  number  is  attributable  in  part  at  least  to  the  coalescence  of 
several  moraines  in  the  outer  belt,  and  perhaps  in  part  to  an  obliteration  of 
certain  moraines  by  later  advances.  Specific  correlations  with  each  of  the 
moraines  farther  west  are  therefore  scarcely  to  be  expected. 

In  the  shelf  or  shoulder  between  the  Scioto  and  the  Grand  River  lobe 
are  two  series  of  moraines,  each  comprising  two  or  more  members.     The 


'  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Rapt.  Q',  p.  95. 


INNER  BORDER  OF  THE  GRAND  RIVER  LOBE.  473 

outer  of  these  series  sustains  a  position  with  reference  to  the  glacial 
boundary  analogous  to  that  of  the  outer  moraine  of  the  Grand  River  lobe. 
The  inner  follows  nearly  the  continental  divide  to  the  meridian  of  Mansfield, 
west  of  which  its  members  become  more  widely  separated  and  constitute 
the  series  that  encircle  the  Maumee  or  western  Erie  Basin.  It  is  thought 
that  the  outer  of  these  morainic  series  is  the  correlative  of  the  main  portion 
of  the  outer  morainic  system  of  the  Grrand  River  lobe,  while  the  series 
along  the  continental  divide  may  be  correlated  with  the  fragmentary  belts 
between  the  outer  system  and  the  Cleveland  moraine  and  with  the  swell- 
and-sag  tracts  along  the  inner  border  of  the  outer  system. 

The  result  of  detailed  investigation  has  been  to  confirm  in  a  remarkable 
degree  the  tentative  correlation  presented  by  Chamberlin  in  his  paper  on 
the  Terminal  moraine  of  the  second  Glacial  epoch.^  The  evidence,  so  far 
as  collected,  sustains  that  correlation  from  Wisconsin  to  New  York,  though 
the  fragmentary  character  of  the  moraines  in  western  Indiana  and  eastern 
Illinois  renders  a  full  demonstration  difficult. 

In  the  less  complicated  districts  of  Ohio  and  eastern  Indiana,  where 
correlation  with  this  system  may  be  made  with  certainty  by  means  of  con- 
tinuous tracing,  it  is  found  that  moraines  of  different  age  from  this  system, 
both  earlier  and  later,  have  contours  strikingly  different  from  it,  none  of 
them  presenting,  except  locally,  so  sharplj^  ridged  or  indented  a  surface. 
The  Kettle  moraine  of  Wisconsin  is  of  the  same  type  as  the  morainic 
system  under  discussion,  and  on  that  account,  and  in  the  absence  of 
evidence  to  the  contrary,  is  presumably  to  be  correlated  with  it. 

It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  outer  moraine,  mapped  by  Lewis, 
from  the  reentrant  angle  near  Salamanca,  New  York,  to  the  Delaware  ^  is 
the  correlative  of  the  outer  moraine  of  the  Grand  River  lobe,  but  this  cor- 
relation is  not  fully  established.  The-  writer's  studies  brought  out  no 
decisive  evidence  of  ditference  in  age.  They  were,  however,  carried  but  a 
short  distance  east  from  the  reentrant  angle. 

That  this  outer  moraine  is  very  much  younger  than  the  high-level 
terraces  of  early  glacial  age,  which  occur  in  the  valleys  leading  south  from 
the  glacial  boundary  in  western  Pennsylvania,  seems  beyond  question, 
since,  as  already  shown,  the  moraine-headed  tei'races  which  start  from  this 

1  Third  Annual  Report  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  1881-82. 

^  Described  in  Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Report  Z. 


474  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

moraine  indicate  that  the  main  valleys  had  suffered' a  large  amount  of  deep- 
ening (200  to  300  feet)  in  the  interval  between  the  two  ice  invasions. 

That  much  of  the  so-called  "fringe"  or  sheet  of  thin  drift  lying  between 
the  Wisconsin  morainic  system  and  the  glacial  boundary  is  as  old  as  the 
glacial  material  on  the  high-level  terraces  seems  highly  probable,  since, 
as  stated  above,  it  presents  a  more  aged  appearance  than  that  of  the  Wis- 
consin system.  It  also  bears  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  attenuated  drift 
border  in  other  regions  where  the  glacial  boundary  lies  many  miles  outside 
the  outermost  well-defined  moraine. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 
MINOR  MORAINES  OF  THE  LATE  WISCONSIN  STAGE. 

SECTION  I.     MORAINES  OF  THE  MAUMEE-MIAMI  EOBE. 

UNION   MORAINE. 

The  Union  moraine  constitutes  the  outermost  member  of  a  series  of 
moraines  which  lie  between  the  main  morainic  system  of  the  Miami  lobe 
(discussed  in  Chapter  XII)  and  the  Lake  Erie  Basin.  It  is  more  closely 
associated  with,  and  bears  a  stronger  resemblance  to,  the  later  moraines  than 
it  bears  to  the  main  morainic  system.  This  moraine  and  the  later  ones 
present  smooth  or  gently  undulating  ridges  comparatively  free  from  the 
sharp  hillocks  and  basins  which  characterize  the  main  morainic  system. 
They  have,  however,  a  sufficiently  undulatory  surface  to  distinguish  them 
from  the  bordering  plains  and  have  sufficient  relief  to  greatly  influence  the 
courses  of  streams. 

The  breadth  of  these  ridges  differs  in  the  different  moraines.  The 
Union  moraine,  the  narrowest  one  of  the  series,  has  a  general  width  of 
about  1  mile.  The  several  moraines  which  lie  between  it  and  the  Lake 
Erie  Basin  have  each  a  general  width  of  2  or  more  miles,  though  locally 
they  are  crowded  into  narrower  limits 

DISTRIBUTION. 

The  description  is  taken  up  at  Union,  a  town  on  the  State  line  of  Ohio 
and  Indiana,  from  which  the  moraine  receives  its  name.  The  moraine 
follows  the  north  side  of  Greenville  Creek  in  a  course  south  of  east  to 
Greenville,  Ohio,  thence  eastward  to  Bradford  Junction,  the  portion  between 
Greenville  and  Bradford  Junction  constituting  the  point  or  extreme  southern 
portion  of  the  morainic  loop.  The  moraine  bears  north  of  east  from  the 
latter  village,  leaving  Covington  about  2  miles  to  the  south  and  Piqua  3 
miles  to  the  southeast,  and  comes  to  the  Great  Miami  River  bluff  about 


476  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

midway  between  Piqxia  and  Sidney.  It  follows  the  west  bluff  to  the  bend 
of  the  river  at  Port  Jefferson,  5  or  6  miles  above  Sidney,  having  near  Sid- 
ney a  slight  development  along  the  east  blnff.  About  2  miles  northeast 
of  Port  Jefferson,  near  Tileton  post-office,  it  dies  out  in  a  plain,  but  is 
thought  to  find  its  continuation  in  a  raorainic  belt  a  few  miles  to  the  east, 
which  leads  from  near  De  Clraff  northward  along  the  east  side  of  the  Grreat 
Miami  to  Lewiston,  thence  eastward  along  the  south  side  of  the  Lewiston 
reservoir  to  the  source  of  the  Great  Miami,  in  northern  Logan  County,  where 
it  becomes  associated  with  the  Mississinawa  moraine,  and  in  connection  with 
that  moraine  passes  into  the  Scioto  Basin,  the  united  belt  forming  the  Powell 
moraine  of  the  Scioto  lobe. 

From  the  State  line  at  Union  the  moraine  follows  the  north  side  of 
White  River  westward  through  Randolph  County  to  Selma,  in  Delaware 
County.  It  there  becomes  broken  up  into  loosely  aggregated  knolls  and 
disconnected  ridges,  interrupted  in  places  by  plane  tracts.  Its  limits  are, 
therefore,  difficult  to  determine.  The  outermost  chain  of  prominent  ridges 
leads  from  Selma  northwestward  to  Royerton,  beyond  which  no  well-defined 
continuation  was  found,  the  surface  being  plane  both  to  the  north  and  west. 
An  inner  chain  of  ridges  bears  northwestward  from  near  the  Randolph- 
Delaware  county  line  along  the  south  side  of  Campbells  Creek,  determining 
to  some  extent  the  course  of  that  stream.  Its  distance  from  the  outer 
chain  is  2  to  4  miles.  This  inner  chain  comaects  somewhat  closely  near 
Granville,  Ind.,  with  the  Mississinawa  moraine,  though  there  is  an  interval 
of  about  a  mile  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Lake  Erie  and  Western  Railway, 
where  the  surface  is  plane.  In  its  northwestward  continuation  this  belt  is 
either  combined  with  or  concealed  by  the  bulky  Mississinawa  moraine — at 
least  no  belt  distinct  from  the  Mississinawa  was  found. 

Outside  the  two  chains  of  ridges  just  outlined  there  are  occasional 
developments  of  low  knolls  and  short  ridges  along  a  line  leading  from 
Muncie  somewhat  directly  toward  Peru,  passing  near  Alexandria,  Point 
Isabel,  Greentown,  and  Bunker  Hill,  connecting  north  of  Peru  with  a  bulky 
interlobate  moraine  formed  between  the  Maumee  and  Saginaw  lobes,  but  it 
is  not  certain  that  these  undulatory  tracts  should  be  correlated  with  the 
Union  moraine.  Indeed,  it  is  questionable  whether  so  feeble  a  develop- 
ment of  ridges  and  knolls  merits  classification  as  a  moraine,  though  it  may 
represent  a  line  held  by  the  ice  margin  for  a  brief  period.     As  a  tentative 


UNION  MORAINE.  477 

correlation,  it  is  suggested  that  the  ice  margin,  at  the  time  it  was  occupying 
the  line  between  Muncie  and  Peru,  held,  farther  east,  a  position  essentially 
coincident  with  the  Union  moraine,  and  that,  in  its  later  shiftings,  the  ice 
margin  fell  short  a  few  miles  of  reaching  the  western  portion  of  the  belt 
but  again  occupied  the  portion  from  Delaware  County  eastward,  and  at 
that  time  formed  the  well-defined  ridges  which  distinguish  this  eastern 
portion  from  the  western.  These  ridges  in  Delaware  County,  Ind.,  become 
associated  with  the  Mississinawa  moraine,  and  are  also  combined  with  that 
moraine  on  the  borders  of  the  Miami  and  Scioto  basins  in  west-central  Ohio. 


From  Delaware  County,  Ind.,  eastward  the  Union  moraine,  through- 
out much  of  its  course,  has  an  abrupt  outer  border  relief  The  inner 
border  relief  is  somewhat  less  than  that  of  the  outer  border,  there  being 
an  accumulation  of  ground  moraine  material  north  of  the  terminal  rido-e 
There  is  usually  a  descent  of  10  to  20  feet  from  the  crest  of  the  moraine 
to  the  inner  border  plain,  though  in  places  there  is  no  perceptible  descent 
on  the  inner  border,  and  the  limits  of  the  moraine  are  best  determined  by 
the  change  from  undulating  to  plane  topography. 

RANGE    IN   ALTITUDE. 

The  Ohio  portion  of  the  moraine  has  but  little  range  in  altitude.  Its 
highest  points,  which  are  in  western  Darke  County,  opposite  the  highland 
tracts  of  Logan  County,  stand  1,125  to  1,150  feet  above  tide,  while  its  lowest 
points,  which  are  along  the  southern  curve  of  the  loop  between  Greenville 
and  the  Grreat  Miami  River,  have  an  altitude  of  about  1,000  feet.  In  Indiana 
there  is  a  gradual  descent  from  1,125  feet  at  Union  on  the  State  line 
to  about  925  feet  at  the  junction  with  the  Mississinawa  moraine.  In  the 
feebly  ridged  tract  outside  that  moraine  the  altitude  of  the  uplands  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Wabash  River  is  750  to  800  feet,  while  the  valley  of  that 
portion  of  the  river  stands  only  650  feet  above  tide. 

The  rock  surface  has  a  range  in  altitude  fully  as  great  as  the  drift 
surface,  there  being  as  great  an  amount  of  drift  at  points  where  the  moraine 
stands  lowest  as  where  it  stands  highest. 


478         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


TOPOGRAPHY. 


The  contours  of  this  moraine,  as  ah-eady  observed,  are  of  a  smooth  and 
gentle  type  compared  with  those  of  the  knolls  and  I'idges  of  the  main 
inorainic  system.  The  main  ridge  rises  somewhat  abruptly  above  the  outer 
border  plain,  but  the  undulations  on  its  crest  and  slopes  are  low  and  gentle, 
seldom  exceeding  15  feet  in  height.  Basins  are  not  a  common  feature 
except  locally,  as  noted  below. 

At  the  northeast  end  in  Logan  County,  Ohio,  and  westward  from  that 
point,  in  the  portion  of  the  moraine  east  of  the  Grreat  Miami,  there  are 
many  basins,  some  of  which  have  abrupt  bluff-like  borders,  while  others 
are  saucer-like,  with  a  gentle  rise  on  their  borders.  This  portion  of  the 
moraine  has  not  so  well  defined  a  main  ridge  as  the  portion  farther  west 
and  has,  on  the  whole,  sharper  contours.  The  knolls,  however,  commonly 
fall  between  10  and  15  feet  and  seldom  exceed  20  feet  in  height.  The 
Miami  River  enters  an  elevated  plain  just  west  of  De  Graff,  the  altitude  of 
which  is  50  to  60  feet  higher  than  portions  of  the  moraine  near  De  Graff, 
but  the  surface  is  remarkably  free  from  diift  knolls.  Just  west  of  Tileton 
and  north  of  Port  Jefferson  the  moraine  reappears  in  considerable  strength, 
there  being  a  ridge  or  range  of  sharp  knolls  whose  highest  points  stand 
about  30  feet  abo^-e  the  bordering  plains.  This  range  continues  sharp  for 
only  a  mile  or  so,  when  the  moraine  assumes  its  usual  surface  expression,  the 
knolls  being  10  to  15  feet  or  less  in  height  and  the  tendency  to  ridging  not 
conspicuous.  The  little  ridging  that  occurs  commonly,  though  not  always, 
takes  tlie  trend  of  the  basement  ridge  which  constitutes  the  bulk  of  the 
moraine. 

A  tliin  sheet  of  drift  without  definite  ridging  appears  to  have  been 
deposited  at  this  time  on  the  plain  east  of  the  Miami,  opposite  Sidney,  there 
being  a  small  tract  there  with  undulatory  surface,  and  on  its  east  border  an 
abrupt  descent  of  10  to  15  feet  to  the  outer  border  plain. 

In  the  valley  of  Loramie  Creek,  near  Lockington,  basins  as  well  as 
knolls  are  displayed.  The  knolls  have  a  height  of  10  to  20  feet  and  their 
contours  are  sharper  than  are  those  of  the  knolls  on  adjacent  uplands. 

For  a  few  miles  southwest  from  Loramie  Creek  the  moraine  is  below 
its  average  strength  and  has  not  a  continuous  ridge,  though  a  few  short 
rido-es  with  northeast  to  southwest  trend  occur.     On  the  divide  between  the 


UNION  MORAINE.  479 

Great  Miami  and  Stillwater  rivers,  about  4  miles  west  of  Piqua,  the  moraine 
assumes  the  form  of  a  continuous  ridge  with  gently  undulating  surface  and 
holds  this  form  westward  to  Delaware  County,  Ind.  The  majority  of  the 
swells  have  a  height  of  15  feet,  but  there  are  occasional  swells  that  reach 
20  to  30  feet. 

The  chains  of  ridges  in  Delaware  County  which  connect  this  moraine 
with  the  Mississinawa  are  less  easily  described  than  the  more  closely  aggre- 
gated portions  of  the  moraine.  The  southernmost  ridge  of  the  outer  chain 
bears  away  from  White  River,  near  Selma,  curving  around  from  a  westerly 
to  a  northwesterly  trend.  It  has  a  width  of  about  one-half  mile  and  a 
length  of  neai'l}^  2  miles,  its  northwest  terminus  being  in  the  northwestern 
part  of  sec.  6,  T.  20,  R.  11  E.  Its  highest  points  stand  25  to  30  feet  above 
the  bordering  plains,  while  its  general  elevation  is  about  20  feet 

About  a  mile  west  of  the  northwest  end  of  the  ridge  just  described  is 
the  southwest  end  of  an  esker  belt  which  trends  north-northeast  to  south- 
southwest,  and  which  is  traceable  from  the  borders  of  the  Mississinawa 
moraine  to  this  point.  A  description  of  this  esker  belt  appears  below.  It 
terminates  in  a  plain,  the  nearest  morainic  features  being  a  ridge  whose 
northern  end,  as  noted  above,  lies  a  mile  to  the  east.  About  2  miles  to 
the  west  is  a  ridge  which  probably  constitutes  the  continuation  of  the 
moraine.  It  is  nearly  2  miles  in  length  and  leads  from  sec.  27,  T.  21,  R. 
10  E.  northward  to  Killbuck  Creek,  in  section  15  of  the  same  township.  At 
the  northern  end  it  makes  a  curve  to  the  northwest.  Its  width  is  about 
one-fourth  mile  and  its  height  20  to  30  feet.  Its  surface  has  a  gentle  swell- 
and-sag  topography.  As  already  noted,  no  continuation  of  this  ridge  was 
found  either  to  the  north  or  west. 

Passing  to  the  inner  line,  we  find  it  consisting  in  part  of  short  ridges 
with  east-southeast  to  west-northwest  trend,  among  which  there  are  small 
conical  swells,  and  in  part  of  a  swell-and-sag  tract  free  from  distinct  ridging. 
These  ridges  display  a  somewhat  peculiar  arrangement  in  the  eastern  part 
of  Delaware  County,  in  that  they  lap  past  each  other  and  yet  constitute  but 
a  single  chain,  a  given  ridge  having  its  western  end  north  of  and  extending 
slightly  beyond  the  eastern  end  of  its  neighboring  ridge  on  the  west,  indi- 
cating that  its  production  was  somewhat  later  than  that  of  the  ridge  which 
it  overlaps.  From  sec.  33,  T.  21,  R.  1 1  E.,  northwestward  to  the  Mississinawa 
moraine  there  are  no  well-defined  ridges;  but  there  is,  throughout  much  of 


480  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  distance,  a  series  of  knolls  somewhat  closely  aggregated  and  of  irregular 
form,  standing  10  to  15  feet  above  bordering  plains.  On  the  north  side  of 
the  Mississinawa  Kiver,  near  the  point  where  connection  is  made  with  the 
moraine  of  that  name,  there  are  numerous  basins  inclosed  among  the  swells, 
the  topography  being  of  a  subdued  knob-and-basin  type  for  a  mile  or  more 
south  from  the  point  of  connection.  This  portion  of  the  moraine  borders  an 
esker  closely  on  the  west.  No  decisive  evidence  was  obtained  as  to  its  age 
compared  with  the  inner  chain  of  ridges  just  described.  It  hes  inside  the 
line  connecting  the  outer  chain  of  ridges,  and  is  therefore,  in  all  probability, 
of  later  date  than  that  chain. 

Before  leaving  this  topic  a  brief  description  will  be  given  of  the  feebly 
ridged  tract  leading  nortliwestward  from  Muncie  to  the  Wabash  River, 
near  Peru.  Near  Reeds,  the  first  station  on  the  Lake  Eric  and  Western 
Railway  west  of  Muncie,  a  slight  ridging  occurs  with  west-northwest  to  east- 
southeast  trend,  i.  e.,  in  line  with  that  of  the  belt.  There  is  also  in  this 
vicinity  for  2  or  3  miles  an  abrupt  rise  of  10  to  15  feet  or  more  from  the 
plain  on  the  south  into  the  ridged  belt.  This  is  the  only  locality  west  of  the 
meridian  of  Muncie  where  a  well-defined  relief  was  observed.  Throughout 
the  remainder  of  its  course  to  the  Wabash  River  this  belt  consists  of  swells, 
either  isolated  or  in  groups,  whose  height  seldom  exceeds  15  feet  and 
among  which  there  are  nearly  plane  tracts  that  constitute  perhaps  one-half 
the  surface  along  the  line  of  the  belt.  The  difference  between  this  belt  and 
the  bordering  country  consists  mainly  in  the  greater  frequency  of  its  swells, 
for  occasional  swells  10  or  15  feet  high  are  to  be  found  on  the  bordering 
plains.  Similar  topography  occurs  on  the  u]>lands  between  the  Wabash 
and  Eel  rivers,  though  the  swells  are  more  numerous  and  the  expression 
is  somewhat  stronger  than  south  of  the  Wabash.  A  iieculiar  sand  ridge 
was  found  in  this  district  which  merits  notice.  It  lies  a  few  miles  north  of 
Peru,  on  elevated  upland  overlooking  Eel  River  from  the  south,  being 
mainly  in  sec.  29,  T.  28,  R.  5  E.,  but  extending  into  the  adjoining  sections 
on  the  east  and  the  west.  Its  trend  is  nearly  due  east  and  west.  It  stands 
6  to  12  feet  above  the  bordering  country  and  is  but  10  to  30  rods  in  width. 
So  far  as  opened  it  consists  wholly  of  sand,  though  lying  in  a  district  where 
the  surface  of  the  drift  is  till  and  being  underlain  by  till  at  the  level  of  its 
base.  It  more  nearly  resembles  a  beach  line  than  a  glacial  formation,  but 
no  other  evidence  of  the  presence  of  a  lake  was  discovered.  Its  origin, 
therefore,  remains  unsettled. 


UNION  MORAINE.  481 

From  the  meridian  of  Peru  eastward  to  the  point  where  the  Missis- 
sinawa  moraine  comes  to  Eel  River  (near  South  Whitley)  there  are 
occasional  ridg-ings  of  the  drift  on  the  south  side  of  this  stream  and  nearly 
parallel  with  it,  which  have  perhaps  the  same  age  as  the  ridged  belt,  though 
it  seems  more  probable  that  they  are  older.  The  ridges  are  one-fourth  to 
one-half  mile  in  width  and  10  to  30  feet  high.  They  preserve  continuity 
in  some  cases  for  2  miles  or  more,  but  are  usually  a  mile  or  less  in  length. 

THICKNESS   AND   STEUCTUKE    OF   DRIFT. 

The  thickness  of  the  drift  along  the  line  of  the  Union  moraine  ranges 
from  20  feet  or  less  up  to  300  feet  or  more.  This  includes  the  drift 
deposited  previous  to  the  ice  advance  which  produced  this  moraine  as  well 
as  that  of  the  moraine  itself  The  thickness  as  estimated  by  the  relief  of 
the  moraine  probably  represents  approximately  the  amount  of  material 
deposited  during  this  ice  advance  and  shows  it  to  be  on  an  average  but  20 
to  25  feet.  A  succession  of  till  sheets  beneath  portions  of  the  moraine  near 
Sidney,  Ohio  (described  below),  also  seems  to  indicate  that  the  thickness 
was  increased  only  a  few  feet  by  this  ice  advance. 

In  structure  the  predominant  material  is  till,  there  being  but  few 
gravelly  knolls  and  but  little  assorted  material  interbedded  with  the  sheets 
of  till.  This  moraine  and  the  later  ones  of  this  lobe  are  locally  known  as 
"clay  belts,"  to  distinguish  them  from  the  plains  between  moraines,  on 
which  there  is  a  black  soil;  but  moraines  and  plains  alike  are  underlain  by 
till,  and,  with  local  exceptions,  the  till  constitutes  the  soil  and  subsoil.  The 
till  differs  from  the  deeper  portions  of  the  drift  sheet  only  in  the  amount 
of  weathering  and  the  addition  of  humus.  It  is  more  clayey  and  compact 
and  the  soil  less  warm  than  in  the  main  morainic  system.  In  a  few  places 
surface  bowlders  occur  in  great  number,  but  as  a  rule  they  are  no 
more  numerous  on  the  surface  than  in  the  deeper  portions  of  the  di-ift 
sheet.  In  this  respect  this  moraine  differs  from  the  main  morainic  system, 
on  whose  surface  bowlders  are  more  numerous  than  in  the  deeper  portions; 
but  it  resembles  the  later  moraines,  none  of  which  have  (except  in  small 
areas)  a  markedly  greater  number  of  bowlders  at  the  surface  than  in  the 
body  of  the  drift.  It  may  be  remarked  in  passing  that  the  similarity 
between  the  surface  and  the  deeper  portions  of  the  drift,  the  compact 
character  of  the  till,  and  the  gradual  slope  on  the  inner  face  of  the  moraine 

MON  XLI 31 


482  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

each  and  all  indicate  that  it  is  of  the  class  which  Chamberlin  has  termed 
a  "lodge  moraine,"'  i.  e.,  one  formed  from  material  carried  in  the  basal 
portion  of  the  ice  sheet  and  dejjosited  submarginally,  rather  than  one 
formed  at  the  actual  extremity  of  the  ice.  If  deposited  at  the  margin  it 
would  seem  to  have  been  overridden  and  subdued  by  the  margin  of  the 
ice  sheet. 

The  records  of  wells  and  natural  exposures  here  given  are  taken  up  at 
the  eastern  end  of  the  moraine  and  followed  westward. 

In  northern  Logan  County,  from  Big  Springs  westward  nearly  to  the 
Lewiston  reservoir,  there  are  numerous  outcrops  of  limestone,  but  among 
these  outcrops  are  places  filled  deeply  Avith  drift,  showing  that  the  rock 
surface  is  very  uneven.  In  the  village  of  Belle  Center  there  are  extensive 
quarries,  but  one  of  the  gas  wells,  scarcely  one-fourth  mile  distant  from 
the  quarries  and  on  slightly  lower  gi'ound,  penetrated  160  feet  of  di-ift,  the 
greater  part  of  the  drift  being  till.  Several  flowing  wells  in  and  near  this 
village  obtain  water  from  the  drift,  their  depth  ranging  from  18  to  25  feet. 
The  majority  of  them  penetrate  yellow  till  and  then  sand,  each  about  10 
feet,  after  which  they  pass  through  a  thin  bed  of  blue  hardpan,  probably 
till,  beneath  which  water-bearing  gravel  is  reached.  Some  of  the  wells 
south  of  the  village  enter  gravel  at  the  surface  instead  of  yellow  till. 

At  Huutsville  one  of  the  gas  wells  penetrates  67  feet  of  drift,  while 
rock  is  quarried  one-half  mile  north  of  the  village  on  ground  fully  as  high 
as  at  the  gas  well.  There  are  a  few  gravelly  knolls  in  the  vicinity  of  this 
village,  but  the  drift  penetrated  in  the  wells  is  almost  entirely  till. 

At  LakeAdew,  near  the  outlet  of  the  Lewiston  reservoir,  Mr.  Angel  has 
a  well  112  feet  deep  which  did  not  reach  the  rock.  It  passed  through  con- 
siderable quicksand.  South  of  this  reservoir  for  several  miles  the  moraine 
contains  many  gravelly  knolls,  and  the  till  which  occurs  is  of  a  looser 
texture  than  in  portions  of  the  moraine  farther  west. 

On  a  previous  page  attention  was  called  to  the  great  range  in  the 
thickness  of  drift  at  De  Graff,  one  gas  well  reaching  rock  at  33  feet,  while 
another  one,  a  half  mile  north,  penetrated  300  feet  of  drift  before  reaching 
rock.     The  drift  is  largely  sand  and  gravel. 

At  Port  Jefferson,  in  the  Great  Miami  Valley,  at  a  level  but  a  few  feet 
above  the  river  and  neaidy  100  feet  below  the  bordering  uplands,  a  gas 


iBull.  Geol.  Soe.  America,  Vol.  1, 1890,  p.  28. 


UNION  MORAINE.  483 

well  penetrated  about  350  feet  of  drift,  striking  rock  at  an  altitude  only  600 
to  625  feet  above  tide. 

At  Sidney  a  gas  boring  near  the  Big  Fotir  Railway  station,  about 
30  feet  above  t]ie  level  of  the  river,  penetrated  115  feet  of  drift,  mainly 
sand  and  gravel,  but  only  a  mile  south  of  the  city  rock  appears  in  the  river 
valley,  forming  bluffs  15  to  20  feet  high.  Outcrops  of  rock  are  frequent 
between  this  point  and  Piqua. 

In  a  cutting  made  by  the  Big  Four  Railway,  just  west  of  the  crossing 
of  the  Cincinnati,  Hamilton,  and  Dayton  Railway  in  Sidney,  the  following 
succession  of  till  sheets  is  exposed: 

Railway  cutting  near  Sidney,  Ohio. 

Feet. 

1.  Yellow  till 12-15 

2.  Blue  till 4-6 

3.  Yellowtill 3-5 

4.  Blue  till  (exposed) 10-12 

Near  the  standpipe  in  the  northern  part  of  Sidney,  and  nearly  one-fourth 
mile  distant  from  this  railway  cut,  Nos.  1  to  3  are  exposed,  the  thickness  of 
the  upper  yellow  till  being  15  feet,  and  of  the  blue  till  6  to  10  feet.  The 
base  of  the  lower  yellow  till  is  not  exposed.  It  is  probable  that  only  the 
upper  yellow  and  blue  tills  belong  to  the  moraine  under  discussion,  and 
that  the  lower  tills  are  earlier.  There  is  no  stinking  difference  between  the 
rock  constituents  of  the  upper  and  lower  sheets.  In  each  sheet  numerous 
pebbles  of  Lockport  (Niagara)  limestone  occur,  a  large  percentage  of  which 
are  glaciated. 

In  the  east  bluff  of  the  Great  Miami,  a  mile  south  of  Sidney,  there  are 
extensive  exposures  of  cobble  and  gravel,  above  which  there  is  a  capping  of 
till  10  to  12  feet  in  thickness.  The.  cobble  beds  are  in  places  so  firmly 
cemented  as  to  break  through  the  pebbles  more  readily  than  around  them. 
The  pebbles  are  mainly  Lockport  (Niagara)  limestone,  but  crystalline  peb- 
bles of  Canadian  derivation  are  not  rare.  A  few  bowlders  a  foot  or  more 
in  diameter  are  embedded  in  the  cobble  deposit,  so  that  it  consists  of  an 
unusually  coarse  assorted  material.  In  this  exposure  it  is  probable  that 
only  the  capping  of  till  belongs  to  the  moraine  under  discussion,  and  the 
assorted  material  may  either  belong  to  an  earlier  advance  or  have  been 
deposited  just  before  the  ice  sheet  covered  the  valley  and  deposited  the  till. 
In  the  west  bluff,  opposite  the  exposure  of  assorted  material,  there  appears 


484  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

to  be  till  from  top  to  bottom  (nearly  100  feet),  but  exposures  are  not  suffi- 
ciently extensive  to  enable  one  to  fully  decide  this  matter. 

Bowlders  are  exceedingly  numerous  in  the  river  valley  just  below 
Sidney,  there  being  one  field  in  which  there  are  1,000  or  more  per  acre. 
At  no  othei"  point  along  the  upper  course  of  this  stream  were  they  observed 
in  such  numbers. 

No  records  of  wells  were  obtained  nor  extensive  natural  exposures 
observed  along  the  moraine  between  the  Great  Miami  and  the  State  line. 
The  thickness  of  the  drift  in  this  portion  of  the  moraine  is  seldom  more  than 
50  feet,  and  several  exposures  of  rock  occur  on  its  outer  border  along  Green- 
ville Creek.  There  are  knolls  along  the  south  side  of  Greenville  Creek, 
east  of  Greenville,  which  contain  much  assorted  material,  but  also  contain 
till.  These,  however,  seem  more  likely  to  belong  with  the  drift  of  the 
main  morainic  system  than  with  the  Union  moraine.  Bowlders  are  very 
numerous  along  Greenville  Creek  from  the  east  border  of  these  knolls 
(about  3  miles  east  of  Greenville)  eastward  to  the  meridian  of  Bradford 
Junction,  a  distance  of  6  or  7  miles.  It  seems  not  improbable  that  the 
bowlders  are  a  dependency  of  the  Union  moraine.  They  are  mainly 
small  and  well  rounded,  and  thus  differ  from  the  bowlders  which  are 
scattered  over  the  plains  to  the  south,  the  latter  being  large  and  angular. 
The  difference  in  size  and  angularity  may,  however,  be  accidental  and 
indicate  nothing  as  to  separate  ice  advances. 

At  Greenville  much  variation  in  the  thickness  of  the  drift  is  reported, 
there  being  borings  which  pass  through  nearly  100  feet  of  drift,  while  near 
by,  both  on  the  east  and  west,  outcrops  of  rock  occur.  In  the  vicinity  ot 
Union  gas-well  borings  show  a  variation  in  thickness  of  about  160  feet, 
the  greatest  thickness  of  drift  reported  being  220  feet,  while  the  least  is  60 
feet.  In  several  borings  for  gas  made  within  5  or  6  miles  of  this  city  the 
drift  was  found  to  be  nearly  all  till.  In  some  borings  a  small  amount  of 
gravel  was  found  just  above  the  rock.  In  the  well  having  220  feet  of  drift, 
however,  which  is  situated  on  the  crest  of  the  moraine,  about  2  miles  west 
of  Union,  there  was  but  a  small  amount  of  till,  as  shown  in  the  following 
section : 

Drift  penetrated  near  Union,  Ind. 

Feet. 

Till 40 

Gravel 30 

Sand ...„.„ 147 


UNION  MORAINE.  485 

Near  Winchester  the  majority  of  the  wells  penetrate  from  80  to  150 
feet  of  drift,  but  two  wells  1^  miles  west  of  the  city  penetrated  332  and  333 
feet,  the  first  rock  struck  being  shale  (probably  of  Hudson  River  group) . 
The  drift  is  mainly  quicksand,  though  some  till  was  passed  through. 

In  Farmland  two  wells,  situated  near  the  crest  of  the  moraine,  nave 
each  about  60  feet  of  drift,  which  consists  of  till,  except  a  thin  bed  of  gravel 
just  above  the  rock. 

A  gas  well  at  Selma  penetrates  the  following  drift  beds: 

Drift  in  gas  horing  at  Selma,  Ind. 

Feet. 

Yellow  till 12 

Sand 8 

Blue  till  containing  streaks  of  brown  sand 12 

Sand  containing  a  few  pebbles 20 

Fine  gravel 25 

Coarse  and  fine  gravel  in  alternate  beds 10 

Total 90 

The  double  chain  of  ridges  previously  described  as  leading  northwest- 
ward from  the  eastern  part  of  Delaware  County  into  more  or  less  close 
connection  with  the  Mississinawa  moraine  is,  so  far  as  can  be  learned  from 
exposures  and  borings,  composed  mainly  of  till. 

Along  White  River  near  Muncie  there  are  outcrops  of  limestone,  and 
several  of  the  gas  wells  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  city  penetrate  very  little 
drift.  Others  on  ground  not  more  than  25  feet  higher  penetrate  about  100 
feet  of  drift.  The  thickness  of  the  drift  increases  more  rapidly  toward  the 
southwest  from  the  outcrops  of  rock  and  therefore  has  no  relation  to  the 
moraine  under  discussion. 

There  is  a  large  gravel  knoll  and  several  small  ones  in  the  southwest 
part  of  the  city  of  Muncie.  It  is  not  certain  that  they  should  be  included 
in  the  Union  morainic  belt,  since  they  lie  slightly  outside  the  line  of  the 
moraine,  but  a  brief  description  of  an  exposure  in  one  of  them  is  here 
given.  The  largest  knoll  has  been  opened  from  top  to  bottom,  and  the  exca- 
vation extends  to  the  center  or  highest  part.  There  is  exposed  a  nucleus  of 
till  rising  20  feet  or  more  above  its  base,  around  and  over  which  the  assorted 
material  is  deposited.  The  latter  is  very  unevenly  bedded,  and  in  almost 
any  vertical  section  several  abrupt  changes  in  the  dip  may  be  found.  It  is 
mainly  a  fine  gravel  composed  largely  of  limestone  pebbles,  but  on  the 
western  slope  nmch  sand  occurs.     This  knoll  rises  about  40  feet  above  the 


486         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

level  of  the  surrounding  country,  and  can  not  therefore  be  a  product  of 
erosion,  but  instead  is  a  true  glacial  product,  formed  perhaps  within  or 
beneath  the  confinement  of  ice  walls. 

The  records  of  a  few  wells  along  the  line  of  the  feebly  ridged  belt 
leading  northwestward  from  Muncie  are  here  presented. 

At  Alexandria  rock  is  quarried  in  the  bed  of  Pipe  Creek.  The  diift 
in  the  gas  borings  is  22  to  28  feet  thick,  but  the  borings  were  made  on 
ground  standing  20  feet  or  more  above  the  creek;  the  rock  surface  has 
therefore  about  the  same  altitude  as  in  the  outcrops.  The  following  is  the 
section  of  the  boring  near  the  Lake  Erie  and  Western  Railway  station,  in 
the  southeastern  part  of  the  village: 

Drift  penetrated  in  Ijoring  at  Alexandria^  Ind. 

Feet. 

Soil  and  gravel 6 

Blue  clay 16 

Disturbed  rock 6 

Limestone,  etc. 

At  Summitville  a  gas  boring  was  made  on  low  ground  west  of  the 
village  at  an  altitude  about  885  feet  above  tide,  which  penetrated  110  feet 
of  drift,  of  which  the  upper  15  feet  is  yellow  clay  and  the  remainder  gravel. 

At  Fairmount  the  gas  borings  penetrate  less  than  20  feet  of  drift. 
They  are  located  in  the  valley  of  Back  Creek,  25  feet  or  more  below  the 
level  of  the  uplands.  This  valley  is  remarkably  broad  for  so  small  a  stream, 
and  appears  to  have  been  formed  by  a  subglacial  stream  leading  south- 
ward, or  the  reverse  of  the  present  flow.  The  valley  bottom  and  blutfs 
are  lined  with  gravel,  but  a  short  distance  back  from  the  brow  of  the 
bluffs  the  drift  appears  to'be  mainly  till. 

At  Point  Isabel  the  gas  boring  is  in  a  ravine  and  strikes  rock  at  22 
feet.  The  drift  is  mainly  sand.  On  the  bordering  upland,  including  the 
drift  knolls,  the  drift  is  mainly  till. 

At  Sims  a  well  driller  reported  the  following  section  of  drift  in  the 
first  gas  well  made  in  the  village: 

Drift  in  gas  horing  at  /Sims,  Ind. 

Feet. 

Yellow  and  blue  till 22 

Gravel ^ 

Blue  till  and  bowlders 12 

Gravel 6-7 

Total - - -iS 


UNION  MORAINE.  487 

At  Swayzee  the  drift  has  a  thickness  of  22  feet  and  is  mainly  till.  At 
Switzer  the  thickness  is  28  feet  and  mainly  till.  At  Sycamore  Corners  the 
drift  at  the  gas  well,  as  reported  by  the  driller,  consisted  of  16  feet  of 
yellow  and  blue  till,  beneath  which  was  50  feet  of  gravel  resting  upon  the 
rock.  At  Greentown  the  thickness  of  the  di'ift  in  the  gas  boring  is  85  feet; 
the  exact  section  was  not  obtained.  At  Wawpecong',  in  Miami  County,  the 
drift  is  mainly  till,  and  rock  is  struck  at  about  70  feet. 

A  gas  boring  at  Bunker  Hill,  on  ground  slightly  below  the  level  of  the 
station,  penetrated  68  feet  of  drift,  of  which  the  ujjper  40  feet  is  till,  and 
the  remainder  sand  and  gravel  with  thin  beds  of  till.  A  well  for  water 
a  short  distance  southwest  of  Bunker  Hill  has  84  feet  of  di-ift.  Along  Pijje 
Creek,  within  a  mile  below  Bunker  Hill,  there  are  rock  outcrops,  but  the 
valley  is  about  100  feet  deep,  and  the  altitude  of  the  outcrops  is  nearly  the 
same  as  that  of  the  rock  surface  in  the  gas  boring  at  Bunker  Hill. 

Along  the  southeastern  portion  of  this  feebly  ridged  belt  bowlders  are 
not  a  conspicuous  feature,  but  in  northern  Howard  and  in  Miami  County 
they  are  numerous,  and  especially  so  in  sees.  11  and  14,  T.  24,  E,.  4  E.,  and 
east  from  these  sections  to  the  head  of  Deer  Creek,  which  is  in  the  ridged 
belt.  The  majority  of  the  bowlders  are  large,  2  to  4  feet  in  diameter,  and 
nearly  all  are  of  Canadian  derivation. 

STRL^. 

The  observations  of  striae  in  the  district  comprised  between  the  Union 
moraine  and  the  next  moraine  to  the  north,  the  Mississinawa,  are  restricted 
to  two  in  northern  Logan  County,  Ohio,  and  to  a  single  locality  in  Indiana.. 
Nearly  every  rock  outcrop  was  examined,  but  the  surface  is  usually  rotten 
and  weathered  to  such  an  extent  that  striae  could  not  be  detected  had  they 
once  been  present. 

In  quarries  in  the  northeast  part  of  Belle  Center,  Ohio,  there  are  striae 
bearing  S."10°  W.  They  consist  of  very  tine  lines,  coniined  to  the  promi- 
nent portions  of  the  surface. 

At  a  quan-y  one-half  mile  southwest  of  Richland,  Ohio,  there  are  striae 
bearing  S.  25°  W.  Here,  as  at  Belle  Center,  they  consist  of  tine  lines,  and 
are  restricted  to  the  prominent  portions  of  the  surface. 

The  observation  in  Indiana  is  at  Alexandria,  in  Free's  quarry,  on 
Pipe  Creek,  just  west  of  the  railway  bridge.  The  bearing  is  S.  39°  W- 
(magnetic). 


488  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

OUTER   BORDER   PHENOMENA. 

The  features  of  the  upland  portion  of  the  district  lying  between  this 
moraine  and  the  main  moraiuic  system  having  already  been  discussed,  it 
only  remains  to  discuss  the  valley  phenomena.  The  moraine  is  favorably 
situated  for  southward  drainage,  and  the  glacial  waters  appear  to  have  had 
easy  escape  at  several  points.  The  gravel  plains  leading  southward  from 
this  moraine  are  however  not  so  large  as  from  the  main  morainic  system, 
but  this  is  probably  due  to  a  smaller  volume  of  the  streams  rather  than  to 
an  obstruction  to  their  escape. 

The  Great  Miami  appears  to  have  been  fed  by  glacial  waters  from  the 
vicinity  of  De  Graff,  and  also  from  the  mouth  of  Loramie  Creek  a  short 
distance  above  Piqua.  The  exact  head  of  the  stream  which  entered  near 
De  Graff  was  not  traced  out,  but  it  appears  to  be  located  in  the  eastern 
tributaries  of  the  Great  Miami,  no  clear  indications  of  glacial  terraces  having 
been  found  along  the  Great  Miami  itself  above  De  Graff.  The  terrace 
material  is,  in  large  part,  coarse  gravel  and  cobble,  well  rounded,  and  is 
nearly  free  from  the  earthy  material  which  occurs  in  alluvial  terraces  formed 
since  the  Glacial  epoch.  The  altitude  of  the  terrace  from  De  Graff  to  the 
mouth  of  Loramie  Creek  is  but  20  to  30  feet  above  the  present  stream,  its 
usual  altitude  being  about  30  feet.  From  the  mouth  of  Loramie  Creek 
southward  nearly  to  Piqua  there  is  a  terrace  standing  fully  40  feet  above 
the  stream,  but  farther  south  it  declines  to  30  feet  or  less.  Above  the  mouth 
of  Loramie  Creek  the  terrace  has  a  smooth,  flat  surface,  but  for  2  or  3  miles 
south  from  the  mouth  of  that  creek  it  is  traversed  by  shallow  winding 
channels  and  has  a  somewhat  undulating  surface.  This  increase  in  height 
and  change  in  appearance  are  thought  to  be  due  to  the  influx  at  that  point 
of  glacial  waters  that  were  heavily  chai-ged  with  sediment.  There  is  an 
almost  imperceptible  gradation  from  the  channeled  and  slightly  undulatory 
terrace  to  the  morainic  knolls  which  occupy  the  lower  course  of  Loramie 
Creek  Valley.  This  appears  therefore  to  be  the  beginning  of  a  moraine- 
headed  terrace. 

Upon  passing  westward  a  few  miles  to  the  Stillwater  River  one  finds  a 
gravel  plain  of  considerable  extent  where  the  stream  leaves  the  moraine, 
about  2  miles  north  of  Covington.  The  gravel  deposits  flank  the  outer  face 
of  the  moraine,  but  southward  become  gathered  into  the  limits  of  Stillwater 
Valley.     This  appears  to  have  been  the  main  outlet  for  the  glacial  lobe  at  the 


UNION  MORAINE.  489 

time  the  Union  moraine  was  forming,  if  we  may  jndg-e  from  the  size  of  the 
gravel  plain,  for  it  occupies  at  its  head  an  area  of  several  square  miles. 
The  thickness  of  the  gravel  deposit  is  but  a  few  feet,  there  being  rock  at 
slight  depth  over  much  of  the  region  upon  which  it  rests.  Places  were 
observed  near  the  borders  of  the  moraine  where  the  gravel  is  underlain  by 
till  at  a  depth  of  12  to  15  feet.  The  altitude  of  the  gravel  plain  at  its 
head  is  nearly  as  great  as  that  of  the  bordering  till  plains  south  of  the 
moraine,  and  is  at  Covington  50  to  60  feet  above  the  bed  of  Stillwater 
River,  the  stream  here  being  in  a  narrow  rock-bound  gorge. 

Greenville  Creek  also  has  a  narrow  gorge  up  to  Grreenville  Falls,  about 
one-half  mile  above  its  mouth.  Its  bed  above  the  falls  is  mainly  in  the  drift 
and  its  valley  is  less  restricted  and  varies  considerably  in  width.  The  gravel 
plain  just  described  extends  up  Green\'ille  Creek  2  miles  or  more  and  rem- 
nants of  glacial  gravel  are  found  almost  the  entire  length  of  the  creek,  but 
they  are  less  conspicuous  than  the  gravel  plain  near  its  mouth.  The  phe- 
nomena seem  to  indicate  that  the  creek  adopted  its  course  along  the  outer 
border  of  the  moraine  because  of  a  valley  opened  by  glacial  waters. 

White  River  Valley  carries  but  little  gravel  and  has  scarcely  a  sign  of 
a  glacial  terrace  along  the  portion  which  borders  this  moraine,  its  bed 
being  but  10  to  20  feet  below  the  bordering  plain.  It  seems  therefore  to 
have  been  a  subordinate  line  of  discharge  for  glacial  waters. 

On  the  Mississinawa  no  terrace  was  noted  which  seemed  to  connect 
with  this  moraine. 

INNER   BORDER   PHENOMENA. 

The  narrow  tract  lying  between  the  Union  and  Mississinawa  moraines, 
a  tract  nowhere  exceeding  8  miles  in  width,  consists  mainly  of  a  smooth- 
surfaced  till  plain  on  which  the  drift  has  nearly  as  great  thickness  as  on  the 
moraine  into  which  it  merges  on  the  south.  Two  esker  belts  appear  on 
this  plain,  one  in  Logan  Coimty,  Ohio,  between  Richland  and  Huntsville, 
which  is  called  the  Richland  esker;  the  other  in  Delaware  County,  Ind., 
leading  from  the  vicinity  of  Greenville  nearly  to  Muncie,  which  is  called 
the  Muncie  esker. 

THE   RICHLAND   ESKER. 

The  northern  end  of  the  Richland  esker  is  immediately  west  of  that 
village,  from  which  point  it  extends  in  a  south-southwest  course  for  more 
than  a  mile  without  any  serious  interruption,  and  is  continued  in  a  chain  of 
short  ridges,  with  frequent  gaps  for  nearly  a  mile  farther.     It  lies  in  a  valley 


490  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

or  eskei'  troiigh  which  continues  to  the  moraine  at  Huntsville,  but  the  ridge 
itself  falls  short  a  mile  or  so  of  reaching  the  moraine.  The  esker  has  a 
width  of  30  to  75  yards,  including  slopes,  and  a  height  in  its  northern  half 
of  15  to  25  feet,  but  in  its  southern  half  its  height  seldom  exceeds  10  feet. 
The  trough  in  which  the  esker  lies  has  an  average  width  of  150  to  200 
yards  and  is  excavated  only  a  few  feet  below  the  bordering  plain,  so  that 
the  higher  parts  of  the  esker  rise  above  the  level  of  the  plain.  The  esker 
winds  greatly,  but  the  trough  in  which  it  lies  has  a  trend  nearly  in  line 
with  the  striae  of  a  neighboring  quarry  (S.  25°  W.).  In  the  northern  half 
of  its  course  the  esker  exhibits  the  great  changes  in  direction  indicated  by 
the  bearings  given  below,  which  are  taken  in  order  from  north  to  south  by 
a  pocket  compass:  S.  5°  W.,  S.  50°  W.,  S.  35°  W.,  S.  30°  E.,  S.  10°  W., 
S.  25°  E.,  N.  to  S.  The  portion  bearing  S.  30°  E.  is  but  a  few  rods  in 
length.  The  portion  bearing  S.  25°  E.  is  somewhat  longer,  but  the  greater 
part  of  the  esker  bears  west  of  sotith.  The  southern  half  of  the  esker  con- 
sists of  short  ridges  which  form  a  chain  trending  northeast  to  southwest, 
but  the  gaps  in  the  chain  are  very  narrow.  The  esker  appears  to  be  com- 
posed of  assorted  material  throughout  its  entire  length.  There  is  a  railway 
gravel  pit  near  its  south  end  which  exposes  sand  at  the  base  of  the  ridge 
and  gravel  in  its  upper  two-thirds.  The  beds  present  considerable  arching 
and  oblique  arrangement.  It  is  scarcely  probable,  however,  that  this  one 
exposure  can  be  taken  as  an  index  of  the  character  of  the  beds  in  the 
whole  ridge,  for  where  eskers  have  been  more  extensively  opened  observa- 
tion has  shown  hem  to  vary  greatly  in  structure  within  short  distances. 
The  phenomena  this  esker  and  its  trough,  like  those  of  eskers  and  esker 
troughs  in  general,  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  deposited  by  a  stream 
flowing  under  the  ice,  that  the  stream  had  previously  eroded  the  trough  in 
which  the  ridge  lies  and  had  its  discharge  at  the  ice  margiii.  The  produc- 
tion of  such  a  trough,  and  more  especially  of  such  a  ridge,  appears  to 
demand  a  nearly  stagnant  condition  of  the  ice  sheet,  or  an  exact  balancing 
of  movement  and  erosion,  such  as  would  prevent  a  filling  of  the  trough  and 
an  obliteration  of  the  ridge. 

THE   MUNCIB   ESKER. 

A  brief  description  of  the  Muncie  esker  appears  m  each  of  Dr.  Phinney's 
reports  on  Delaware  and  Henry  counties,  Ind.,^  and  through  his  kindness 

'Eleventh  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1881,  p.  134;  Fifteenth  Ann.  Kept.  Geol.  Survey 
India-ia,  18S.5-1886,  p.  108. 


UNION  MORAINE.  491 

the  writer  was  conducted  to  the  esker  and  spent  a  day  examinmg  it  with 
him  in  the  autumn  of  1888.  It  is  perhaps  necessary  to  state  that  after 
this  examination  he  found  some  shght  errors  in  his  later  report,  which  he 
attributes  to  his  having  written  it  in  part  from  memory.  For  example,  the 
elevation  of  the  esker  is  stated  to  be  less  than  that  of  a  clay  ridge  on  the 
east.  It  was  found  that  it  stands  considerably  higher  than  the  so-called 
clay  ridge,  and  that  the  clay  ridge  is  simply  a  bluff  forming  the  border  of 
the  esker  trough,  its  altitude  being  little,  if  any,  above  the  plains  to 
the  east. 

The  Muncie  esker  sets  in  at  the  south  border  of  the  Mississinawa 
moraine,  in  sees.  33  and  34,  T.  22,  R.  11  E.  It  has,  for  one-half  mile  or 
more,  a  trend  slightly  south  of  west  along  the  south  border  of  the 
moraine  just  mentioned.  It  curves  rapidly  at  the  middle  of  the  south 
line  of  section  33,  to  assume  a  southwest  course.  For  7  miles  from  this 
line  its  course  varies  but  little,  although  within  this  distance  the  Mississinawa 
River  passes  through  it  in  a  narrow  gap.  Its  southern  terminus  is  in  sec.  1, 
T.  20.,  R.  10  E.  The  esker  has  no  well-defined  trough  or  valley  north  of 
the  Mississinawa,  but  is  bordered  on  the  east  by  a  till  plain  and  on  the  west 
by  a  morainic  tract.  South  of  the  river  it  lies  in  a  trough  standing  a  few 
feet  below  the  general  level  of  the  bordering  country.  The  trough  is 
several  times  wider  than  the  esker  and  on  each  side  is  bordered  by  a  narrow 
belt  of  drift  knolls,  the  whole  system,  including  the  trough  as  well  as 
knolls,  being  scarcely  a  mile  in  width.  The  esker  is  much  more  prominent 
than  the  knolls  at  its  side.  The  esker  trough  finds  a  continuation  with  no 
deflection  in  course  down  the  boggy  valley  of  Muncie  Creek  to  White 
River  at  the  city  of  Muncie,  but  from  sec.  18,  T.  21,  R.  11,  to  its  terminus 
(in  sec.  1,  T.  20,  R.  10  E.)  the  esker  lies  on  the  east  border  of  the  trough 
instead  of  in  its  deeper  central  portion.  It  has  a  range  from  20  to  60  feet 
in  height,  and  throughout  much  of  its  course  the  height  is  fully  40  feet. 
In  the  portion  north  of  the  Mississinawa  the  crest  rises  20  feet  or  more 
above  the  morainic  tract  that  borders  it  on  the  west  and  40  to  60  feet  above 
the  plain  on  the'  east.  South  of  the  river  the  drift  knolls  that  border  the 
esker  on  either  side  are  seldom  more  than  20  feet  in  height,  and  the  esker 
here  becomes  a  very  prominent  feature,  which  is  visible  for  a  long  distance. 
The  width  of  the  esker  is  greater  north  of  the  river  than  south,  but  nowhere 
exceeds  200  yards,  its  usual  width  being  75  to  100  yards.  A  gap  occurs 
where  the  Mississinawa  River  passes  through,  and  there  are  two  other  gaps 


492  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

farther  south.  One  (iii  sec.  18,  T.  21,  R.  11)  is  scarcely  30  rods  wide,  but 
the  other  (in  sec.  36,  T.  21,  R.  10  E.)  is  more  than  one-half  mile  in  width. 
The  southernmost  ridge  rises  very  abruptly  at  its  north  end  to  a  height 
of  fully  60  feet,  but  within  one-half  mile  it  becomes  reduced  to  a  height  of 
15  or  20  feet.  Near  its  southern  terminus  it  assumes  a  billowy  topog- 
raphy, like  that  of  a  moraine,  and  contains  much  till.  There  is  no  delta 
or  fan-shaped  gravel  deposit  about  this  terminus,  such  as  characterizes  some 
eskers. 

For  several  miles  from  its  northern  end  the  esker  consists  of  gravel  or 
gravelly  sand  with  no  coating  of  till,  but  southward  from  sec.  18,  T.  21,  R. 
11  E.,  it  carries  a  thin  coating  of  till  (2  to  5  feet  or  more),  in  which  large 
bowlders  are  embedded,  and  at  its  southern  terminus  it  appears  to  be 
composed  mainly  of  till. 

The  portion  capped  by  till  lias  a  less  smooth  surface  than  the  remainder 
of  the  esker,  but  its  form  and  trend  are  no  different.  It  is  perhaps  less 
singular  that  an  esker  is  occasionall}^  capped  by  till  than  that  the  majority 
of  eskers  are  free  from  it,  especially  if  the  esker  be  the  product  of  a 
subglacial  stream,  as  observations  on  eskers  of  existing  glaciers  seem  to 
indicate,^  as  do  also  the  phenomena  of  esker  troughs. 

A  large  portion  of  the  pebbles  in  the  gravel,  probably  90  per  cent, 
are  from  the  Upper  Silurian  limestone  of  the  region.  This  constitution  of 
the  gravel  lends  strength  to  the  theory  that  the  esker  is  subglacial  rather 
than  superglacial  in  its  origin,  for  if  superglacial  it  would  presumably  carry 
a  larger  percentage  of  material  derived  from  a  long  distance. 

The  knolls  along  each  side  of  the  esker  south  of  the  Mississinawa 
River  are  in  some  instances  composed  largely  of  gravel,  but  in  others 
nothing  but  till  has  been  found.  North  of  the  river  the  morainic  tract 
along  the  west  side  of  the  esker  contains  much  till,  and  the  plain  on  the 
east  is  underlain  by  till.  Wells  made  near  the  foot  of  the  east  slope  of  the 
esker  furnish  evidence  that  the  till  passes  beneath  it,  holding  about  the  same 
altitude  that  it  has  on  the  plain. 

The  southern  portion  of  the  esker  was  apparently  formed  at  the  time 
the  ice  margin  occupied  the  outer  chain  of  morainic  ridges  leading  from 
Royerton  to  Selma.  Whether  the  northern  portion  was  formed  at  the 
same  time  or  subsequently  was  not  satisfactorily  determined.     There  appears 

'Comp.  Eussel),  Nat.  Geol.  Mag.,  Vol.  Ill,  1891,  pp.  106-108;  also  paper  in  Am.  Jour.  Sci., 
January,  1892. 


UNION  MORAINE.  493 

to  be  no  theoretical  objection  to  the  view  that  the  segments  of  the  esker 
were  formed  in  succession  from  south  to  north,  the  southern  end  of  each 
segment  terminating  at  the  ice  margin,  but  the  phenomena,  so  far  as 
interpreted,  do  not  bear  clear  evidence  on  this  point.  The  inner  chain  of 
morainic  ridges,  along  Campbells  Creek,  may  have  been  formed  before  the 
completion  of  the  esker,  and  it  seems  not  improbable  that  the  portion  of 
the  esker  on  the  north  side  of  the  Mississinawa,  if  not  all  that  lies  north  of 
sec.  18,  T.  21,  R.  11  E.,  is  to  be  connected  with  this  later  ice  margin. 

The  trough  in  which  this  esker  lies  consists  of  a  broad,  shallow  chaiuiel 
leading  from  the  Mississinawa  Valley  near  Granville  south-southwest  to 
White  River  at  Muncie,  ranging  in  width  from  one-fourth  mile  or  less  up 
to  fully  1  mile,  and  excavated  to  a  depth  of  10  to  25  feet  below  the  level 
of  the  bordering  till  plains.  A  less  sharply  outlined  valley  leads  from 
Muncie  southward  to  the  main  morainic  system.  This  valley  is  bordered 
on  the  west,  throughout  the  greater  part  of  its  length,  and  on  the  east  for  a 
less  distance,  by  low  drift  knolls  and  ridges  which  stand  slightly  above  the 
bordering  plains.  This  distribution  indicates  that  they  were  probably 
produced  in  connection  with  the  formation  of  the  esker. 

It  is  not  certain  that  the  excavation  of  the  trough  is  restricted  to  the 
time  during  which  the  Union  moraine  was  formed.  The  fact  that  it 
connects  on  the  south  with  a  similar  channel  that  leads  out  to  the  main 
morainic  system  lends  support  to  the  view  that  the  excavation  began  before 
the  ice  sheet  withdrew  from  that  morainic  system.  It  seems  probable, 
however,  that  a  subglacial  stream  continued  to  occupy  the  northern  end 
until  the  Union  moraine  was  formed.  There  are  in  eastern  Indiana  other 
channels  similar  to  the  one  under  discussion,  which  have  their  southern  ends 
in  the  main  morainic  system  and  extend  back  within  the  limits  of  later 
moraines.  They  strongly  suggest  a  close  succession  in  the  development 
of  moraines,  with  but  little  shifting  in  the  course  or  position  of  subglacial 
streams.  The  other  channels  fall  within  the  limits  of  the  East  White  River 
lobe  and  will  be  discussed  in  a  report  covering  that  lobe.  A  short  channel 
of  this  class,  crossing  the  Union  moraine  just  west  of  Selma,  has  attracted 
considerable  attention  because  of  the  difficulties  of  constructing  a  railway 
across  it.^  This  channel  leads  to  White  River  and  apparently  finds  con- 
tinuation in  a  channel  of  similar  character  that  extends  southward  from 

'See  Eleventh  Ann.  Kept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1881,  pp.  130-131;   also  Fifteenth  Ann.  Rept., 
p.  104. 


494  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

White  River  to  the  main  morainic  system.  The  part  of  White  River  Valley 
crossed  by  this  channel  is  very  marshy.  The  excavation  of  this  channel 
apparently  began  while  the  ice  sheet  still  covered  much  of  the  White  River 
drainage  basin.  Channels  such  as  these  promise  important  results  when 
carefully  studied. 

MISSISSINA\A^A    MORAINE. 
DISTEIBUTION. 

Under  this  name  is  described  a  morainic  belt  in  part  single  and  in  part 
double,  which  throughout  much  of  its  course  lies  just  north  of  the  Missis- 
sinawa  River,  and  which  may  therefore  with  propriety  be  named  the  Mis- 
sissinawa  moraine.  After  following  the  river  from  its  source  in  Darke 
County,  Ohio,  westward  to  Wabash  County,  Ind.,  the  moraine  leaves  the 
river  and  swings  northward  through  the  eastern  tier  of  townships  of  the 
latter  county,  coming  to  the  Wabash  River  at  Lagro  and  to  Eel  River 
between  South  Whitley  and  Columbia  City.  In  eastern  Jay  County  the 
moraine  consists  of  a  single  great  ridge  about  6  miles  in  width,  but  in  west- 
ern Jay  County,  and  for  about  20  miles  west  to  the  vicinity  of  Hartford 
City,  it  consists  of  a  narrow  outer  ridge  1  to  2  miles  wide,  which  follows 
the  Mississinawa  River  quite  closely,  and  a  broader  inner  one  3  to  5  miles 
in  width,  the  plane  tract  between  them  being  1  to  4  miles  in  width.  North- 
west from  Hartford  the  two  belts  are  united,  and  the  moraine  has  a  breadth 
of  5  or  6  miles. 

The  distribution  of  this  moraine  northward  from  Eel  River  is  some- 
what difficult  to  determine,  inasmuch  as  it  is  for  some  distance  associated 
with  Saginaw  moraines,  the  whole  series  constituting  a  part  of  the  inter- 
lobate  moraine  between  the  Saginaw  and  Maumee  lobes,  whose  course 
Chamberlin  outlined  some  years  ago.^  Dryer  considers  a  very  rugged  por- 
tion of  the  moraine,  lying  just  east  of  the  crest  or  in  places  constituting 
the  crest  in  Whitley,  Noble,  Dekalb,  and  Steuben  counties,  Ind.,  to  be  the 
continuation  of  the  Mississinawa  moraine.^ 

The  fact  that  the  later  moraines  of  the  Maumee-Miami  lobe  are  plainly 
traceable  through  the  districts  to  the  east  of  the  interlobate  moraine,  and 
that  the  oldest  of  these  later  moraines  (the  Salamonie)  in  places  touches  the 


1  Third  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  1883,  p.  330,  and  Pis.  XXVIII  and  XXXI. 
'^Geology  of  Whitley  and  of  Steuben  counties,  Ind.,  by  Charles  K.  Dryer:  Seventeenth  Ann.  Kept. 
Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1889. 


MISSISSINAWA  MORAINE.  495 

eastern  border  of  the  interlobate  belt  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  Mississinawa  moraine  lies  within  the  interlobate  belt,  but 
the  very  strong  contrast  in  topography  between  the  terminal  loop  and  the 
rugged  portion  of  this  interlobate  moraine  leads  the  writer  to  question 
whether  the  latter  belt  should  be  considered  the  continuation  of  the  former. 
Were  the  evidence  clear  that  the  Saginaw  and  Maumee  lobes  were  both  in 
this  field  at  the  time  the  Mississinawa  moraine  was  forming,  conditions 
might  have  been  favorable  for  producing  this  rugged  belt  and  the  striking 
change  in  topography,  but  all  the  evidence  yet  obtained  from  outwash 
and  courses  of  glacial  drainage  apparently  opposes  the  view  that  the  Sagi- 
naw lobe  was  at  that  time  occupying  the  western  side  of  the  Indiana  portion 
of  the  interlobate  moraine,  and  indicates  that  the  western  side  was  an  open 
country  free  from  ice,  across  which  Pigeon  River  carried  the  waters  from 
the  melting  Maumee  ice  lobe.  The  writer  is  inclined  to  believe  that  the 
continuation  of  the  Mississinawa  moraine  is  along  a  line  outlined  by  Dryer 
as  the  course  of  the  Salamonie  or  "Third  Erie"  moraine,  both  moraines  being 
crowded  into  the  one  belt.  This  belt  is  much  stronger  than  the  portion  of 
the  Salamonie  moraine  immediately  south  of  the  Wabash  River,  where  it 
becomes  distinct  from  the  Mississinawa  moraine,  and  though  somewhat  less 
bulky  than  the  terminal  loop  of  the  Mississinawa  it  may  well  be  considered 
the  equivalent  of  both  moraines,  since  it  was  formed  on  the  northwestern 
border  of  the  ice  lobe,  where  the  movement  would  naturally  be  more  feeble 
and  the  moraines  less  bulky  than  on  the  southern  margin  of  the  lobe.  The 
course  of  this  belt  lies  along  the  eastern  border  of  the  interlobate  moraine 
from  Columbia  City  to  northern  Dekalb  County,  passing  just  west  of  Garrett 
and  Waterloo.  It  here  swings  eastward  a  few  miles,  then  bears  northward 
along  the  State  line  and  enters  Michigan  near  the  corner  common  to 
Indiana,  Ohio,  and  Michigan.  Its  course  and  connections  in  tiae  latter 
State  are  under  investigation. 

East  of  the  head  of  the  Mississinawa,  in  Darke  County,  Oliio,  the 
moraine  is  found  to  present  a  slight  looping  or  southward  projection  in 
harmony  with  earlier  moraines  of  the  Maumee-Miami  lobe.  Its  southern- 
most point  is  at  Versailles,  from  which  village  its  course  is  north  of  west  to 
the  head  of  the  Mississinawa,  and  north  of  east  to  the  divide  between  the 
Scioto  and  the  Great  Miami  in  southern  Hardin  County.  On  this  divide  it 
becomes  associated  with  the  St.  Johns  or  Salamonie  moraine  on  the  north 
border  and  with  the  Union  moraine  on  the  south.     The  combined  belt  soon 


496  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

enters  the  Scioto  Basin,  where  it  becomes  differentiated  into  the  Powell, 
Broadway,  and  Mount  Victory  moraines  of  that  basin. 

In  the  portion  of  Ohio  west  of  the  Scioto  Basin  this  moraine  seems  not 
to  have  been  recognized  as  such  by  the  Ohio  survey,  though  in  the  descrip- 
tions of  the  topography  the  rolling  character  of  certain  divides  is  mentioned.^ 

In  Indiana  the  moraine  was  recognized  by  McCaslin  within  the  bounds 
of  Jay  County,^  while  Dryer  has  mapped  with  much  detail  the  portion  from 
Whitley  County  northward  to  Michigan. 

RELIEF. 

The  relief  above  the  outer  border  plain  ranges  from  20  feet  or  less  in 
the  lower  portions  of  the  moraine  to  75  feet  or  more  where  it  is  most  prom- 
inent. The  Ohio  portion  has,  on  the  whole,  a  less  bold  relief  than  the 
Indiana  portion.  In  Jay  County,  Ind.,  the  relief  falls  below  50  feet, 
but  in  Delaware  County,  near  Granville,  it  is  fully  75  feet.  In  Grant 
County  the  crest  stands  20  to  40  feet  or  more  above  the  plain  that 
lies  west  of  the  Mississinawa  River.  In  Wabash  County  the  moraine  pre- 
sents considerable  relief,  but  it  is  inconspicuous,  since  the  outer  slope  is 
long  and  gentle.  Thus  the  altitude  of  the  crest  on  the  Chicago  and  Erie 
Railway,  near  New  Madison,  is  870  feet  above  tide,  while  the  altitude  of 
the  plain  west  of  the  moraine  at  Bolivar,  some  5  miles  from  the  crest,  is  but 
784  feet  above  tide.  Where  it  borders  the  interlobate  moraine  its  crest  and 
highest  points  fall  considerably  below  the  crest  of  that  moraine,  though  on 
the  inner  border  they  show  a  relief  ranging  from  20  to  60  feet  above  the 
border  plain.  It  is  somewhat  distinct  from  the  inner  border  of  the  inter- 
lobate moraine  in  Steuben  Countj^  and  there  has  a  relief  of  20  to  40  feet 
above  the  plain  west  of  it  and  about  the  same  above  the  plain  on  the  east. 
In  the  double  portion  of  the  moraine  in  Jav  and  Blackford  counties  the 
plain  included  between  the  constituent  ridges  stands  only  20  to  40  feet 
below  the  moraines  on  either  side. 

On  the  inner  border  there  is  a  more  gradual  descent  than  on  the  outer, 
and  the  descent  continues  across  the  plain  which  intervenes  between  the 
moraine  and  the  Salamonie  River,  so  that  at  that  stream  the  altitude  is  50 
to  100  feet  lower  than  the  crest  of  the  moraine. 

IN.  H.  Winchell;  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  II,  1874,  p.  411.  A.  C.  Lindemuth;  Geology  of  Ohio, 
Vol.  Ill,  1878,  pp.  496-498. 

■^D.  S.  McCaslin;  Geology  of  Jay  County:  Twelfth  Ann.  Kept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1882, 
pp.  155-156. 


MISSISSINAWA  MORAINE. 


497 


RANGE    IN   ALTITUDE. 


This  moraine  displays  scarcely  any  abrupt  changes  in  altitude,  since 
it  traverses  a  comparatively  smooth  region,  yet  when  taken  in  its  entire 
length  the  range  in  altitude  is  considerable,  for  in  its  course  from  southern 
Hardin  County,  Ohio,  around  to  the  northeast  corner  of  Indiana  it  crosses 
the  Miami  and  Wabash  basins  and  an  elevated  tract  which  separates  them. 
In  Hardin  County  the  altitude  along  its  crest  is  1,100  to  1,150  feet;  at  the 
Miami  Canal,  in  the  Miami  Basin,  925  to  940  feet;  at  and  near  the  State 
line,  on  the  high  tract  separating  the  Miami  and  Wabash  basins,  about 
1,100  feet;  at  the  Wabash  River  bluffs,  near  Lagro,  750  to  800  feet;  in 
northeastern  Indiana,  about  1,050  feet.  The  following  table  presents  the 
altitude  of  stations  along-  or  near  the  line  of  the  crest  of  the  moraine : 


Altitudes  along  the  Mississinawa  moraine. 


Altitude 
(above  tide). 


Silver  Creek,  Ohio 

Anna,  Ohio 

New  Berlin,  Ohio 

Near  Versailles,  Ohio 

State  line 

Near  Ridgeville,  Ind 

Eedkey,  Ind 

Bowser,  Ind 

Upland,  Ind 

Near  Van  Buren,  Ind 

Lagro,  on  Wabash  River  bluffs 

Lagro,  Wabash  River  bed 

Near  New  Madison,  Ind 

Eel  River,  at  Liberty  Mills,  Ind  

Columbia  City,  Ind 

Churubusco,  Ind 

Laotto,  Ind 

Summit  Station,  Ind 

Near  corners  of  Michigan,  Indiana,  and  Ohio. 


Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  and  St. 
Louis  Railway. 

Cincinnati,  Hamilton  and  Dayton  Railway 

Miami  Canal 

Barometric 

Barometric 

Grand  Rapids  and  Indiana  Railway 

Lake  Erie  and  Western  Railway 

Fort  Wayne,  Cincinnati  and  Louisville 
Railway. 

Pittsbui'g,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  Rail- 
way. 

Toledo,  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City  Railway 

Barometric 

Wabash  and  Erje  Canal 

Chicago  and  Erie  Railway 

Wabash  Railway 

Wabash  Railway 

Wabash  Railway 

Grand  Rapids  and  Indiana  Railway 

Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  Rail- 
road. 

Estimated 


Feet. 
1,118 

1,018 

948 

1,025 

1,100 

1,  0,53 

966 

9.39 

952 

885' 
750-825 
667 
871 
750' 
830' 


1,001 
1, 500. 


-32 


498  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

This  belt  is  seldom  sharply  morainic,  but  consists  of  swells  or  short 
ridges  with  gentle  slopes,  the  rise  on  the  slopes  being  5°  to  10°  or  less. 
The  topography  is,  however,  of  a  characteristic  morainic  type,  the  swells 
and  ridges  being  of  irregular  form,  independent  of  the  present  system  of 
drainage,  and  interlocking  in  an  intricate  manner.  There  is,  aside  from 
the  swells  and  short  ridges,  a  basement  ridge  which  is  developed  nearly 
continuously  from  the  Miami  Canal  westward  to  the  interlobate  moraine  in 
southern  Whitley  County,  Ind.,  but  is  not  so  well  developed  from  the 
Miami  Canal  eastward.     It  is  this  ridge  which  gives  to  the  moraine  its  relief 

In  places  there  are  series  of  parallel  ridges  closely  associated.  Thus, 
south  from  Portland,  Ind.,  there  is  a  succession  of  ridges  each  trending  east 
and  west,  or  in  harmony  with  the  morainic  belt,  over  which  one  rises,  in  a 
distance  of  5  miles,  to  an  elevation,  just  south  of  Bluff  Point,  of  fully  130 
feet  above  the  Salamonie  plain.  Such  ridges  occur  elsewhere  along  the 
moraine  but  are  not  the  most  common  type  of  topography,  swells  and 
irregular-shaped  elevations  being  far  more  common.  These  ridges  often 
determine  the  course  of  creeks  flowing  from  east  to  west  or  west  to  east 
in  line  with  the  trend  of  the  moraine.  The  upper  course  of  State  Line 
Creek  furnishes  an  illustration.  Such  streams  eventually  find  a  gap  in  the 
ridge  which  affords  a  passage  either  to  the  inner  or  the  outer  border  plain. 
State  Line  Creek,  for  example,  flows  across  the  inner  border  plain  into 
Wabash  River. 

The  swells  seldom  exceed  25  feet,  and  are  usually  but  10  to  15  feet  in 
height,  but  the  surface  is  all  more  or  less  undulatory.  Near  Granville,  Ind., 
however,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  northern  end  of  the  Muncie  esker  described 
above,  there  are  knolls  and  basins  with  abrupt  oscillations  of  40  to  60  feet. 
The  basins  at  the  north  end  of  the  esker  are,  in  several  instances,  fully  20 
feet  in  depth,  and  are  completely  landlocked.  Another  prominent  portion 
of  the  moraine  overlooks  Estey  Creek  from  sec.  30,  T.  22,  R.  11  E.  It 
stands  75  feet  or  more  above  the  creek.  North  and  west  from  Estey  Creek 
the  swells  are  only  20  to  30  feet  higher  than  the  creek. 

North  of  Eaton  a  tendency  to  ridging  in  a  north-northwest  to  south- 
southeast  direction  was  noted,  the  ridges  being  20  feet  or  more  in  height 
and  150  to  200  yards  in  width,  and  of  various  lengths,  from  one-fourth  mile 
up  to  a  mile  or  more. 


MISSISSINAWA  MORAINE.  499 

As  a  rule  the  moraine  has  stronger  expression  near  the  outer  border 
than  on  the  inner.  But  in  the  vicinity  of  the  line  of  Grrant  and  Delaware 
counties  it  is  feebly  developed  near  the  outer  border,  while  back  2  to  4 
miles  there  are  larger  swells,  20  feet  or  more  in  height.  Near  Upland 
there  are  swells  15  to  20  feet  in  height  on  the  interfluvial  tracts,  and 
30  to  40  feet  high  near  the  creek  valleys.  Here,  as  well  as  elsewhere  in 
Grant  County,  features  were  noted  in  the  vicinit}"  of  creek  valleys  which 
could  not  be  the  product  of  drainage  erosion.  The  lowlands  among  the 
swells  expand  and  contract  in  width  to  suit  the  form  given  them  by  the 
ice  sheet.  The  postglacial  streams  have  produced  remarkably  little 
modification  of  the  glacial  topography. 

In  Blackford  County  the  moraine  is  crossed  at  nearly  a  right  angle  by  a 
deep  marshy  valley  leading  southwestward  from  the  Salamonie  River  near 
Balbec  past  Hartford  to  the  Mississinawa  near  Wheeling.  It  has  a  breadth 
ranging  from  one-eighth  up  to  one-half  mile.  The  summit  or  water 
parting  in  the  valley  is  near  the  line  of  the  crest  of  the  moraine,  but  the 
valley  seems  to  have  been  deeply  filled  with  peaty  deposits  there  as  well  as 
elsewhere  along  its  course.  The  most  probable  hypothesis  yet  suggested 
makes  it  the  channel  of  a  subglacial  stream.  Several  other  similar  channels 
occur  in  eastern  Indiana,  as  noted  above. 

In  northern  Grant  and  in  Wabash  Coimty  the  moraine  consists  of  swells, 
few  of  which  exceed  15  feet  in  height,  that  occupy  the  crest  and  slopes  of  a 
ridge  standing  30  to  50  feet  or  more  above  the  plain  west  of  it.  In  south- 
ern Wabash  County  this  ridge  constitutes  the  divide  between  tributaries 
of  the  Wabash  and  Salamonie  rivers,  and  in  northern  Wabash  County 
between  the  Wabash  tributaries  on  its  east  slope  and  Eel  River  tributaries 
on  its  west  slope.  The  surface  is  all  more  or  less  undulatory  along  the 
moraine,  though  the  knolls  are  of  a  subdued  form  and  contrast  perceptibly 
with  the  plane  surface  west  of  the  moraine. 

In  the  portion  of  the  moraine  which  borders  the  great  interloba-te  belt 
there  is  a  swell-and-sag  topography  with  frequent  oscillations  of  10  to  20  and 
occasionally  30  to  40  feet,  the  whole  surface  being  more  or  less  undulatory. 
The  portion  traversing  eastern  Steuben  County  is  also  of  this  type,  excepting 
a  small  tract  in  the  southeastern  corner  of  the  county,  where  a  lakelet  known 
as  Fish  Lake  occurs,  which  is  surrounded  by  sharp  knolls  rising  abruptly 
40  to  50  feet  or  more  above  its  surface.     There  are  occasional  shallow  basins 


500  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

along  this  portion  of  the  moraine,  but,  hke  the  terminal  loop,  it  includes 
very  few  lakes,  basins,  and  marshes. 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  remarked  that  the  belt  has  throughout  its 
entire  length,  from  the  Michigan  line  around  to  the  Scioto  Basin,  and  also 
in  its  continuation  across  that  basin,  very  little  variety  in  topography,  and 
in  this  respect  is  unlike  the  interlobate  moraine  on  its  northwest  border 
and  the  main  morainic  system  of  the  Maumee-Miami  lobe,  both  of  which 
present  a  variable  topography,  ranging  at  freqiient  intervals  from  gentle 
swells  to  sharp  knobs  and  basins. 

STRUCTUEE    AND   THICKNESS    OF    THE    DRIFT. 

The  general  thickness  of  the  drift  belonging  to  this  moraine  probably 
falls  below  100  feet  along  the  crest,  and  if  the  whole  width  of  the  moraine 
be  considered,  it  falls  below  50  feet;  but  this  constitutes  only  a  small  pro- 
portion of  the  drift  of  this  region.  As  shown  by  well  records  given  below, 
the  thickness  in  places  is  about  500  feet.  In  such  cases  the  greater  part  is 
likely  to  be  the  deposit  from  earlier  ice  advances. 

In  discussing  the  structure,  also,  it  is  necessary  to  distinguish  between 
the  drift  belonging  to  this  moraine  and  that  deposited  during  the  earlier  ice 
advances.  Throughout  nearly  the  entire  length  of  this  moraine  assorted 
material  constitutes  but  a  very  small  percentage  of  the  upper  portion  of  the 
drift,  or  that  portion  produced  by  the  ice  sheet  at  its  latest  advance  into 
this  district.  At  earlier  advances  there  appears  to  have  been  more  assorted 
material  deposited;  at  least  the  deep  borings  usually  pass  through  a  large 
amount.  So  far  as  this  moraine  is  concerned,  therefore,  the  drift  is  mainly 
till.  It  is  oxidized  to  a  depth  of  8  or  10  feet,  but  the  oxidation  is  hght,  the 
color  being  a  grayish  rather  than  brownish  yellow.  Below  this  depth  the 
color  is  a  grayish  blue. 

Bowlders  are  numerous,  especially  in  Jay,  Delaware,  and  Blackford 
counties,  Ind.  They  are  Canadian  crystallines,  but  an  occasional  Paleozoic 
limestone  occurs.  In  Jay  County  the  bowlders  appear  to  be  more  numerous 
near  the  inner  border  than  on  any  other  portion  of  the  moraine,  and  in 
places  abound  on  the  plains  just  north  of  the  moraine.  The  most  con- 
spicuous bowlder  belt  on  this  plain  was  observed  between  Salamonie,  Ind., 
and  Fort  Recovery,  Ohio.  In  Delaware  County,  Ind.,  there  is  a  conspicuous 
bowlder  belt  on  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine  along  the  Mtssissinawa  River 


MISSISSINAWA  MORAINE.  501 

Valley  from  G-ranville  westward  beyond  Eaton,  there  being  in  the  vicinity  of 
Eaton,  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  several  fields  where  50  to  100  bowlders 
per  acre  are  to  be  seen.  In  the  Ohio  portion  the  moraine  carries  fewer 
bowlders  at  the  surface  than  in  Indiana.  The  number  of  bowlders  alono- 
water  courses  and  ravines  traversing  the  moraine  in  the  former  region  indi- 
cate that  the  deeper  portions  of  the  drift  are  about  as  plentifully  supplied 
as  the  surface  portion. 

The  following  constitute  the  principal  records  of  borings  obtained 
along  the  line  of  the  moraine.  In  many  of  the  borings  the  exact  thickness 
of  each  of  the  several  drift  beds  passed  through  was  not  noted  by  the 
drillers,  hence  only  general  statements  concerning  the  nature  of  the  drift 
in  such  wells  can  be  made. 

At  Jackson  Center,  in  northeastern  Shelby  County,  Ohio,  a  well  at 
the  Carter  House  80  feet  in  depth  does  not  reach  rock.  Its  lower  portion 
is  through  a  blue-gray  till.  A  sand  bed  was  struck  at  about  30  feet,  from 
which  the  water  supply  is  derived.  Near  Anna,  Ohio,  two  gas  borings  have 
been  made,  each  of  which  penetrates  nearly-  500  feet  of  drift,  the  exact 
thickness  in  the  one  nearest  the  village  being  490  feet.  The  altitude  of 
the  well  mouth  is  about  the  same  as  at  the  Cincinnati,  Hamilton  and  Dayton 
Railway  station  in  Anna  (1,018  feet  above  tide).  The  rock  surface  stands, 
therefore,  little  more  than  500  feet  above  tide,  though  in  a  region  where 
within  a  few  miles  the  rock  reaches  an  altitude  of  nearly  1,000  feet.  It  is 
probable  that  the  boring  was  made  in  the  line  of  an  old  valley,  and  the 
course  of  the  valley,  as  traced  by  Bownocker,  was  toward  the  Grand  Reser- 
voir near  Celina.^  Many  of  the  data  by  which  this  clmnnel  was  traced 
appear  in  Orton's  paper  in  the  Nineteenth  Annual  Report  of  this  Survey.- 

Orton  reported^  428  feet  of  drift  in  a  gas  boring  at  New  Berhn,  a  few 
miles  northwest  of  Anna  and  near  the  summit  level  of  the  Miami  Canal 
(940  feet).  Bownocker  has  also  traced  a  channel  from  this  point  northward 
to  the  Grand  Reservoir.  Both  to  the  east  and  to  the  west  of  the  line  con- 
necting these  wells  rock  is  struck  at  an  altitude  of  900  feet  or  more.  The 
character  of  the  drift  in  the  well  at  New  Berlin  is  not  noted.  In  those  near 
Anna  there  was  till  for  a  few  feet  at  the  surface,  but  the  great  body  of  the 

'  Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  XXIII,  1899,  pp.  178-182. 

=iPart  IV,  pp.  711-716. 

'Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  VI,  p.  779. 


502         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

drift  is  reported  to  be  sand.     Ordinary  water  wells  in  Anna  15  to  20  feet 
deep  pass  through  the  till  and  obtain  water  from  the  sand. 

At  Yorkshire,  Ohio,  5  or  6  miles  southwest  of  New  Berlin,  the  drift  is 
less  than  100  feet  in  tliickness,  though  near  the  crest  of  the  moraine,  while 
a  few  miles  north,  near  the  inner  border  of  the  moraine,  its  thickness  is  but 
20  to  25  feet.  The  wells  in  the  neighborhood  of  Yorkshire  and  at  many 
points  along  the  moraine  farther  west  often  have  what  is  termed  "bitter 
water."  An  analysis  of  such  water  from  a  well  at  Mount  Pleasant,  Jay 
County,  Ind.,  is  reported  by  McCaslin,^  the  analysis  being  made  by 
Edward  Haynes,  of  Portland,  who  also  contributed  the  remarks  following 
the  analysis. 

Qualitative  analysis  of  "bitter  water"  from  Moimt  Pleasant,  Ind. 

Free  carbonic  acid. 

Carbonate  of  calcium. 

Carbonate  of  iron. 

Carbonate  of  magnesium  (trace). 

Sulphate  of  magnesium  (epsom  salts) . 

Sulphate  of  aluminum  (trace). 

Chlorides  (trace). 

The  sulphate  of  magnesium  existed  in  quite  large  quantities,  and  is  undoubtedly 
the  cause  of  the  bitter  taste  of  the  water.  The  well-known  cathartic  "epsom  salts" 
is  sulphate  of  magnesium.  To  a  sample  of  water  similar  in  composition  to  the  above, 
except  that  it  contains  no  epsom  salts,  was  added  a  small  quantity  of  that  substance 
(obtained  from  ^  druggist),  and  the  result  was  a  bitter  water  which  could  not  be 
distinguished  from  the  sample  analyzed.  Moreover,  after  all  the  other  constituents 
of  the  water,  save  that  of  the  sulphate  of  magnesium,  were  removed,  the  water  still 
retained  its  bitter  taste.  The  carbonates  of  iron  and  calcium  existed  in  considerable 
quantities,  and  were  held  in  solution  hj  the  free  carbonic  acid  contained  in  the  water. 
No  test  was  made  for  phosphoric  acid,  as  the  necessary  requisites  could  not  be 
obtained  in  this  place. 

At  Redkey,  Ind.,  the  drift  in  a  gas  well  near  the  station  is  73  feet,  and 
is  mainly  blue  till.  A  water  well  near  the  station  penetrated  only  63  feet 
of  drift,  but  its  altitude  is  probably  8  to  10  feet  less  than  the  gas  well.  At 
Como,  3  miles  east  of  Redkey,  a  gas  boring  penetrated  80  feet  of  drift, 
mainly  blue  till.  At  Dunkirk  the  drift  is  mainly  blue  till,  and  gas  wells 
enter  rock  at  60  to  75  feet.  At  Millgrove  a  gas  boring  penetrated  143  feet 
of  drift,  lai'gel}^  a  blue  till.  In  Hartford  records  of  four  gas  wells  were 
obtained  whose  drift  thicknesses  are  84,  87,  133,  and  150  feet.     In  these 

'  Twelfth  Ann.  Kept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1882,  p.  171. 


MISSISSINAWA  MORAINE.  503 

wells  thin  beds  of  sand  and  gravel  are  interstratified  with  thick  beds  of  till. 
Tubular  wells  in  Hartford  and  vicinity,  made  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining 
water,  have,  in  several  instances,  passed  through  a  heavy  bed  of  till  and 
then  10  to  20  feet  of  sand  and  gravel  just  above  the  rock,  but  in  some  wells 
the  till  rests  upon  the  rock.  At  Van  Buren  records  of  two  gas  wells  were 
obtained,  in  one  of  which  the  drift  is  92  feet,  while  in  the  other  it  is  170  feet. 
The  difference  in  altitudes  of  the  well  mouths  is  scarcely  25  feet.  In  a  well 
2  miles  east  of  Van  Buren  the  drift  is  150  feet.  At  Lafontaine,  just  west 
of  the  moraine  and  50  to  60  feet  lower  than  its  crest,  a  gas  boring  shows 
300  feet  of  drift.  It  is  probable  that  a  preglacial  valley  Avas  here  entered, 
for  the  rock  stands  at  a  much  higher  level  in  all  the  neighboring  wells. 

Three  wells  on  the  moraine  about  5  miles  south  of  Lagro  have  struck 
rock  at  about  100  feet.  Along  the  Wabash  River  near  Lagro  the  rock 
rises  not  less  than  70  feet  above  the  river  bed.  North  of  the  Wabash  the 
drift  is  thicker  than  it  is  south,  since  the  level  oi  the  underlying  limestone 
becomes  lower  toward  the  north.  At  North  Manchester,  at  an  altitude 
scarcely  40  feet  above  Eel  River,  the  gas  boring  penetrated  274  feet  of 
drift.  The  drift  here  is  almost  entirely  sand.  Nearly  all  the  wells  in  North 
Manchester  are  on  a  gravel  plain  and  obtain  water  at  30  to  35  feet,  but  on 
the  low  ground  along  Eel  River,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  city,  are  several 
flowing  wells  60  to  70  feet  deep  which  are  mainly  through  till.  It  is 
evident  from  these  wells  that  the  general  thickness  of  the  vallev  gravel  at 
North  Manchester  is  but  little  greater  than  the  height  of  the  plain  above 
the  river.  There  may  have  been  thin  beds  of  till  in, the  gas  borings  which 
were  not  noted;  similarly,  in  borings  where  the  drift  is  reported  to  be  almost 
entirely  till,  thin  beds  of  sand  or  gravel  may  frequently  have  been  passed 
through,  but  on  account  of  their  thinness  have  occasioned  no  remark. 

At  ColumbiaCitya  gas  boring  was  made  near  Eel  River,  on  ground  about 
'AO  feet  lower  than  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Railway,  which 
penetrated  224  feet  of  drift,  the  greater  part  being  sand  and  gravel. 

Four  miles  east  of  North  Manchester,  south  of  Eel  River  and  on  the 
moraine,  a  boring  for  water  penetrated  till  156  feet  without  striking  a 
water-bearing  bed.  Several  deep  borings  between  Eel  River  and  Lagro 
are  reported  to  have  been  almost  entirely  through  till.  An  exception  was 
found  in  a  well  in  sec.  16,  T.  28,  R.  8  E.,  where,  after  the  yellow  till  had 
been  passed  through,  a  bed  of  sand  was  entered  which  continued  to  the 
bottom  of  the  well,  the  depth  of  which  was  90  feet. 


504  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

There  is  a  continuous  gravel  belt  along  Eel  River  above  North 
Manchester  to  its  source  in  Allen  County.  Much  of  the  gravel  was  probably 
derived  from  the  ice  sheet  at  the  time  later  moraines,  which  cross  Eel  River 
near  its  head,  were  forming. 

The  record  of  gas  boi'ings  in  the  plane  tracts  which  lie  east  of  the 
moraine  in  Dekalb  County  are  here  given.  The  surface  portion  of  the 
drift  is  probably  contemporaneous  with  that  of  the  moraine  west  of  it,  and 
earlier  than  the  surface  portion  of  the  drift  along  the  St.  Joseph  River. 
It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  accurate  records  of  the  various  beds  of  drift 
passed  through  were  not  preserved,  since  light  might  thus  have  been  thrown 
upon  the  number  of  drift  sheets  here  represented.  As  already  remarked, 
the  thick  drift  here  penetrated  was  probably  deposited  only  in  part  at  the 
time  the  Mississinawa  moraine  was  forming,  much  of  it  being  considered 
earlier  than  this  moraine. 

At  Grarrett  the  drift  has  a  thickness  of  318  feet.  There  is  50  feet  or 
more  of  till  at  the  surface,  but  below  this  fully  two-thirds  of  the  section  is 
reported  to  be  sand  and  gravel.  Just  above  the  rock  there  was  found  a 
clay  of  whitish  color,  in  which  no  pebbles  were  observed.  It  was  said  to 
have  been  soft  when  brought  up,  but  became  hai'dened  upon  exposure. 

At  Auburn  the  drift  in  one  of  the  gas  wells  has  a  thickness  of  282  feet. 
The  upper  half  is  mainly  till,  but  in  the  lower  half  sand  predominates. 

At  Waterloo  a  reliable  record  was  kept  by  the  driller,  as  follows: 
Drift 2)enetrated  in  gas  horing  at  Waterloo,  Ind. 

Feet. 

Yellow  and  blue  till :  - .  -     40 

Sand  and  gravel  with  but  little  till 270 

Blue  clay  without  "grit" 45 

Gravel 10 

Total 365 

In  a  gas  well  in  Butler  the  drift  is  378  feet  in  thickness.  The  following 
section  of  the  drift  appears  in  Dryer's  report:^ 

Drift  penetrated  in  gas  horing  at  Butler,  Ind. 

Feet. 

"Hardpan  "  (generally  clay) 15 

Gravel  and  coarse  sand 275 

Eed  quicksand 40 

Clay  (glacierite) - 45 

Cobblestones  and  bowlders ,. 3 

Total 378 

'Sixteenth  Ann.  Kept.  Geol,  Survey  Indiana,  p.  103. 


MISSISSINAWA  MORAINE.  505 

Dryer  applies  the  term  "glacierite"  to  the  rock  floor  ground  by  the 
glacier  and  deposited  in  its  drift.  It  is  seldom  free  from  admixture  with 
coarse  particles,  but  when  thus  free  the  term  glacierite  seems  applicable. 

In  Steuben  County  two  wells  about  3  miles  southwest  of  Metz  each 
penetrate  about  100  feet  of  till,  and  obtain  water  in  sand  and  gravel  at  this 
depth.  No  other  deep-well  sections  were  obtained  from  the  morainic  tract 
in  the  eastern  part  of  this  county. 

INNER   BORDER   PHENOMENA. 

From  the  Wabash  River  northward  the  Salamonie  moraine  is  somewhat 
closely  associated  with  the  Mississinawa  on  the  inner  border.  In  Blackford, 
Grant,  and  Huntington  counties,  Ind.,  there  is  between  the  Mississinawa 
moraine  and  the  Salamonie  River  a  level  plain  which  is  covered  by  till. 
The  breadth  of  the  plain  in  these  counties  is  several  miles.  In  Jay  County, 
Ind.,  and  Mercer  and  Darke  counties,  Ohio,  the  plain  becomes  reduced  to  a 
width  of  2  to  4  miles,  and  farther  east  the  Salamonie  and  Mississinawa 
moraines  nearly  coalesce.  The  till  beneath  this  plain  does  not  appear  to  be 
markedly  different  from  the  ordinary  till  of  the  moraines,  either  in  texture 
or  in  the  number,  kind,  and  arrangement  of  pebbles.  At  present  this  plain 
is  poorl}'  drained,  but  it  appears  to  have  been  crossed  in  the  past  by  streams 
with  better  drainage  conditions  and  also  to  have  held  lakes  of  small  size  on 
its  most  poorly  drained  tracts.  Now  these  old  water  courses  apjDcar  as 
sags  and  sloughs  which  are  poorl}-  drained,  and  the  old  lake  bottoms  are 
swamps  which  are  seldom  depressed  more  than  10  feet  below  the  level  of 
the  bordering  dry  land.  Open  ditches  are  being  made  which  follow  the 
sags  and  find  suitable  fall  to  effect  good  drainage.  From  drainage  maps  in 
the  office  of  county  surveyor  of  Blackford  Coimty,  at  Hartford,  it  was 
learned  that  these  ditches  form  a  nearly  perfect  dentritic  system  of  drainage 
with  the  creeks  as  their  trunk,  as  if  a  more  perfect  system  of  drainage  had 
formerly  existed.  A  cause  that  has  suggested  itself  to  account  for  this 
change  to  less  perfect  drainage  is  found  in  the  work  of  beavers.  These 
animals  may  have  cut  down  trees  and  formed  dams  which  have  greatly 
obstructed  the  drainage.  In  the  absence  of  beavers  fallen  timber  niay  have 
choked  up  the  water  courses.  Man}'  of  the  channels  are  excavated  several 
feet  below  the  general  level  of  the  bordering  plain,  and  they  are  usuall}' 
several  rods  in  width.  They  have  the  appearance  of  abandoned  ravines. 
The  short  time  devoted  to  this  territor}'  did  not  give  o])])ortunity  to  obtain 


506  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

full  data  concerning  the  character  of  the  deposits  in  these  channels.  The 
few  exposures  observed  in  the  district,  however,  showed  a  pebbly  clay, 
which  does  not  differ  perceptibly  from  the  till  of  the  moraines. 

OUTER    BORDER    PHENOMENA. 

In  northwestern  Indiana  the  Mississinawa  moraine,  as  interpreted  by 
the  writer,  is  closely  associated  on  the  outer  border  with  the  great  inter- 
lobate  Erie-Saginaw  moraine,  except  for  a  few  miles  in  Steuben  County, 
where  a  plain  intervenes.  This  plain  is  traversed  from  north  to  south  by 
Pigeon  River,  and  is  commonly  known  as  Pigeon  River  Valley.  Its  trough- 
like  form  is,  however,  not  a  result  of  excavation,  but  was  produced  by 
glacial  accumulations  on  its  borders,  it  being  an  intramorainic  tract 
bordered  by  ridges  which  give  it  the  false  appearance  of  having  been 
excavated.  The  width  of  this  plain  is  4  to  6  miles  and  the  length  12  to  14 
miles.  Near  its  head  are  extensive  gravel  plains,  and  it  is  probable  that 
Pigeon  River  constituted  an  important  line  of  discharge  for  glacial  waters 
at  the  time  the  moraine  which  borders  it  on  the  east  was  occupied  by  the 
ice  sheet.  The  breadth  and  the  deep  excavation  of  the  portion  of  this 
valley  traversing  the  interlobate  moraine  give  it  every  appearance  of  having 
been  occupied  by  a  much  larger  stream  than  the  present. 

The  Wabash  Valley  probably  constituted  an  important  outlet  for  the 
glacial  waters  at  the  time  this  moraine  was  forming,  but  the  great  enlarge- 
ment produced  subsequently  by  the  outlet  of  the  glacial  Lake  Mavnnee 
has,  to  a  great  degree,  effaced  the  terraces  or  other  evidences  of  glacial 
discharge  which  may  have  been  formed.  In  the  city  of  Wabash,  however, 
there  is  a  terrace  on  which  the  coiirt-house  stands  whose  altitude  is  about 
70  feet  above  the  river,  and  this  may  be  of  the  age  of  the  Mississinawa 
moraine.  It  appears  to  be  the  upper  terrace  at  that  point.  There  is  a  rock 
shelf  capped  by  a  coating  of  gravel  and  cobble  such  as  commonly  charac- 
terizes the  glacial  terraces,  but  little  earthy  material  being  intermixed.  The 
r(ick  platform  referred  to  appears  to  be  the  top  of  an  old  rock  bluff,  no  rock 
of  higher  altitude  having  been  noted  in  the  bluff  or  border  of  the  terrace 
north  of  the  river.  The  shelf  here  produced  is  to  all  appearance  excavated 
from  drift  material  only,  and  does  not  represent  the  amount  of  work  that 
would  have  been  involved  had  it  been  excavated  in  the  rock.  From  its 
horde)-  there  is  a  gentle  rise  to  the  upland,  whose  altitude  is  50  to  75  feet 
above  the  teiTace. 


MISSISSIN'AWA  MORAINE.  507 

Near  Lagro,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Wabash  River,  remnants  of  a 
terrace,  standing  50  to  60  feet  above  the  present  stream,  were  noted  on  each 
side  pf  the  mouth  of  the  Salamouie  River.  Their  altitude  seems  to  be  too 
low  to  permit  connecting  them  with  the  terrace  at  Wabash,  yet  no  evidence 
of  terraces  at  higher  altitudes  was  found.  It  is  possible  that  these  terraces 
represent  the  stage  of  water  in  the  valley  at  the  time  the  Salamonie  moraine 
was  forming,  and  that  the  terrace  at  Wabash  was  formed  by  a  stream  whose 
head  was  below  Lagro,  since  the  outer  border  of  the  Mississinawa  moraine 
crosses  the  Wabash  River  between  Lagro  and  Wabash.  A  more  detailed 
examination  will,  however,  be  necessary  to  determine  the  relationship  of 
these  terraces  to  each  other  and  to  the  ice  margins.  Very  little  terrace 
material  remains  above  Lagro,  the  valley  having  been  swept  clean  by  the 
waters  of  the  lake  outlet. 

The  Mississinawa  River  was  very  favorably  situated  to  be  an  outlet 
for  glacial  waters  from  the  Mississinawa  moraine,  its  course  being  along  the 
outer  face  of  the  moraine  for  many  miles,  and  its  discharge  being  unob- 
structed by  the  ice  sheet  or  otherwise  hindered.  It  does  not,  however, 
carry  evidence  of  vigorous  glacial  drainage.  Its  valley,  throughout  much 
of  the  distance  from  the  State  line  to  southern  Wabash  County,  follows 
closely  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine  and  occasionally  enters  it  sufficieiitly 
for  morainic  knolls  to  appear  on  its  southwest  bluff.  No  gravel  apron  was 
found  between  the  moraine  and  the  river,  and  the  river  bluffs  are,  as  a  rule, 
composed  of  till  from  top  to  bottom.  From  the  point  where  the  river  leaves 
the  moraine,  in  southern  Wabash  County,  to  its  mouth  gravel  deposits  are 
more  abundant  than  above  that  point,  but  no  well-defined  gravel  apron  or 
moraine-headed  terrace  was  noted  at  the  point  of  departure  from  the 
moraine.  It  seems  necessary,  therefore,  to  assume  either  that  there  was 
but  little  discharge  of  waters,  or  that  there  was  such  a  balancing  between 
the  material  contributed  and  the  carrying  power  of  the  stream  that  but  little 
material  was  deposited  along  its  course.  The  valley  is  not  large  and  may 
well  be  the  product  of  a  postglacial  stream,  a  fact  which  goes  to  indicate 
that  the  discharge  of  glacial  waters  was  light. 

In  the  (Jhio  portion  of  the  outer  border  district  a  broad  swampy  plain 
is  found  along  the  headwai  ers  of  Stillwater  River,  a  stream  which  for  several 
miles  follows  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine.  Tiie  plain  carries  no  decisive 
evidence  of  vigorous  glacial  drainage.  It  is  covered  to  a  depth  of  2  to  5 
feet  with  a  silty  deposit,  but  does  not  appear  to  be  underlain  extensivelv 


508         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

by  gravel  or  sand.  The  stream  leaves  the  moraine  near  Dawn.  Eastward 
from  this  place  to  Swamp  Creek,  near  Versailles,  the  outer  border  plain  is 
not  silt  covered,  but  is  underlain  by  ordinary  till. 

Just  north  of  Versailles  low  gravelly  knolls  appear  and  constitute  the 
outer  part  of  the  moraine.  From  this  point  a  plain  underlain  b}'  gravel  leads 
southward  along  Swamp  Creek  Valley  through  Versailles,  which  seems  to 
be  an  outwash  apron.  It  carries  a  few  shallow  basins  and  sloughs,  but  is 
otherwise  nearly  plane.  It  stands  20  to  25  feet  above  the  level  of  Swamp 
Creek  and  but  little  below  the  bordering  till  plains.  Its  width  is  about 
one-half  mile  and  its  east  border  is  defined  by  a  slough  which  leads  from 
the  moraine  southwestward  to  Swamp  Creek,  separating  it  from  the  till 
plain,  while  the  west  border  is  determined  by  that  creek.  The  gravel 
plain  extends  south  only  to  the  junction  of  the  slougli  with  the  creek,  or 
about  1  mile  from  the  moraine.  Farther  south  no  terraces  or  remnants  of 
the  gravel  plain  were  detected,  both  bluffs  of  Swamp  Creek  being  composed 
of  till.  A  well  in  this  gravel  plain,  34  feet  in  depth,  at  a  street  corner  near 
the  post-office  at  Versailles,  was  entirely  through  gravel,  and  so  far  as 
excavations  have  been  made  in  the  village  the  gravel  appears  to  extend  at 
least  to  the  level  of  the  bed  of  Swamp  Creek.  It  seems  somewhat  remark- 
able, in  view  of  the  amount  deposited  near  the  moraine,  that  the  deposition 
of  gravel  was  not  continued  farther  south  in  sufficient  amount  to  leave 
ti'aces  along  Swamp  Creek  Valley.  Underneath  the  gravel  the  drift  at 
Versailles  is  reported  to  be  mainly  till,  the  distance  to  rock  being  120  to 
142  feet. 

Eastward  from  Versailles  to  Loramie  Creek  the  outer  border  plain  is 
underlain  by  till.  Loramie  Creek  Valley  was  not  examined  sufficiently  to 
determine  whether  or  not  it  carries  terraces  connected  with  this  moraine. 
Gravel  deposits  occur  in  small  amount  along  the  valley.  East  of  Loramie 
Creek  the  Union  moraine  and  the  Mississinawa  moraine  are  somewhat 
closely  associated  for  a  few  miles.  Farther  east  the  outer  border  of  the 
Mississinawa  is  vaguely  defined,  and  there  appears  to  have  been  no  well- 
defined  drainage  lines  leading  from  it  to  the  Great  Miami. 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  the  glacial  drainage  seems  to  have  been  less 
vigorous  from  this  moraine  than  from  the  main  morainic  system.  To  what 
extent  this  is  due  to  a  depression  of  the  land  by  which  the  grade  of  stream 
beds  was  lessened,  and  to  what  extent  to  a  slower  rate  of  melting  and  con- 


ST.  JOHNS  OR  SALAMONIE  MORAINE.  509 

sequent  smaller  amount  of  water  in  the  valleys,  is  not  determined.  The 
general  absence  of  silts  on  the  plains  outside  the  moraine  is  thought  to 
indicate  that  the  depression  of  the  land  could  not  have  been  sufficient  to 
cause  fluvio-lacustrine  conditions,  while  the  great  excavation  accomplished 
along  the  Wabash  by  the  old  lake  outlet  in  the  closing  stages  of  glaciation 
indicates  for  that  stream  a  rapid  fall.  The  evidence,  so  far  as  gathered, 
does  not  bear  out  the  view  that  the  attitude  of  the  land  was  the  sole  cause, 
and  it  is  doubtful  if  it  was  the  main  cause,  for  the  lack  ijf  vigorous  di-ainage. 

ST.   JOHNS    OR    SALAMONIE    MORAINE. 
DISTRIBUTION. 

This  moraine  succeeds  the  Mississinawa  closely  on  the  north  in  the 
terminal  portion  of  the  loop,  being  nowhere  distant  more  than  10  miles,  and 
usually  not  more  than  2  to  4  miles.  In  the  lateral  portion,  formed  on  the 
northwest  border  of  the  ice  lobe,  it  is,  as  described  in  the  preceding  section, 
closely  combined  with  the  Mississinawa  moraine. 

The  Ohio  portion  of  the  moraine  was  traced,  about  thirty  years  ago, 
by  N.  H.  Winchell,  and  given  the  name  St.  Johns,  because  of  its  peculiarly 
strong  development  at  a  small  village  of  that  name  situated  a  few  miles  east 
of  Wapakoneta.^  Portions  of  it  were  subsequently  traced  in  Indiana  by 
McCaslin^  and  Dryer,^  the  latter  of  whom  gave  it  the  name  Salamonie,  since 
it  follows  and  controls  the  direction  of  that  stream  tlu'oughout  nearly  its 
entire  length.  The  name  Salamonie  seems  preferable  to  St.  Johns,  since  it 
is  not  likely  to  be  duplicated.  Furthermore,  it  is  of  the  same  class  as 
the  names  applied  by  Winchell  and  Gilbert  to  other  moraines  of  north- 
western Ohio  and  northeastern  Indiana,  being  the  name  of  the  stream  whose 
course  it  governs.  Both  names  are,  however,  retained  in  the  present 
discussion. 

From  the  western  border  of  the  Scioto  Basin,  in  Hardin  County,  Ohio, 
westward  to  the  vicinit}'  of  St.  Johns  this  moraine  is  closely  associated  with 
the  Mississinawa,  but  westward  from  St.  Johns  a  narrow  plain  separates  the 
two  morainic  belts.     This  plain  is  occupied  in  turn  by  Pusheta  Creek, 

'Proc.  Am.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  Dubuque  meeting,  1872,  p.  161;  also  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  II, 
1874,  p.  405. 

^D.  S.  McCaslin:  Twelfth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1882,  pp.  156-164. 

'Geology  of  Whitley  County,  by  0.  R.  Dryer;  Seventeenth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana. 


510  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Wabash  River,  and  Salamonie  River,  the  two  streams  first  mentioned  fol- 
lowing it  westward  a  few  miles,  then  passing  north  through  the  moraine, 
while  the  stream  last  mentioned,  as  already  noted,  follows  the  outer  border 
of  the  moraine  through  almost  its  entire  course. 

The  following  villages  in  Ohio  are  situated  on  this  moraine:  Waynes- 
field,  Uniopolis,  St.  Johns,  Fryburg,  Botkins,  New  Bremen,  Maria  Stein, 
Chickasaw,  Carthagena,  St.  Henry,  Ferner  (Oakland  station),  and  Monterey. 
Fort  Recovery  is  at  its  outer  border.  In  Indiana  the  villages  of  Bryant, 
Balbec,  and  Kej^stone  are  situated  on  it,  but  its  course  is  best  outlined  by 
a  line  following  the  north  side  of  the  Salamonie  River.  The  moraine  is 
well  defined  and  has  an  average  breadth  of  about  2  miles  from  the  borders 
of  the  Scioto  Basin  in  Ohio  westward  to  southern  Wells  County,  Ind.,  near 
the  meridian  of  BlufFton.  From  this  meridian  northwestward  to  the  Wabash 
River  it  is  less  well  defined.  It  appears  to  be  divided  into  two  belts;  the 
main  one  follows  the  northeast  side  of  the  Salamonie,  while  a  weaker  one 
follows  the  northeast  side  of  Rock  Creek.  The  profile  of  the  Toledo,  St. 
Louis  and  Kansas  City  Railroad  displays  both  these  belts  as  ridges  with 
well-defined  relief  on  either  side,  but  their  relief  is  less  clearly  appreciable 
by  the  naked  eye,  since  the  vertical  scale  does  not  have  the  exaggeration 
given  it  in  the  profile.  Though  the  moraine  is  poorly  defined  in  this  por- 
tion of  its  course,  the  ice  margin  appears  to  have  had  at  the  time  the  outer 
belt  was  forming  a  position  near  the  line  of  the  Salamonie  River,  the  country 
just  north  of  the  river  being  somewhat  more  undulatory  than  that  south, 
though  nowhere  sharply  morainic;  while  at  the  time  the  inner  belt  was 
forming  the  position  was  along  the  northeast  bluff"  of  Rock  Creek  for  a  few 
miles,  thence  northwestward  along  the  south  side  of  the  Wabash  River  to 
Huntington. 

North  from  the  Wabash  the  outer  belt,  as  above  indicated,  appears  to 
be  closely  combined  with  the  Mississinawa  moraine.  The  inner  belt  follows 
Clear  Creek  to  its  source,  north  of  which  it  is  represented  by  a  low  ridge 
thickly  strewn  with  bowlders,  whose  course  in  Whitley  County,  as  deter- 
mined by  Dryer,^  lies  through  the  eastern  part  of  Washington  and  western 
l)art  of  Union  townships  to  southern  Smith  Township,  where  it  becomes 
closely  associated  with  the  stronger  moraine  outside  it,  a  moraine  which 

'Geology  ot  Whitley  County:  Seventeenth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana. 


ST.  JOHNS  OR  SALAMONIE  MORAINE. 


511 


here  Includes  both  the  Salamonie  and  the  MIssissinawa  behs,  and  whose 
course  was  outhned  in  the  discussion  of  the  Mississinawa  moraine. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  note  the  position  of  this  moraine  with  refer- 
ence to  the  great  drainage  systems.  From  the  point  where  the  moraine 
connects  with  the  moraines  of  the  Scioto  Basin,  near  the  head  of  the  Scioto 
River  in  Hardin  County,  Ohio,  westward  to  the  Miami  Canal,  it  follows, 
and  to  some  extent  constitutes,  the  divide  between  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
the  Mississippi  drainage  basins,  but  westward  from  the  Miami  Canal  its 
course  lies  within  the  Mississippi  Basin  until  the  head  of  Eel  River  is 
reached,  in  northwestern  Allen  County,  Ind.  From  this  point  northward  it 
lies  within  the  St.  Lawrence  Basin,  and  for  a  few  miles  in  Steuben  County 
it  occupies  the  divide  between  Lakes  Michigan  and  Erie. 


Where  well  defined,  the  moraine  presents  an  abrupt  outer  border 
relief  ranging  from  20  to  50  feet  and  a  ridge  so  nearly  continuous  that  but 
few  streams  cross  it.  A  few  points  along  the  crest  of  the  ridge  rise  75  feet 
or  more  above  the  outer  border  plain  and  25  to  30  feet  above  the  general 
level  of  the  crest.  On  the  inner  border  there  is  a  nearl}^  continuous 
descent  for  several  miles  from  the  crest  of  the  moraine,  but  the  relief  is 
less  apparent  to  the  eye  when  approached  from  this  border  than  from  the 
outer  border.  The  following  altitudes  taken  from  the  profiles  of  railways 
crossing  the  moraine  furnish  precise  data  as  to  the  relief  on  these  lines: 

Table  shoiolng  relief  of  Salamonie  moraine  along  certain  ra^ilway  lines. 


Inner  border. 

Crest 

(in 

feet). 

Outer  border. 

Feet. 

Location. 

Feet. 

Location. 

Lake  Erie  and  Western 

Grand  Rapids  and  Indiana  . . 
Fort  Wayne,  Cincinnati  and 

Louisville. 
Toledo,  St.  Louis  and  Kansas 

City. 
Pittsburg,   Fort  Wayne  and 

Chicago. 

913 
842 
820 

820 

833 

Coldwater,  Ohio 

995 
955 
895 

885 

877 

923 
904 
865 

835 

830 

Fort  Recovery. 
Portland,  Ind. 

Bluffton,  Ind 

Bluffton,  Ind 

Montpelier,  Ind. 
Warren,  Ind. 
Columbia  City. 

512 


GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


EANGE    IN    ALTITUDE. 


This  moraine  shows  no  abrupt  changes  in  altitude,  since  it  traverses  a 
nearly  level  country,  but  from  the  Wabash  River,  both  to  the  north  and  to 
the  east,  it  has  a  gradual  rise.  In  the  former  direction  the  rise  apparently 
continues  into  Michigan.  In  the  latter  direction  the  summit  is  reached  near 
the  head  of  the  Scioto  River.  The  following  table,  showing  the  altitude  of 
railway  stations  and  other  points  near  the  line  of  the  crest  of  the  moraine, 
serves  to  indicate  the  amount  and  rate  of  change  in  altitude: 

Altitude  alcnig  the  Salamonie  mcnxdne. 


Location. 

Authority. 

Altitude 
(above  tide). 

Feet. 
1,060 

1,008 

964 

Cincinnati,  Hamilton  and  Dayton  R.  R  . . . 

1,014 

960 

950 

Lake  Erie  and  Western  R.  R 

995 

955 

Fort  Wayne,  Cincinnati  and  Louisville  R.R. 
Toledo,  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City  R.  R  . . . 

895 

885 

Huntington   Ind  (Wabash  Bluffs) 

800 

Wabash  R.R 

734 

New  York,  Chicago  and  St.  Louis  R.  R .   . . 
Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  R.  R. . 

Grand  Rapids  and  Indiana  R.  R 

Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  R.  R.. 
Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  R.  R.. 

837 

877 

La  Otto  Ind                    

882 

923 

1,001 

Corners  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Michigan 

1,050 

TOPOGRAPHY. 


Considei'ivble  variation  in  topography  is  displayed  by  this  morainic 
belt,  portions  of  it  being  of  the  smooth  ridge  type  with  only  gentle  swells 
and  sags,  while  other  portions  carry  knolls  of  the  sharpest  type  and  of 
abrupt  slope.  The  variations  usually  depend  upon  the  structure,  the  por- 
tion in  which  till  predominates  being  of  a  smooth  or  gentle  type,  while 
portions  in  which  gravel  or  sand  constitute  the  main  material  have  sharp 
or  abrupt  contours. 


ST.  JOHNS  OR  SALAMONIE  MORAINE.  513 

In  the  vicinity  of  St.  Johns,  Ohio,  the  moraine  for  several  miles  pre- 
sents a  very  sharp  knob-and-basin  topography  with  numerous  knolls  30  to 
50  feet  in  height.  An  esker  ridge  or  chain  of  ridges  occurs  in  this  belt 
southwest  of  Fryburg,  the  trend  of  which  is  northwest  to  southeast,  or 
nearly  at  right  angles  to  that  of  the  moraine.  The  chain  is  more  than  a 
mile  in  length,  and  the  southeastern  terminus  is  in  a  marshy  plain  near  the 
outer  border  of  the  moraine.  The  esker  has  a  general  height  of  1.5  to  20 
feet  and  width  of  about  20  rods.  It  is  along  the  line  of  this  esker  that 
Pusheta  Creek  finds  a  gap  in  the  moraine  through  which  it  passes  from  the 
outer  to  the  inner  border  plain.  The  gap  as  well  as  the  esker  was  probably 
produced  by  the  agency  of  subglacial  waters.  There  are  numerous  low 
knolls  bordering  the  esker  and  filling  up  and  obscuring,  to  some  extent, 
the  trough  in  which  it  lies. 

Near  Botkins  the  moraine  becomes  feeble  in  expression,  and  for  seA^'eral 
miles  west  from  that  village  consists  of  low  knolls ,  dotting  a  nearly  plane 
surface,  the  knolls  occupying  less  than  half  the  surface  and  having  a  height 
of  but  10  or  15  feet.  Near  Maria  Stein  the  moraine  assumes  greater 
strength  and  from  that  village  westward  to  the  State  line,  and  for  12  or  14 
miles  into  Indiana,  it  has  a  somewhat  uniform  swell-and-sag  topography. 
The  knolls  are  low,  usually  falling  below  20  feet  in  height,  and  with  a 
few  exceptions  their  slopes  are  gentle,  but  nearly  the  whole  surface  is 
undulatory. 

Southwest  of  Balbec,  Ind.,  a  sharp  belt  of  hills  appears  that  follows 
the  line  of  a  valley  or  depressed  tract  which  crosses  the  moraine  from  north- 
east to  southwest.  Several  knolls  rise  abruptly  to  a  height  of  60  to  80  feet, 
and  form  a  chain  in  line  with  and  lying  in  the  valley.  They  do  not  assume 
the  peculiar  ridge  form  of  the  esker,  but  are  nearly  conical.  Their  sum- 
mits rise  but  little  above  the  portion  of  the  crest  adjacent  to  the  valley  in 
which  they  lie,  but  their  form  shows  clearly  that  the  valley  was  excavated 
before  the  knolls  were  deposited  in  it,  there  being  basins  and  sags  com- 
pletely inclosed  among  the  knolls  or  shut  in  between  them  and  the  borders 
of  the  valley,  while  the  slopes  of  the  knolls  are  hummocky  and  irregular, 
as  is  the  fashion  in  hills  built  up  by  the  ice  sheet,  but  which  could  not  well 
be  produced  by  drainage  erosion.  This  valley  is  narrow  (one-eighth  to 
one-fourth  mile  wide)  and  nearly  filled  with  the  gravel  knolls  tliroughout 
its  entire  course,  but  it  expands  at  the  inner  border  into  a  broad,  marshy 

MON  XLI 33 


5  14  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

tract  a  mile  or  more  in  width,  known  as  the  "  Loblolly,"  which  is  con- 
tinuous from  the  moraine  northeastward  to  the  Wabash  River.  It  is 
probable  that  this  valley,  together  with  the  knolls  deposited  in  it,  is  the 
product  of  subglacial  waters  moving  southwestward  toward  the  ice  margin, 
the  cutting  of  the  valley  having  been  accomplished  prior  to  the  deposition 
of  the  knolls;  but  both  the  excavation  and  i-efilling  are  thought  to  have 
been  included  within  the  time  when  the  ice  sheet  occupied  this  moraine. 
McCaslin  described  this  valle}'  and  its  included  knolls  in  his  rej^ort  on 
Jay  County,^  but  did  not  ascribe  its  excavation  and  subsequent  filling  to  a 
subglacial  stream.  Instead  he  assumed  them  to  have  been  produced  by 
a  stream  of  postglacial  age.  He  ascribed  to  this  hypothetical  free-moving 
stream  an  action  such  as  no  stream,  could  have  unless  it  had  confinement 
such  as  was  aiforded  by  the  ice  sheet.  Furthermore  he  supposed  the  stream 
to  have  continued  southwestward  across  the  Mississinawa  inoraine  and  then 
southward  to  "CoUett's  glacial  river,"  a  supposition  that  seems  entirely 
unwarranted,  for  the  Salamonie  at  that  time  aff'orded  a  lower  outlet  for  the 
stream  toward  the  northwest.  As  stated  on  page  449,  an  abandoned  valley 
crosses  the  Mississinawa  moraine  along  the  line  indicated,  but  this  valley 
is  thought  to  have  been  abandoned  as  soon  as  the  ice  sheet  had  withdrawn 
sufficiently  to  permit  the  waters  to  escape  to  the  Wabash  through  the 
Salamonie  River. 

Northwestward  from  the  sharp  line  of  knolls  just  described  the  moraine 
presents  for  several  miles  a  characteristic  swell-aud-sag  topography,  its 
swells  rising  with  gentle  slopes  to  a  height  of  10  to  20  feet.  Between 
Keystone  and  Warren  there  is  a  nearly  continuous  lidge  a  mile  or  more  in 
breadth  whose  crest  and  slopes  are  slightly  undulatory  and  carry  shallow 
basins  as  well  as  low  swells.  The  ridge  is  easily  traced  beyond  Warren  to 
the  vicinity  of  New  Lancaster,  but  its  crest  and  slopes  are  less  undulatory 
than  southeast  of  Warren.  From  New  I^ancaster  to  the  Wabasli  River 
no  definite  continuation  of  the  inoraine  could  be  found,  though  the  surface 
of  the  country  is  slightly  more  undulatory  than  the  plain  south  of  the 
Salamonie. 

On  a  preceding  page  an  imier  Ijelt  was  stated  to  follow  the  northeast 
side  of  Rock  Creek  from  near  Keystone  nearly  to  the  mouth  of  the  stream. 

'  Twelfth  Aim.  Kept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1882,  pp.  161-163. 


ST.  JOHNS  OR  SALAMONIE  MORAINE.  515 

This  consists  of  a  low,  nearly  continuous,  ridge  whose  crest  and  slopes  are 
scarcely  more  undulatory  than  are  the  adjacent  plains.  This  inner  belt 
appears  to  find  its  continuation  in  a  tract  with  morainie  topography  which 
lies  south  of  Huntington  along  the  headwaters  of  Loon  Creek.  For  several 
miles  the  creek  flows  among  a  series  of  knolls  and  ridges  of  morainie  type, 
the  highest  points  being  12  to  15  feet  in  height.  There  are  also  among 
these  knolls  a  few  basins. 

The  Wabash  Valley  for  a  few  miles  below  Huntington  contains  a 
remarkably  large  number  of  bowlders.  Their  presence  is  thought  to  be 
evidence  that  the  margin  of  the  ice  sheet  overhung  the  valley  at  this  point 
for  a  considerable  period.  In  itself  the  presence  of  the  bowlders  here  could 
scarcely  furnish  decisive  evidence  of  the  halting  of  the  ice  sheet,  but  when 
taken  in  connection  with  the  morainie  features  which  may  be  traced  to  the 
bluffs  of  the  Wabash  both  from  the  north  and  the  south  they  are  of  value 
as  supplementary  and  harmonious  evidence. 

North  of  the  Wabash,  along  Clear  Creek  Valley,  the  knolls  and  ridges 
are  of  a  subdued  swell-and-sag  type,  the  highest  knolls  scarcely  reaching  a 
height  of  20  feet.  In  southern  Whitley  County  there  are  few  knolls  exceed- 
ing 10  feet  in  height,  but  Dryer  ha§  traced  a  bowlder  belt  northward  from 
the  head  of  Clear  Creek  to  Eel  Riv.er,  and  reports  a  well-defined  smooth 
ridge  along  this  line,  which  through  a  part  of  the  distance  forms  a  water 
parting  between  the  Wabash  and  Eel  rivers.  As  previously  remarked,  it 
is  thought  that  this  belt  constitutes  the  continuation  of  the  inner  of  the  two 
Salamonie  ridges  traced  to  the  Wabash  from  the  south. 

The  combined  Salamonie  and  Mississinawa  moraines,  leading  from  the 
Wabash  River  northeastward  into  Michigan,  have,  as  already  noted  in 
the  discussion  of  the  Mississinawa  belt,  a  swell-and-sag  topography  of 
characteristic  though  subdued  morainie  type. 

THICKNESS  AND  STRUCTURE  OF  THE  DRIFT. 

The  Salamonie  moraine  occupies  tlu-oughout  nearly  its  entire  length  a 
region  heavily  covered  with  drift.  It  includes  but  a  small  portion  of  this  drift, 
since  it  rises  but  little  above  the  level  of  the  portion  of  the  drift  sheet  outside 
it,  which  is  evidently  older  than  the  moraine.  Judging  from  the  relief  of 
the  moraine  we  may  conclude  that  it  consists  of  a  sheet  of  drift  20  to  50 
feet  thick  along  the  crest.     If  the  inner  slopes  be  included  the  thickness  is 


516         GLACIAL  FOEMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

probably  less,  though  it  is  not  certain  how  much  filling  occun-ed  beneath 
the  margin  of  the  ice  while  it  was  forming  the  moraine. 

This  moraine  presents,  on  the  whole,  a  more  variable  structure  than 
that  of  the  Mississinawa  moraine.  Not  only  are  gravel  knolls  more  fre- 
quent among  the  till  swells  biit  there  is  a  large  amount  of  gravel  and  sand 
interbedded  with  tlie  till  sheets.  A  large  part  of  the  moraine,  however, 
consists  of  ordinary  till,  such  as  constitutes  almost  the  whole  of  the  Missis- 
sinawa moraine. 

Bowlders  are  fully  as  conspicuous  as  on  the  Mississinawa  moraine, 
there  being  a  sufficiently  large  number  at  the  surface  to  supply  nearly 
every  farmer  with  material  from  his  own  farm  for  foundation  walls  for 
buildings  and  for  other  pm-poses.  Along  the  Wabash  River,  near  Hunting- 
ton, and  also  in  portions  of  the  belt  in  Whitley  County,  they  are  so  numerous 
as  to  be  a  great  hindrance  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  They  consist 
almost  entirely  of  crystalline  rocks  (mainly  granite)  of  Canadian  derivation, 
but  occasional  Paleozoic  limestones  occur  which  are  of  less  remote  derivation. 
The  bowlders  are  subangular  to  well  rounded  and  but  few  of  them  show 
striation.  The  few  that  are  striated  testify,  by  the  fresh  appearance  of  the 
markings,  that  the  g-eneral  absence  of  striation  can  not  be  due  to  weather- 
ing. It  is  more  probably  due  to  tra,nsportatiou  on  the  surface  of  the  ice 
sheet,  where  glacial  abrasion  was  ineffective.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
l^ebbles  in  the  till  and  gravel  are  limestone,  derived  from  but  a  short 
distance  to  the  northeast  and  thus  are  in  striking  contrast  to  the  surface 
bowlders. 

C.  S.  Arthur,  of  Portland,  Ind.,  has  collected  many  fossils  from 
stones  embedded  in  the  drift  of  Jay  County.  They  include  Devonian, 
Upper  Silurian,  and  Lower  Silurian  species.  Among  the  Lower  Silurian 
fossils  the  laxneWihr {inch.  AmbonycMa  costata  and  the  trilobite  Calymene  hlumen- 
hacliia  are  said  to  have  been  identified.  Li  discussing  the  occurrence  of 
these  fossils  McCaslin  suggests^  that  the  ice  sheet  probably  reached  the 
Hudson  River  formation  at  a  place  north  or  east  of  the  points  where  the 
fossils  occur,  and  that,  since  the  Upper  Silurian  limestone  forms  the  surface 
rock  over  that  portion  of  Indiana  and  the  adjacent  portion  of  Ohio,  this 
formation  must  have  been  entirely  removed  by  erosion  in  some  undiscovered 
locality.     A  boring  made  at  Geneva,  Ind.,  in  1888,  has  demonstrated  that 

'  Twelfth  Ann.  Kept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1882,  p.  164. 


ST.  JOHNS  OR  SALAMONIE  MORAINE.  517 

such  erosion  did  occur,  the  first  rock  there  encountered  being-  Hudson  River 
shale.  This  kicahty  is  east  of  north  from  the  jolace  where  Lower  Silurian 
fossils  were  found  in  the  moraine,  or  in  about  the  direction  from  which  the  ice 
was  moving  when  the  moraine  was  formed.  It  is,  therefore,  not  improbable 
that  the  Lower  Silurian  fossils  were  gathered  by  the  ice  sheet  but  a  short 
distance  from  the  place  where  they  were  deposited.  Whether  they  were 
gathered  from  the  ledges  at  the  last  invasion  or  had  previously  been  incor- 
porated in  the  drift  is  not  known,  though  the  early  incorporation  seems 
more  likely  to  be  the  case,  since  the  altitude  of  the  Hudson  River  rocks 
at  this  point  is  much  lower  than  that  of  the  moi-aine,  and  the  earlier 
advance  would  presumably  have  filled  up  the  channels  which  exposed  this 
formation. 

Since  this  moraine  is  situated  near  the  continental  divide  in  a  portion 
of  its  course,  and  is  crossed  by  few  streams,  the  natural  exposures  are 
not  numerous  nor  extensive.  They  are  sufficient,  however,  to  reveal  the 
structure  of  the  surface  portion  of  the  moraine.  A  few  artificial  exposures 
worthy  of  note  have  been  made.  One  of  these,  in  a  large  knoll  at  St. 
Johns,  Ohio,  is  shown  in  diagram  in  an  Ohio  geological  report.^  The  outer 
portion  of  the  pit  is  represented  to  contain  gravel  in  horizontal  beds,  while 
the  portion  nearer  the  center  of  the  hill  contains  beds  of  sand  and  gravel 
which  are  inclined  at  an  angle  of  about  70°.  A  diagram  of  a  less  exten- 
sive exposure  in  the  same  village  appears  on  page  46  of  the  same  report. 
In  this  exposure  beds  of  gravelly  hardpau  (till?)  occur,  as  well  as  sand 
and  gravel. 

In  a  gravel  pit  near  the  southeast  end  of  the  Foxburg  esker  the  bedding 
is  nearly  horizontal.  The  pit  is  12  to  15  feet  deep  and  several  rods  in 
length.  There  is  a  coarse  gravel  and  cobble  at  the  top  with  finer  gravel 
beneath.  A  short  distance  southwest  of  this  pit  a  gravelly  knoll  is  oj^ened, 
exhibiting  beds  which  dip  from  the  east  side  toward  its  center.  The  dip 
of  beds  in  the  remaining  sides  of  the  knoll  is  not  shown. 

In  the  prominent  range  of  hills  near  Balbec,  Ind.  (noted  above),  a 
gravel  pit  was  opened  at  the  time  of  the  writer's  visit  in  1888,  the  excavation 
being  at  the  southern  end  of  the  knoll.  Its  depth  was  about  30  feet  and  its 
length  50  yards  or  more.  The  beds  dip  toward  the  center  of  the  knoll  and 
arch  considerably  along  a  line  at  right  angles  with  that  connecting  the  pit 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  II,  1874,  p.  45. 


518  GLACIAL  FOKMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

with  the  center,  there  being  a  double  arch  exposed  in  the  lower  beds  upon 
which  the  upper  beds  rest  unconformably.  The  greater  part  of  the  expo- 
sure, including  all  the  arching  beds,  consists  of  fine  gravel  with  much 
sand  intermixed,  but  the  highest  part  of  the  pit  is  a  coarse  gravel  or 
cobble,  dipping  down  funnel  shaped  into  the  hill  to  a  distance  of  several 
feet,  its  point  resting  between  the  arches  of  the  underlying  beds  of  gravel 
noted  above.  At  the  side  of  this  funnel  there  is  an  abrupt  change  to  sand 
in  horizontal  beds.  Such  peculiar  arrangements  of  beds  as  these  glacial 
deposits  present,  both  here  and  elsewhere,  can  scarcely  be  given  a  full 
interpretation  in  the  present  stage  of  investigation.  They  were  probably 
deposited  beneath  the  confining  walls  of  a  tunnel  or  cavity  beneath  the  ice 
sheet,  whose  form  was  changing  with  the  movement  of  the  ice  sheet.  It  is 
scarcely  probable  that  free-moving  waters  in  an  open  channel  could  pro- 
duce wide  and  sharp  variations  in  structure  and  dip,  such  as  are  here 
displayed. 

Many  of  the  wells  in  northwestern  Jay  and  southern  Wells  counties 
have  slight  exposures  of  gravel.  The  gravel  seldom  constitutes  the  whole 
of  a  knoll,  but  is  confined  to  one  side,  or  forms  a  cone-shaped  mass  in  its 
central  portion  with  till  around  the  borders.  It  was  estimated  that  at  least 
one-half  the  knolls  in  this  portion  of  the  moraine  contain  more  or  less  gravel. 
From  New  Lancaster  to  the  mouth  of  the  Salamonie  there  is  much 
gravel  in  the  immediate  bluffs  of  the  river,  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  bluffs 
of  the  Wabash  River  at  and  below  Huntington.  In  places  the  bluffs  have 
a  thin  capping  of  till,  while  the  remainder  of  the  di'ift  consists  of  gravel  and 
sand,  there  being  the  appearance  of  a  fresh  advance  and  a  deposit  of  glacial 
material  upon  an  old  gravel  plain.  The  gravel  may  occupy  the  divide  in 
western  Huntington  County  between  these  streams,  but  data  from  wells 
indicate  that,  if  so,  it  is  covered  by  a  heavier  deposit  of  till  than  that  along 
the  brow  of  the  bluffs. 

Along  the  Salamonie  moraine  and  the  plain  north  of  it  in  Auglaize  and 
Mercer  counties,  Ohio,  wells  indicate  the  presence  of  a  deep  channel  which, 
as  above  noted,  has  been  made  a  subject  of  special  investigation  by 
Bownocker.  The  channel  is  found  to  lead  from  Anna,  in  Shelby  County, 
northwestward  across  the  Salamonie  moraine  into  the  Grand  Reservoir, 
where  it  was  joined  by  a  channel  from  the  soixth  which  has  been  traced 
as  far  as  Xenia.     Bownocker  traced  the  united  channel  northward  from 


ST.  JOHNS  OE  SALAMONIE  MORAINE.  519 

the  reservoir  to  the  St.  Marys  River  at  Rockford,  and  also  traced  a  channel 
from  Rockford  southwest  some  distance  into  Indiana.  The  latter  channel 
passes  under  the  Salamonie  moraine  near  Camden.  The  rock  floor  of  these 
channels  is  400  to  500  feet  below  the  present  surface,  or  not  far  from  500 
feet  above  tide.  The  bluffs  rise  to  within  50  to  100  feet  of  the  present 
surfa'ce. 

The  following  well  data,  collected  by  the  writer,  serve  to  indicate  the 
variability  in  thickness  of  the  drift.  At  William  Schroer's,  about  1^  miles 
northwest  of  New  Knoxville,  a  gas  well  penetrated  about  400  feet  of  drift, 
but  a  well  at  Mrs.  Harman  Schroer's,  one-half  mile  nearer  the  village,  pene- 
trated only  280  feet,  while  wells  north  of  William  Schroer's  jjenetrated 
scarcely  100  feet  of  drift.  Three  miles  west  of  New  Knoxville  a  gas  well 
known  as  the  "Hoewischer"  well  penetrated  about  400  feet  of  drift,  and  a 
well  at  the  east  end  of  the  Grrand  Reservoir  penetrated  407  feet.  Other 
wells  at  the  east  end  of  the  reservoir  show  a  smaller  amount  of  drift,  thouo-h 
one  was  reported  to  have  penetrated  about  350  feet.  At  the  west  end  of  the 
reservoir,  near  Montezuma,  on  Thomas  McGee's  land,  a  gas  well  shows 
about  400  feet  of  drift,  and  one  a  mile  or  so  east  of  this  well  shows  about 
300  feet.  Other  wells  are  found  within  one-half  to  three-fourths  of  a  mile 
from  these  which  penetrated  but  60  to  100  feet  of  drift.  On  the  plain 
south  of  the  Salamonie  moraine,  near  the  great  cranberry  marsh  in  southern 
Mercer  County,  a  gas  well  penetrated  175  feet  of  drift.  At  Fort  Recovery, 
also  on  the  outer  border  plain,  a  gas  well  penetrated  145  feet  of  drift. 

A  well  near  Portland  in  sec.  18,  T.  23,  R.  16  E.,  Jay  County,  Ind., 
strikes  rock  at  83  feet  after  penetrating  the  following  beds: 

Drift  in  well  near  Portland^  Ind. 

Feet. 

Yellow  till 15 

Thin  beds  of  sand _ 2-3 

Blue  till _ _  _  _ _     65 

A  well  1  mile  east,  in  section  17,  penetrated  160  feet  of  drift,  the  log 
of  which  was  not  obtained.  Another,  a  mile  farther  east  and  about  a  mile 
north  of  Bellefontaine,  Ind.,  strikes  rock  at  80  feet.  In  these  three  wells 
the  surface  elevation  differs  but  little.  A  well  in  the  southwest  part  of 
section  7  of  the  same  township  strikes  rock  at  57  feet  and  penetrates  till 
the  whole  depth  of  the  drift.  In  the  SE.  ^  of  sec.  35,  T.  24,  R.  14  E.,  the 
drift  has  a  thickness  of  135  feet  and  is  mainly  till,  there  being  a  thin  bed 


520  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

of  sand  and  gravel  about  65  feet  from  the  surface.  This  well  was  on 
lower  ground  than  the  one  south  of  it  in  section  7,  which  strikes  rock  at 
less  than  half  the  depth.  The  rock  surface  in  this  neighborhood  has  a  range 
in  altitude  of  not  less  than  90  feet,  while  the  drift  surface  varies  scarcely 
40  feet. 

Wells  along  the  pike  east  of  Portland  for  about  4  miles  strike  rock  at 
45  or  50  feet.  In  some  of  these  the  upper  portion  of  the  drift  is  sand,  in 
others  a  j^ellow  till.  The  blue  till  is  entered  at  15  to  30  feet.  In  ditching 
or  tile  draining  there  are  found  to  be  abrupt  changes  from  sand  and  gravel 
to  till. 

Borings  for  natural  gas  in  the  vicinity  of  Poi'tland  show  considerable 
variation  in  the  altitude  of  the  rock  surface,  and  consequently  of  the  thick- 
ness of  the  drift,  since  the  region  is  nearly  plane.  Notes  concerning  at  least 
20  borings  were  obtained,  and  in  these  the  drift  ranges  from  40  to  160  feet 
in  thickness.  About  2  miles  southwest  of  Portland,  in  sec.  30,  T.  23,  R.  14 
E.,  there  are  rock  outcrops  in  the  valley  of  the  Salamouie  River  at  a  level 
but  25  to  30  feet  below  that  at  the  railway  station  at  Portland. 

Near  the  sharp  gravel  knolls  which  constitute  the  strongly  morainic 
tract  in  western  Jay  Count)^  a  well  at  Emery  Gt-ray's,  in  the  NE.  corner 
of  sec.  30,  T.  24,  R.  13  E.,  penetrated  the  following  strata: 

8ection  of  Gray's  well,  near  Camden,  Ind. 

Feet. 

Yellow  till -- - 18 

Blue  till -  - '- 128 

Sand - 9 

Total 155 

This  well  is  just  south  of  the  valley  in  which  the  knolls  lie,  and  is 
apparently  in  the  line  of  the  deep  buried  channel  which,  as  above  noted, 
Bownocker  has  traced  from  Rockford,  Ohio,  to  Blackford  County,  Ind.  A 
well  at  Mr.  Branson's,  north  of  the  valley,  and  so  near  as  to  overlook  it,  is 
125  feet  in  depth  and  is  almost  enthely  through  till.  A  well  overlooking 
the  water  parting  in  the  valley  from  the  south  side  (in  south  part  of  sec.  19, 
T.  24,  R  13  E.)  penetrated  74  feet  of  till  before  entering  assorted  material. 

At  Camden  the  first  gas  boring  penetrated  41  feet  of  drift,  as  follows: 

Drift  in  gas  horing  at  Camden,  Ind. 

Feet. 

Bluish  till 18 

Gravel 22 

Clay 1-2 


ST.  JOHNS  OR  SALAMONIE  MORAINE.  521 

Nortli  of  Camden,  along  the  Salamonie  Valley,  a  deposit  of  gravel  and 
sand  overlies  the  till  (No.  "1"  of  the  above  sectiouY  It  appears  to  be  a 
dependency  of  the  gravelly  knolls  of  the  moraine. 

In  Blackford  County,  in  the  vicinity  of  Montpelier,  rock  is  exposed 
along  the  river  valley  and  the  gas  borings  penetrate  but  a  few  feet  of  drift. 

In  Wells  County,  in  sees.  21  and  28,  T.  25,  R.  12  E.,  two  wells  each 
strike  rock  at  52  feet.  They  are  on  a  low  till  ridge.  A  well  at  Nottingham, 
in  section-34  of  the  same  township,  72  feet  in  depth,  does  not  strike  rock.  It 
is  almost  entirely  through  till.  On  a  level  tract  in  the  west  part  of  this 
township,  in  sections  19,  20,  29,  and  30,  several  wells  strike  rock  at  18  to  25 
feet,  while  others  much  deeper  do  not  reach  the  rock,  showing  that  the  sur- 
face of  the  limestone  in  that  region  is  very  uneven.  Wells  near  the  south- 
east corner  of  Huntington  County  and  in  the  western  part  of  Wells  County, 
some  of  which  are  on  the  moraine  and  some  on  the  inner  border  plain,  are 
in  several  instances  40  feet  in  depth,  and  none  of  them  strike  rock.  They 
enter  a  blue  till  near  the  surface,  and  this  extends  down  to  the  water-bearing 
bed  at  the  bottom  of  the  wells.  Mr.  John  McKee,  a  well-digger  living  near 
Warren,  states  that  on  the  plain  near  the  inner  border  of  the  moraine  he 
often  finds  a  bed  of  sand  or  gravel  4  or  5  feet  thick  just  below  the  black 
soil  which  covers  the  plain.  Rock  is  exposed  along  the  Salamonie  bluffs  for 
several  miles  above  Warren,  and  at  intervals  below  that  village.  It  also 
outcrops  along  the  Wabash  and  some  of  its  tributaries  in  Huntington  County. 
It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  the  general  thickness  of  the  drift  in  these 
counties  is  about  that  of  the  height  of  the  surface  above  these  outcrops, 
which  is  but  50  to  75  feet. 

The  wells  in  Huntington  County  are  shallow  and  seldom  enter  the 
rock.  They  usually  pass  through  till  until  thej  enter  the  water-bearing 
assorted  material  near  the  bottom.  On  the  south  bluff  of  the  Wabash  River, 
in  sees.  27  and  28,  T.  28,  R.  9  E.,  the  following  series  of  beds  is  exposed: 

Exposure  in  Wabash  River  hluff  in  sec.  ^7,  T.  ^8,  R.  9  E. 

Till 10-20 

Sand  and  gravel 15-20 

Limestone 10 

Some  of  the  gravel  beds  which  are  exposed  just  beneath  the  till  dip 
perceptibh'  toward  the  west,  but  others  are  nearly  horizontal.  Those  that 
have  a  dip  terminate  at  their  upper  ends  abruptly,  as  if  truncated,  and  the 
till  rests  upon  their  upturned  edges  with  a  nearly  horizontal  under  surface. 


522  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

This  exposure  reveals,  in  places,  a  clayey  gravel  containing  bowlderets,  the 
whole  intercalated  between  beds  of  assorted  material. 

Two  miles  north  of  Huntington,  on  the  plain  east  of  the  moraine,  a 
well  struck  rock  at  112  feet,  and  another,  2  miles  farther  north,  at  140  feet. 
In  both  wells  the  drift  was  almost  entirely  till.  A  well  about  6  miles 
northeast  of  Huntington  struck  rock  at  131  feet.  Here  also  the  drift  is 
almost  entirely  till.  A  well  3  miles  north  of  Roanoke,  in  southern  Whitley 
County,  160  feet  in  depth,  does  not  reach  the  rock.  The  bluffs  along  the 
old  lake  outlet  from  Huntington  to  Roanoke  are  composed  mainly  of  till, 
sand  and  gravel  being  no  more  abundant  there  than  on  the  uplands. 

A  well  situated  on  the  moraine,  about  3  miles  southeast  of  South 
Whitley  (in  sec.  1,  Cleveland  Township),  failed  to  obtain  water  at  a  depth 
of  70  feet.  It  was  entirely  through  till.  Other  wells  in  the  vicinity  are 
but  20  to  40  feet  deep,  and  obtain  abundance  of  water  from  beds  of  sand 
and  gravel  included  in  the  till. 

At  Columbia  City,  as  stated  on  a  preceding  page,  the  drift  has  a  thickness 
of  224  feet  while  the  general  thickness  from  there  northward  into  northern 
Michigan  is  apparently  not  far  from  300  feet.  For  records  of  these  wells 
reference  may  be  made  to  the  preceding  discussion,  pages  503-505. 

INNER   BORDER   PHENOMENA. 

Between  the  Salamouie  moraine  and  the  Wabash  River,  wliicli  in  east- 
ern Indiana  flows  parallel  with  and  a  few  miles  north  of  the  moraine,  there 
is  a  till  plain,  which  as  a  rule  is  quite  smooth  and  in  places  so  very  flat 
that  the  excavation  of  large  open  ditches  has  been  found  necessary  to  carry 
off  the  surplus  rainfall.  There  is  a  general  decrease  in  altitude  from  the 
moraine  northeastward  to  the  river,  so  that  the  crest  of  the  moraine  stands 
75  to  100  feet  or  more  higher  than  the  bluff  of  the  river. 

This  plain  is  covered  with  a  deep  black  soil,  and  is  timbered  with  beech, 
maple,  elm,  ash,  etc.,  while  the  moraine  carries  much  oak  associated  with 
the  kinds  of  timber  just  mentioned.  Oak  is,  however,  less  predominant 
than  in  the  Mississinawa,  Wabash,  and  St.  Marys  moraines.  Exposures  of 
the  subsoil  in  this  flat  region  are  so  slight  that  it  is  difficult  to  determine  its 
character.  In  some  places  a  silt  or  subaqueous  clay  was  noted,  but  whether 
this  deposit  is  of  much  extent  was  not  determined.  Such  silts  are  often 
local  and  signify  nothing  as  to  general  conditions  of  drainage. 


ST.  JOHNS  OR  SALAMONIE  MORAINE.  52i3 

Plains  similar  to  that  soiith  of  the  Wabash  River  occur  in  Ohio,  south 
of  Beaver  River  and  the  Grand  reservoir,  and  also  south  of  the  west-flowiug 
headwaters  of  the  St.  Marys  River.  There  is  also  a  similar  narrow  plain  in 
northeastern  Indiana,  between  this  moraine  and  the  Wabash  moraine.  The 
latter  moraine  is  nowhere,  so  far  as  yet  traced,  coalesced  with  the  Salamonie. 
Yet  it  is  nowhere  distant  from  it  more  than  10  miles,  and  usually  but  2  to 
4  miles. 

OUTER   BORDER   PHENOMENA. 

As  already  noted,  the  Mississinawa  moraine  is  closely  associated  with 
the  Salamonie  from  the  Wabash  River  in  eastern  Indiana  northward  as  far 
as  the  study  has  been  carried  (to  the  Michigan  line),  but  from  the  Wabash 
southeastward  to  Ohio  there  is  a  plain  traversed  by  the  Salamonie  River, 
which  makes  an  interval  of  4  to  8  miles  or  more  between  the  moraines. 
This  plain  stands  at  a  lower  elevation  than  the  bordering-  moraines,  and 
presents  the  appearance  of  a  large  valley  when  viewed  from  either  moraine. 
That  it  was  produced  by  the  accumulation  of  drift  in  its  borders  and  not 
by  erosion  was  noted  by  McCaslin,  who  aptly  remarks,  in  his  report  on 
Jay  County,  that  its  lower  elevation,  as  compared  with  the  moraine,  is  not 
due  to  erosion,  for  if  such  were  the  case  it  would  be  bowlder  strewn,  but 
bowlders  are  even  more  rare  here  than  upon  the  moraine. 

This  plain  does  not  carry  a  continuous  coating  of  gravel  and  sand, 
though  it  appears  to  have  been  the  line  of  escape  for  nearly  all  the  water 
from  the  terminal  portion  of  the  ice  lobe.  Gravel  and  sand  are,  liowe^^er, 
extensively  spread  over  it  near  Portland,  probably  as  a  dependency  of  the 
moraine.  At  Camden,  also,  near  the  point  where  the  belt  of  large  gTavel 
knolls  in  western  Jay  County  comes  to  the  river,  there  is  a  delta-like 
gravel  deposit  covering  a  square  mile  or  more.  Below  Jay  County  the 
bluffs  of  the  Salamonie  have  frequent  exposures  of  rock  ledges.  The  drift 
capping  the  ledges  and  occupying  the  depressions  between  them  is  mainly 
gravel,  though  places  were  noted  where  there  is  a  capping  of  till.  Whether 
the  gravel  is,  in  large  measure,  of  earlier  age  than  the  moraine  or  is  a 
dependency  of  it  was  not  satisfactorily  determined.  The  amount  of  gravel 
and  sand  along  the  Salamonie  is  much  greater  than  is  found  along  the 
Mississinawa  or  along  the  Wabash  or  St.  Marys  rivers.  This  is  in  kee^iing 
with  the  structure  of  the  moraines  that  follow  these  streams,  the  Salamonie 
being  far  more  plentifully  supplied  with  gravel  than  any  of  the  others. 


524  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

SECTION  II.    MINOR  MORAINES  OF  THE  SCIOTO  T^OBE. 

POWELL  MORAINE. 

This  moraine  is  the  outermost  (and  southern)  of  a  series  which  crosses 
the  Scioto  Basin  north  of  Cohimbus.  It  hes  entirely  within  the  drainage 
basin  of  the  Scioto,  bordering-  a  lobe  3.5  or  40  miles  in  width  and  nearly  40 
miles  in  length.  There  are  in  the  shoulder  east  of  the  Scioto  Basin  only 
occasional  local  developments  of  morainic  topography,  but  some  of  them 
may  constitute  the  equivalent  of  this  moraine.  The  cause  of  the  lobation 
is  readily  found  in  the  low  altitude  of  the  Scioto  Basin  compared  with 
tracts  either  side  of  it.  the  axis  of  the  basin  being  200  to  300  feet  lower 
than  the  eastern  and  western  borders.  It  is  thought  to  be  a  continuation 
of  the  Mississinawa  moraine  of  the  Maumee-Miami  lobe  since  in  position, 
structure,  and  topography  it  strikingly  resembles  that  moraine. 

DISTRIBUTION. 

For  several  miles  in  the  northwest  portion  of  the  lobe,  on  the  high  tracts 
in  Logan  County,  this  moraine  is  scarcely  separable  from  the  earlier  ones, 
as  it  is  pressed  closely  against  them,  and  being  of  comparatively  feeble 
expression  can  not  be  easily  distinguished.  It  is  therefore  not  practicable 
to  trace  completely  a  connection  between  it  and  the  Mississinawa  moraine. 
From  the  east  side  of  Rush  Creek,  opposite  Big  Springs,  it  is  traceable 
southward  past  West  Mansfield  to  Mill  Creek,  being  combined  with  a  later 
moraine,  the  Broadway.  The  later  moraine,  which  is  probably  a  contin- 
uation of  the  Salamonie,  bears  eastward  from  West  Mansfield  along  the 
north  side  of  Mill  Creek,  while  the  moraine  under  discussion  continues 
southward  past  East  Liberty  to  the  head  of  Darby  Creek.  It  there  swings 
eastward  and  follows  the  north  side  of  Darby  Creek  to  the  bend  north  of 
Plain  City.  It  continues  eastward,  crossing  the  Scioto  immediately  west  of 
the  village  of  Powell  (from  which  its  name  is  taken)  and  the  Olentangy 
noi'th  of  Westerville.  Upon  reaching  Big  Walnut  Creek,  near  Sunbury,  it 
turns  abruptly  northward  and  follows  the  west  side  of  that  stream  to  its 
source  near  Mount  Gilead.  From  Mount  Gilead  northward  to  Shelby  it 
apparently  lies  along  the  west  border  of  the  main  morainic  system,  but  can 
scarcely  be  recognized  because  of  its  feeble  expression.  For  the  same 
reason  it  has  not  been  traced  farther  east  into  the  shoulder  east  of  the  Scioto 
lobe. 


POWELL  MOEAINE. 


525 


The  moraine  is  naiTowest  in  its  eastern  limb,  where  its  width  is  scarcely 
a  mile.     The  remainder  of  the  belt  is  2  to  3  miles  wide. 


RANGE    IN    ALTITUDE. 


The  highest  points  on  the  moraine  are  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
eastern  limb  where  an  altitude  of  1,200  feet  is  attained.  On  the  western 
limb  few  points  exceed  1,100  feet.  In  the  Scioto  Basin  the  lowest  points 
are  slightly  above  900  feet.  The  range  in  altitude,  therefore,  along  the 
whole  course  of  the  moraine  scarcely  exceeds  300  feet.  There  is  not  an 
abrupt  change  in  altitude  as  in  the  hilly  districts,  but  a  gradual  rise  from 
the  basin  to  its  borders.  The  following  table,  compiled  from  railway  surveys, 
shows  the  altitudes  of  points  on  and  near  the  crest  of  the  moraine,  beginning 
at  the  western  rim  and  passing  eastward  along  the  moraine : 

Altitudes  along  the  Povxll  moraine. 


Pottersburg  Station 

Summit  near  Marysville 

Summit  near  Powell 

Summit  north  of  Worthington  _ . 

Sunbury 

Near  Marengo 

Mount  Gilead,  summit  in  village 

Iberia 

Gallon 

Summit  near  Crestline 

East  of  Shelby 


Authority. 


Erie  R.  B, .. 

Big  Four R.  P.. 

Hocking  Valley  R.  R 

Big  Four  R.  R. 

Cleveland,  Akron  and  Columbus  R.  R 

Ohio  Central  R.  R 

Barometric  from  Ohio  Central  R.  K . . . 

Big  Four  R.  R 

Big  Four  R.  R. 

Big  Four  R.  R 

Barometric  from'  Big  Four  R.  R 


Altitude 
(above  tide). 


Feet. 

1,  09.3 

1,038 

935 

968 

970 

1,155 

1,  1.50 

1, 1.56 

1,169 

1,177 

1,140 


Where  not  combined  with  earlier  ones  this  moraine  has  a  well-defined 
and  abrupt  relief  of  about  40  feet  on  its  outer  border,  and  throughout  much 
of  its  course  has  an  equally  great  but  less  abrupt  relief  on  its  inner  border. 
Several  railroad  profiles  that  cross  the  moraine  had  been  examined  before 
the  writer  visited  this  district,  and  from  them  a  correct  idea  of  the  contour 
of  the  moraine  in  cross  section  was  obtained.  In  places  the  outer  border  is 
so  abrupt  that  upon  entering  the  moraine  the  railroad  is  oblig-ed  to  make 
cuttings.     Such  is  markedly  the  case  on  the  Hocking  Valley  Railroad  south 


526  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

of  Powell,  and  less  conspicuously  on  the  Cleveland,  Akron  and  Columbus 
and  the  branches  of  the  Big  Four  Railroad.  Field  studies  show  that  what 
is  true  of  the  points  where  railroads  cross  is  true  all  along  the  moraine. 
The  abrupt  outer  border  makes  it  one  of  the  most  plainly  marked  moraines 
yet  traced.  There  is,  in  many  places,  a  rise  of  20  feet  in  100  yards  in 
passing  from  the  plain  into  the  moraine,  and  in  the  portion  south  of  Mount 
Gilead  a  rise  of  3.5  feet  is  made  in  100  to  150  yards,  the  moraine  rising  up 
like  a  bluff  on  the  west  side  of  Walnut  Creek. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

While  the  moraine  is  a  conspicuous  topographic  feature  when  separated 
from  other  moraines,  it  becomes  obscure  when  blended  with  them,  for  its 
constituent  knolls  lack  sharp  contours,  such  as  characterize  the  knolls  of 
the  main  morainic  system.  As  a  rule  it  presents  gentle  swells  10  to  15  feet 
or  even  less  in  height,  covering  2  to  5  acres  each.  The  surface  is  properly 
termed  undulating  and  contrasts  strikingly  with  the  plane-surfaced  tract 
on  the  outer  border.  It  has  not  such  contrast  with  the  inner  border  tract, 
there  being  instead  a  transition  from  the  decidedly  undulatory,  through 
gentle  waves,  to  the  nearly  plane;  but  there  is  not  on  the  inner  border 
district  quite  so  level  a  tract  as  on  the  outer. 

THICKNESS   AND   STRUCTUEB    OF    DRIFT. 

So  far  as  yet  shown  by  well  borings  the  drift  does  not  present  great 
variations  in  thickness,  such  as  have  been  found  to  characterize  the  earher 
moraines.  The  floor  upon  which  it  rests,  though  composed  of  several 
distinct  kinds  of  rock,  seems  to  be  remarkably  free  from  such  inequalities 
as  are  common  in  the  hilly  districts  bordering  the  basin.  It  is  quite 
probable,  however,  that  the  basin  is  traversed  by  valleys  which  are  filled 
with  drift,  but  a  general  inspection  of  the  surface  does  not  reveal  their 
position.  The  large  streams  have  extensive  rock  exposures  where  they 
cross  the  moraine  and  also  north  and  south  of  it.  From  these  exposures 
and  the  knowledge  obtainable  from  well  records  it  is  thought  that  the 
thickness  of  drift  generally  falls  between  50  and  100  feet,  but  that  it  is 
less  than  50  feet  in  the  elevated  part  of  the  eastern  limb  and  the  extreme 
northern  part  of  the  western  limb. 

Natural  exposures  and  wells  alike  show  that  the  amount  of  assorted 
material  is  very  small.      The  till,  which  constitutes  the  great  bulk  of  the 


POWELL  MORAINE.  527 

moraine,  is  made  up  largely  of  a  clay  which  becomes  exceedingly  hard  when 
dry,  owing  probably  to  the  small  proportion  of  sand  in  it.  The  residents 
speak  of  the  moraine  as  a  "  clay  ridge."  The  bordering  tracts  present 
considerable  flat  surface  with  a  rich,  black  soil,  and  accordingly  are  not 
classed  by  the  residents  with  the  clay  beds,  though  they  are  usually  under- 
lain by  till. 

Man}^  wells  on  this  moraine  obtain  a  bitter  water,  rendered  so  perhaps 
by  the  presence  of  magnesium  sulphate,  as  was  determined  by  analysis  of 
water  of  similar  taste  at  Portland,  Ind.,  presented  on  page  502.  The  bitter 
water  is  most  common  west  of  the  Scioto. 

At  Marysville  a  well  at  Robinson  &  Cuny's  planing  mill  struck  rock  at 
100  feet,  tlie  drift  section  being  mainly  till.  In  the  same  village  a  gas-well 
bormg  near  Mill  Creek,  on  ground  20  to  25  feet  lower  than  the  station  and 
17  feet  lower  than  the  court-house  grounds,  passed  tlu'ough  50  feet  of  di-ift, 
as  follows: 

Drift  penetrated  in  gas  ioring  at  Marysville,  Ohio. 

Feet. 

Creek  wash  and  yellow  clay 18 

Sand  and  gravel _ 14 

Blue  till _  _ _  _ 18 

This  well  has  a  strong  flow  of  water  from  145  feet  below  the  surface, 
which  will  rise  about  3  feet  above  the  surface.  At  the  town  well  in  West 
Mansfield  rock  is  struck  at  100  feet.  The  section  is  mainly  till.  At  New 
California  the  town  well  struck  rock  at  50  feet.  It  is  characterized  by 
bitter  water.  A  well  at  N.  W.  Cochran's,  one-half  mile  north  of  the  village, 
also  struck  rock  at  that  depth.  Both  well  sections  are  mainly  till. 
Winchell  reported  a  well  at  this  village,  at  S.  B.  Woodburn's,  54  feet  deep, 
which  does  not  reach  rock  and,  like  the  town  well,  has  bitter  water.^  He 
also  presented-  a  list  of  39  wells  in  Union  County  whose  depths  range 
from  11  feet  up  to  63  feet,  none  of  which  enter  the  rock.  Of  these,  4, 
situated  on  the  moraine,  are  described  as  furnishing  "bitter  water;"  3  are 
chalybeate,  2  are  sulphurous,  and  the  remainder  are  mainly  designated 
"good  water."  The  deepest  wells  in  this  hst  are  on  the  moraine;  one  at 
Mr.  Smith's,  at  Pottersburg,  being  60  feet;  another,  2  miles  east  of  that 
village,  owner's  name  not  given,  63  feet.  At  Newton,  near  the  inner  border 
of  the  moraine,  the  town  well  is  52  feet  deep  and  has  bitter  water. 

'Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  II,  p.  333.  2 Op.  cit.,  pp.  332,  333. 


528  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  EEIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

At  Powell  rock  is  struck  at  70  feet,  the  drift  being  mainly  till;  but 
at  Jerome,  on  equally  liigh  ground  west  of  the  Scioto,  there  are  quarries  in 
ravines  in  the  midst  of  the  moraine,  the  drift  being  only  25  to  30  feet  thick. 
At  Westerville,  which  lies  just  south  of  the  moraine,  rock  was  struck  in  the 
gas  well  at  94  feet.  Wells  on  the  moraine  north  of  that  village  are  only  30 
to  40  feet  deep  and  strike  no  rock.  The  well  mouths  in  some  instances 
have  an  altitude  60  to  75  feet  above  Westerville,  but  it  does  not  follow 
that  the  drift  is  that  nmch  thicker  than  at  Westerville,  since  the  rock  surface 
may  have  a  lower  altitude  at  that  village  than  beneath  the  moraine.  At 
Galena  wells  50  feet  deep  do  not  reach  rock,  but  at  Sunbury,  2  miles 
northeast,  rock  is  at  the  surface  at  an  altitude  fully  40  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  well  mouths  at  Gralena.  At  J.  N.  Lawren's,  1  mile  northwest  of 
Sunbury  and  at  lower  altitude  than  the  quarry,  a  well  33  feet  deep  does 
not  strike  rock.  At  Marengo  wells  40  feet  deep  do  not  reach  rock.  They 
scarcely  reach  the  level  of  the  base  of  the  morainic  ridge  on  whose  crest 
the  village  stands 

\Yinchell  gives  a  list  of  28  wells  in  Delaware  County  in  which  the 
drift  ranges  from  6  to  56  feet  in  depth.  Of  these  5  are  sulphurous  and  6 
chalybeate.  The  remainder  are  mainly  described  as  having  "good  water." 
But  few  of  these  wells  are  on  the  moraine.  The  deepest  well  noted  by 
him  along  the  line  of  the  moraine  is  at  Olive  Green.  This  well,  he  reports, 
penetrated  blue  clay  to  a  depth  of  40  feet  and  obtained  no  water.' 

Winchell  has  a  list  of  39  wells  in  Morrow  County  whose  depth  in  drift 
ranges  from  4  feet  iip  to  50  feet.'^  Of  these,  2  are  chalybeate  and  3  sul- 
phurous, the  remainder  mainly  "good  water."  From  along  the  line  of  the 
moraine  no  wells  exceeding  30  feet  in  depth  are  reported.  He  makes 
the  statement^  that  gravel  and  sand  are  abundant  in  the  eastern  portion 
of  the  county,  but  that  it  is  not  usual  to  find  these  materials  in  the  drift  in 
the  shale  and  slate  area.  This  diiference  in  structure  noted  by  Winchell 
depends  upon  the  morainic  distribution  rather  than  upon  the  underlying 
rock,  there  being  sand  and  gravel  in  the  main  morainic  system  which 
occupies  the  eastern  part  of  the  county,  but  not  in  the  moraine  under 
discussion,  which  traverses  its  western  portion.  At  the  time  this  moraine 
was  forming  the  conditions  of  deposition  seem  to  have  been  such  as  to 
produce,  as  previously  noted,  a  very  small  amount  of  sand  and  gravel 
compared  with  that  found  in  the  main  morainic  system. 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  II,  p.  308.  ^Op.  cit.,  p.  268.  'Op.  dt,  p.  269. 


POWELL  MORAINE.  529 


BOWLDERS. 


Surface  bowlders  are  not  conspicuoiis  along  the  Powell  moraine.  On 
the  whole  they  are  no  more  numerous  than  on  the  intramorainic  tracts,  and 
are  far  less  numerous  than  on  the  main  moraine  or  on  parts  of  the  Missis- 
sinawa  moraine  in  northeastern  Indiana. 

STRI^. 

In  the  list  of  strise  given  in  connection  with  the  description  of  the 
main  morainic  system  those  are  included  which  were  observed  in  the  district 
traversed  by  the  Powell  moraine.  They  are  in  its  eastern  and  southern 
portions.  In  the  western  portion  of  the  Scioto  Basin  the  drift  is  too  thick 
to  allow  outcrops,  but  farther  east  outcrops  occur  and  strise  are  found. 
Whether  these  striae  date  from  the  time  the  Powell  moraine  was  forming  or 
from  an  earlier  time  is  not  determined. 

The  following  list  includes  those  which  lie  in  the  Powell  moraine  or' 
between  it  and  the  next  later  one.  The  first  three  are  on  sandstone,  the 
remainder  are  on  limestone: 

Table  of  stricB. 

Bearing. 

Iberia,  2  miles  south  of,  in  a  quarry _  _ " S.  28°  E. 

Sunbury,  2  miles  north  of,  on  Walnut  Creek _  _ S.  45°  E. 

Sunburj',  on  Walnut  Creek _ _  _ y.  45°  e_ 

Powell,  west  of,  on  Scioto  River _ _ . .  g.  16°  E. 

Near  Jerome,  in  quarry , g,    9°  e. 

Jerome,  2  miles  north  of,  in  Evan  Piersol's  quarry g.    .3°  E. 

Big  Springs,  on  hill  north  of  village g.  8°  W. 

Big  Springs,  \\  miles  west  of,  in  Musselman's  quarry g.  10°  W. 

Belle  Center  quarry,  northwest  of  village g.  10°  W. 

OUTER    BORDER    PHENOMENA. 

Under  this  head  are  considered  only  those  deposits  Avhich  may  be 
dependencies  of  the  moraine,  the  other  deposits  having  already  been 
discussed. 

Along  Darby  Creek  considerable  gravel  and  sand  occurs,  but  this 
deposit  is  doubtfully  classed  as  an  outwash  from  the  moraine,  because  it 
slopes  toward  tlie  moraine  instead  of  away  from  it.  There  is  usually  a 
descent  in  gravel  plains  in  receding  from  the  moraines  which  they  border. 
But  the  slope  of  this  plain  is  such  that  the  stream  flows  near  the  north 
border  of  the  gravelly  tract  next  the  moraine  instead  of  at  the  southern 
border. 

MON  XLI 34 


530  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Along  the  Scioto  and  Olentangy  rivers  there  are  beds  of  cobble  and 
gravel  up  to  heights  of  30  feet  or  more  above  the  streams,  which  are 
apparently  of  glacial  age,  but  as  they  occur  north  of  this  moraine  as  well 
as  south  the  writer  is  inclined  to  connect  them  with  a  later  moraine  which 
crosses  these  streams  near  Delaware.  On  Alum  Creek  and  Big  Walnut 
deposits  of  gravel  and  cobble  occur,  but  they  have  a  feeble  develo])ment 
compared  with  that  along  the  Scioto  and  Olentangy.  These  streams  are  less 
favorably  situated  for  carrying  the  waters  from  the  later  moraine,  and  this 
may  account  for  the  difference  in  the  amount  of  gravel  deposition.  The 
moraine  under  discussion  does  not  seem,  on  the  whole,  to  have  had  so 
vigorous  drainage  as  the  next  later  one.  On  the  interfliivial  tracts  all  along 
the  outer  border  of  this  moraine  there  is  a  narrow  belt  of  land  a  mile  or  so 
in  breadth  characterized  by  ver}-  black  soil.  This  seems  to  be  the  product 
of  a  swamp)-  condition  of  the  surface  at  some  time,  presumably  at  the  time 
the  ice  sheet  was  melting. 

INNER   BOEDER    PHENOMENA. 

No  features  of  special  importance  were  noted  between  this  moraine 
and  its  neighbor  on  the  north,  the  whole  tract  being  a  till  plain  with  only 
an  occasional  low  swell  5  to  10  feet  in  height. 

winchell's  interpretations. 

In  his  discussion  of  the  features  of  Union  County  N.  H.  Winchell 
recognized  and  called  attention  to  this  moraine,  but  he  seems  not  to  have 
noted  its  continuation  in  Delaware  and  Morrow  counties.  The  features 
which  are  characteristic  of  the  moraines  of  a  continental  ice  sheet  were  so 
little  known  at  the  time  his  report  was  written  (1874)  that  it  does  not  seem 
singular  that  the  moraine  was  not  recognized  by  him  throughout  its  entire 
length,  but,  instead,  it  is  remarkable  that  the  significance  of  certain  portions 
of  the  moraine  were  so  well  understood.     Concerning  this  moraine  he  says :  ^ 

Between  Big'  Darby  and  Mill  creeks  there  is  a  very  noticeable  thickening  of 
the  drift.  It  rises  into  long  ridges  and  high  knolls  which  consist  of  hardjjan  or 
glacial  drift.  Northern  bowlders  and  stones  are  on  the  surface  and  in  the  soil  indis- 
criminately, though  the  same  is  true  to  some  extent  tliroughout  the  county.  This 
ridge  of  drift  is  greatly  developed  at  New  California,  where  wells  are  sunk  to  the 
depth  of  .51  feet  without  meeting  anything  but  "blue  claj-,"  the  water  being  bitter. 
West  and  south  ofMarysville  2  or  3  miles  the  surface  is  high  and  rolling,  with  clay 


Uieology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  II,  1874,  p.  325,  331. 


BROADWAY  MORAINE.  531 

hills.  Toward  the  north  it  is  flat,  with  gravel  near  the  surface  in  some  places. 
Between  Milford  Center  and  Unionville  "cla}"  knobs"  and  rolling  land  can  be  seen 
north  of  Darby  Creek,  while  toward  the  south  and  in  Union  Township  the  "Darbv 
plains "  extend  several  miles.  Wells  at  Pottersburg  penetrate  the  drift  over  60  feet 
without  meeting  the  I'ock,  but  obtain  good  water  at  that  depth.  About  Newton 
there  is  a  very  rolling  and  bluffy  tract  of  land,  some  of  the  wells  obtaining  bitter 
water  in  "blue  claj^"  at  52  feet.  This  rolling  strip  of  land  dies  out  toward  the  south 
and  west  and  toward  the  north  and  east.  Throughout  the  rest  of  the  county  the 
surface  is  very  nearly  flat,  wells  being  less  than  25  feet.  This  belt  of  claj^  knobs 
crosses  the  entire  county,  though  it  seems  to  turn  a  little  toward  the  north  in  Jerome 
Townshijj.     *     *     * 

The  drift  ridge  which  separates  Big  Darbj^  and  Mill  creeks  has  already  been 
alluded  to  under  the  head  of  "Surface  features."  Its  exact  form,  limits,  and  loca- 
tion, even  within  the  county,  have  not  been  fully  made  out.  The  time  given  to  the 
county  would  not  allow  a  careful  survej^  of  this  ridge  in  detail.  It  is  well  known  to 
the  inhabitants  of  the  county.  It  forms  a  belt  of  high  and  rolling  clay  land  which 
shows  bowlders  and  gravel  somewhat  more  abundantlj^  than  the  siirface  of  the  rest 
of  the  county.  It  is  believed  to  be  of  the  nature  of  a  glacial  moraine,  and  was 
probably  thrown  down  bj^  the  ice  at  a  period  when  the  retreating  ice  foot  was  nearly- 
stationary  for  a  long  time  at  about  that  place.  It  is  very  similar  to  those  other  very 
extended  drift  remains  that  cross  northwestern  Ohio,  but  is  somewhat  more  clayey 
than  they.  Its  connection  with  them  is  not  known,  but  it  was  doubtless  contempora- 
neous in  origin  with  one  of  them. 

BROADWAY    MORAINE. 

This  constitutes  the  second  of  the  moraines  of  the  Scioto  lobe.  It 
crosses  the  Scioto  River  above  Cohxmbus,  and  receives  its  name  from  a 
village  in  central  Union  County,  which  is  situated  on  its  northern  slope. 

DISTRIBUTION. 

In  Hardin  and  Logan  counties  this  belt  is  combined  with  the  Powell 
moraine,  as  shown  in  PL  XIII.  It  becomes  a  distinct  belt  near  the  head 
of  Mill  Creek,  a  few  miles  west  of  Broadway,  and  passes  slightly  north  of 
east  to  the  Scioto  River,  crossing  that  stream  immediately  west  of  Delaware. 
East  from  this  stream  it  is  well  defined  for  a  few  miles,  but  near  the 
Olentangy  River  it  loses  strength,  and  there  are  two  feeble  belts  which 
appear  to  form  its  continuation  eastward.  The  outer  one  crosses  the 
Olentangy  a  short  distance  above  Delaware,  and  passing  south  of  Eden, 
comes  to  Alum  Creek  at  the  bend  east  of  that  village,  and  then  follows  the 
north  side  of  the  stream  to  its  source,  near  Mount  Grilead,  where  it  becomes 
merged  with  the  Powell  moraine.      The  inner    member    follows    up  the 


582  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

northwest   bluff  of  Whetstone  Creek,  and  joins  the   Powell  moraine  just 
north  of  .Mount  Gilead. 

The  portion  west  of  the  Scioto  is  sharply  outlined  and  has  a  breadth 
of  abotit  a  mile.  That  east  of  the  Scioto  is  less  distinctly  outlined  and 
somewhat  broader. 

RANGE    IN    ALTITUDE. 

The  altitude  near  the  Scioto  and  Olentangy  rivers  is  about  900  feet, 
while  on  the  borders  of  the  Scioto  Basin  it  is  1,150  feet  or  more.  As  in 
the  Powell  moraine,  no  rapid  changes  in  altitude  occur,  but  there  is  a 
arradual  rise  from  the  center  to  the  borders  of  the  basin. 


West  of  Broadway  the  moraine  for  several  miles  follows  the  north  side 
of  Mill  Creek  and  stands  25  to  35  feet  above  the  flood  plain.  Between 
Broadwav  and  Marysville  it  leaves  the  creek  and  has  a  well-defined  and 
rather  abrupt  outer  border  relief  of  about  20  feet.  East  of  Marysville 
it  follows  the  north  side  of  Blues  Creek  for  a  few  miles,  and  its  relief  is 
perhaps  20  feet,  though  it  is  difficult  to  determine  on  account  of  erosion 
along  the  valley.  From  Ostrander  eastward  to  the  Scioto  the  moraine 
for  a  few  miles  is  not  followed  by  a  stream,  and  here  it  rises  abruptly  20 
feet  or  more  above  the  plain  south  of  it.  Between  the  Scioto  and  Olen- 
tangy it  is  broken  up  into  ridges  and  knolls  which  rise  12  to  20  feet  above 
the  nearly  plane  tracts  soutli  of  them.  Between  the  Olentangy  River  and 
Alum  Creek,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Big  Four  Railroad,  the  outer  border 
relief  is  quite  abrupt  and  is  in  places  fully  20  feet.  The  railroad  enters 
the  moraine  a  mile  or  so  south  of  Eden  Station  in  a  cutting  8  or  10  feet 
deep.  Farther  east,  where  the  moraine  follows  Alum  Creek  the  erosion  has 
made  it  difficult  to  determine  the  relief 

In  the  inner  member,  which  follows  the  northwest  bluff  of  Whetstone 
Creek,  the  moraine  is  not  a  well-defined  ridge,  but  consists  of  low  "clay 
points"  somewhat  closely  associated,  that  rise  but  a  few  feet  above  the 
bordering  plains. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

At  the  headwaters  of  the  Scioto  and  Great  Miami  rivers  in  south- 
western Hardin  County,  in  the  united  belt,  we  find  the  morainic  expression 
somewhat  variable.     Near  Roundhead  there  are  several  sharp  knolls  30  or 


BEOADWAY  MOEAINE.  533 

40  feet  high,  while  immediately  west  is  the  Scioto  Marsh,  which  over  an 
area  of  several  square  miles  is  level  as  a  floor.  In  other  directions  the 
greater  ^Dart  of  the  sui'face  is  nearly  level,  only  low  swells  10  to  15  feet 
high  being  present.  Following  the  divide  eastward  few  knolls  exceeding- 
1 6  feet  in  lieight  are  found,  but  nearly  all  of  the  suiiace  is  gently  undulatory. 
Noi'th  of  Silver  Creek  station  the  surface  is  rather  elevated,  standing  about 
100  feet  above  Silver  Creek,  which  jjasses  just  east  of  it,  and  reaching 
probably  1,175  feet  above  tide.  From  the  elevated  part  the  descent  is 
gradual  in  all  directions.  On  this  slope  the  morainic  swells  are  low.  At 
Taylor  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Scioto  east  of  Silver  Creek,  is  an  esker 
ridge,  and  the  moraine  here  swings  abruptl}^  southward,  there  being  all 
along  the  west  side  of  the  esker  morainic  topography  with  numerous  swells 
10  to  15  feet  in  height,  while  east  of  it  for  several  miles  the  surface  is 
nearly  level.  At  the  south  end  of  the  esker  the  moraine  contains  a  few' 
gravel  knolls  30  feet  or  more  in  height,  but  for  some  miles  southward  only 
low  swells  of  till  occur.  In  the  tract  southwest  of  the  esker  toward  Belle 
Center,  several  basins  were  noted,  a  somewhat  rare  feature  on  this  moraine. 
They  vary  in  size  from  a  fraction  of  an  acre  up  to  several  acres  each,  and 
the  centers  are  depressed  several  feet  below  the  rims,  their  borders  b~feing  in 
some  cases  abrupt,  like  the  bank  of  a  lake.  They  are  still  marshy  and 
may  once  have  contained  lakes. 

The  moraine  in  its  southward  course  from  the  Taylor  Creek  esker 
passes  through  Big  Springs  and  West  Mansfield.  Its  knolls  are  8  or  10  feet 
high,  and  the  relief  above  the  outer  border  plain  ranges  from  10  to  40  feet; 
at  West  Mansfield  it  is  about  35  feet.  The  Broadway  moraine  becomes 
distinct  from  the  Powell  near  West  Mansfield.  From  West  Mansfield 
eastward  it  is  usually  characterized  by  low  swells,  seldom  over  10  feet  in 
height,  but  having  a  well-defined  ridge  as  a  basement  for  the  knolls.  South 
and  southeast  of  Broadway  the  knolls  are  10  to  15  feet  or  more  high,  and 
some  of  them  are  quite  sharp.  This  topogi-aphy  continues  to  the  Scioto 
River,  though  between  Ostrander  and  the  Scioto  the  crest  of  the  ridge  is 
smooth,  while  the  slopes  carry  the  usual  swells.  No  morainic  knolls  were 
observed  in  the  valley  of  the  Scioto  where  this  moraine  crosses,  but,  as  is 
shown  later,  a  belt  of  gravelly  knolls  follows  the  border  of  the  valley  from 
Prospect  southward  nearly  to  the  moraine,  having  a  trend  probabh'  in  line 
with  the  ice  movement.     On  the  east  side  of  the  river,  west  of  Delaware, 


534  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  moraine  carries  knolls  about  10  feet  in  height  and  also  ridges  with 
northeast-southwest  trend  rising  12  to  20  feet  above  the  bordering'  plains. 
On  each  member  of  the  moraine,  from  the  Olentangy  eastward,  swells 
are  but  5  to  10  feet  high,  and  rather  scattering,  so  that  the  belts  are  some- 
what less  distinct  than  in  the  remainder  of  their  course.  Indeed  the 
undulations  are  scarcely  strong  enough  to  merit  the  term  morainic,  though 
the  belt  can  be  distinguished  from  the  plane  tracts  each  side. 

THICKNESS    AND    STRUCTURK    OF    DRIFT. 

The  general  thickness  of  the  drift  in  this  belt,  aside  from  the  buried 
valleys,  is  50  to  75  feet,  but  few  borings  showing  greater  depth  than  7-') 
feet  to  the  rock.  Where  greater  depth  is  found  it  is  presumably  at  a 
filled-up  valley;  but  the  drift  surface  is  so  smc^oth  and  deep  borings  are  so 
few  that  the  courses  and  connections  of  preglacial  valleys  can  not  well  be 
traced. 

This  moraine  carries  more  gravel  than  the  Powell  inoraine,  yet  it 
consists  largely  of  till.  Beginning  at  the  northwest,  the  principal  well 
sections  obtained  are  described  below. 

About  3  miles  west  of  Roundhead  a  well  at  a  schoolhouse  struck  rock 
at  40  feet.  Just  north  of  the  village  of  Roundhead  James  Dunlap  has  a 
well  164  feet  deep  which  did  not  strike  rock.  It  was  mainly  through  blue 
till.  Three  miles  north  of  Roundhead,  on  Mr.  Street's  farm,  rock  is  sti-uck 
at  less  than  90  feet.  One  mile  northwest  of  Roundhead,  at  Daniel  Simpson's, 
a  well  140  feet  deep  struck  no  rock.  There  is  said  to  be  an  outcrop  of  rock 
in  the  Scioto  Marsh,  about  4  miles  northwest  of  Roundhead,  though  several 
flowing  wells  on  the  marsh  at  about  the  same  level  struck  rock  at  80  to  90 
feet.  About  4  miles  northeast  of  Roundhead,  at  a  schoolhouse,  rock  was 
struck  at  80  feet.  At  Samuel  CoUins's,  near  the  south  end  of  the  Taylor 
Creek  esker,  2  wells  35  feet  deep  are  mainly  through  blue  till,  and  struck 
no  rock. 

At  Belle  Center  much  variation  in  the  altitude  of  the  rock  surface  is 
found.  There  is  a  quarry  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  village  at  a  some- 
what higher  level  than  the  railroad  station.  Two  gas  wells  in  the  village 
jjenetrate  in  one  instance  44  feet,  and  in  another  160  feet  of  drift.  The 
greater  part  of  the  drift  in  the  gas  wells  is  till.  Several  flowing  wells  at 
Belle  Center  liave  a  depth  of  18  to  25  feet.     They  penetrate  about  10  feet 


BROADWAY  MORAINE.  535 

of  yellow  till,  then  a  few  feet  of  sand,  then  a  "hardpan  crust,"  beneath 
which  there  is  water-bearing  gravel.  At  Big  Springs  a  rock  outcrop  just 
north  of  the  village  stands  considerably  above  the  railway  station,  while  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  station  wells  have  struck  rock  at  12  to  38  feet. 

At  West  Mansfield  the  town  well  struck  rock  at  about  100  feet.  It  is 
mainly  through  blue  till.  Several  other  wells  near  West  IMansfield  have  a 
depth  of  50  to  60  feet,  and  none  reached  rock.  The  general  thickness  of 
the  drift  here  is  thought  to  be  about  100  feet. 

On  the  moraine  about  a  mile  southwest  of  Broadway  a  well  on  n 
farm  formerly  owned  by  Frank  Welch  is  reported  by  hini  to  have  struck 
rock  at  65  feet. 

At  James  Rodgers,  on  the  crest  of  the  moraine  between  Ostrander  and 
Scioto  River,  a  well  struck  rock  at  about  50  feet.  There  is  yellow  till  10 
or  12  feet,  below  which  is  blue  till  extending  to  the  rock. 

Where  the  moraine  crosses  the  Scioto  Valley  till  is  exposed  near  the 
water's  edge,  but  above  it  is  a  terrace  capped  with  gravel.  The  bed  of 
the  river  here  is  on  rock.  The  valley  is  fully  100  feet  below  the  level 
of  the  highest  points  in  the  moraine  on  each  side. 

In  Delaware  there  are  outcrops  of  rock  near  the  Hocking  Valley  Rail- 
road station  at  a  level  but  12  to  15  feet  below  it,  or  915  feet  above  tide. 
The  drift  surface  northwest  from  this  quany,  on  the  moraine,  reaches  an 
altitude  about  30  feet  above  the  station,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  differ- 
ence in  altitude  is  due  entirely  to  drift  accumulation,  though  no  borings 
have  been  made  to  furnish  complete  evidence. 

From  Delaware  northeastward  the  drift  has  a  thickness  usuallj^  of  but 
20  to  30  feet.  The  morainic  tracts  are  known  as  "clay  land,"  and  the 
bordering  plains  "black  ground,"  since  there  is  but  little  black  soil  on  the 
moraines  compared  with  that  on  the  bordering  plains. 

BOWLDERS. 

The  number  of  bowlders  is  somewhat  greater  on  this  moraine  than  on 
the  bordering  plains,  but  only  one  locality  was  noted  where  they  are  so 
numerous  as  to  be  troublesome.  This  is  in  southern  Hardin  County,  on 
the  east  side  of  Silver  Creek,  about  3  miles  from  Kenton.  Here,  on  the 
farm  of  J.  Y.  Ross,  there  are  several  hundred  within  a  space  of  10  acres. 
They  are,  so  far  as  observed,  all  of  Canadian  derivation.     Winchell  noted 


536  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

a  large  bowlder  in  Alum  Creek  bottoms,  near  South  Woodbury,  "the 
extreme  dimensions  of  which  are  9  feet  by  7  J  feet,  showing  4^  feet  above 
the  ground.  In  this  bowlder  hornblende  predominates,  and  the  feldspar  is 
flesh-colored,  quartz  being  scarce,  giving  a  rather  dark  color  to  the  whole.' 
The  bowlders  are  usually  much  smaller  than  the  one  noted  by  Winchell, 
the  majority  falling  below  3  feet  in  greatest  diameter. 


The  strife  observed  in  this  district,  so  far  as  the  moraine  is  distinct 
from  the  others,  are  confined  to  a  single  occurrence,  the  one  in  the  west 
part  of  Delaware  where  the  bearing  is  S.  8°  E.  It  appears  in  the  list  of 
striae  given  in  the  discussion  of  the  main  morainic  system. 

OUTER   BOEDER    PHENOMENA. 

The  ice  sheet  apparently  had  at  the  time  the  Broadway  moraine  was 
forming  two  main  lines  of  escape  for  its  waters,  the  Scioto  and  the  Olen- 
tangy  valleys.  Of  these  the  Olentangy  seems  to  have  been  the  larger 
There  are  beds  of  gravel  and  cobble  at  Delaware  near  the  outer  border  of 
the  moraine  wdiich  show  vigorous  drainage,  while  west  of  Delaware  on  the 
Scioto  there  is  a  terrace  cut  in  the  till  that  filled  the  valley,  but  the  terrace 
is  capped  with  a  finer  gravel  than  that  on  the  Olentangy.  In  each  valley 
the  bed  of  the  glacial  stream  seems  to  have  been  20  feet  or  more  above  the 
present  stream.  The  breadth  of  the  terrace  on  the  Olentangy  is  nearly 
one-half  mile,  while  that  on  the  Scioto  is  less  than  one-fourth  of  a  mile. 

North  from  Marysville,  where  the  moraine  crosses  the  tract  lying 
between  Mill  Creek  and  Blues  Creek,  it  is  bordered  on  the  south  by  a 
gravel  plain,  which  is  said  to  follow  it  eastward  to  Ostrander,  but  it  was 
examined  only  near  the  Union  County  Infirmar}^,  north  of  Marysville.  It 
consists  of  a  plain  one-half  mile  or  less  in  width,  slightly  lower  than  the  till 
tract  south  of  it,  and  20  to  30  feet  or  more  below  the  moraine  north  of  it. 
It  is  underlain  by  gravel  but  has  a  rich,  black,  mucky  soil.  An  occasional 
low  mound  of  gravel  dots  its  surface.  Its  altitude  by  barometer  is  onh'  10 
feet  above  the  bridge  on  Mill  Creek  at  Marysville,  and  it  is  probably  less 
than  20  feet  above  the  creek  at  its  nearest  approach  immediately  west  of 
the  Infirmary.  Since  this  low  gravel  plain  forms  a  direct  connection 
between  the  upper  and  lower  portions  of  Mill  Creek,  it  may  possibly  be 


BROADWAY  MOEAINE.  537 

simply  an  old  course  of  the  creek.  The  presence  of  the  g-ravelly  knolls 
seems  to  oppose  this  idea  and  to  show  that  the  gravel  tract  was  not 
occupied  by  a  stream  after  the  ice  had  withdrawn,  though  it  may  have 
been  the  course  of  tlie  creek  previous  to  the  formation  of  the  Broadway 
moraine.  It  is  thought  that  the  ice  sheet  may  have  projected  slightly 
beyond  the  main  ridge  of  the  moraine  and  formed  these  knolls  on  the  plain. 

Along'  Mill  Creek  there  is  not  a  conspicuous  amount  of  gravel  and 
sand;  on  the  contrary,  its  bkiffs  are  usually  composed  of  till  and,  with  the 
exception  of  a  stretch  embracing  a  few  miles  near  its  mouth,  they  stand 
but  a  few  feet  above  the  flood  plain  of  the  stream.  Near  the  mouth  of  the 
creek  at  the  crossing  of  the  New  California  and  Delaware  roads,  there  are 
rocky  bluffs  rising  to  a  lieight  of  50  feet  above  its  bed,  and  the  valley  is 
very  narrow,  scarcely  100  yards  in  width.  Above  the  bluff  of  rock  there 
is  a  thin  capping  of  drift,  mainly  clay,  which  does  not  show  clear  evidence 
of  fluvial  action. 

Alum  Creek,  another  stream  leading  southward  from  the  outer  border 
of  the  moraine,  is  characterized  for  some  miles  below  the  moraine  by  a 
narrow  valley  bordered  by  high  bluffs  of  shale  rising  80  feet  or  more  above 
the  stream.  Wherever  the  valley  was  crossed  the  shale  is  capped  hj  till. 
If  there  had  been  a  discharge  of  glacial  waters  down  the  valley  the  stream 
would  apparently  have  been  confined  between  the  rocky  bluffs  of  its 
present  narrow  valley,  which  is  even  now  occupied  in  places  throughout 
nearly  its  whole  breadth  by  the  creek. 

Aside  from  the  fluvial  phenomena  noted,  the  outer  border  district 
consists  of  a  till  plain,  in  which  the  number  of  "clay  points"  is  fewer  and 
the  proportion  of  "black  ground"  much  greater  than  on  the  moraine. 

INNER    BORDER    PHENOMENA. 

There  is,  north  of  the  Broadway  moraine,  an  extensive  district  in  which 
the  drift  is  comparatively  thin  (15  to  30  feet  in  general  depth)  and  is  com- 
posed mainly  of  till.  The  surface  is  nearly  all  plane,  and  bowlders  are  less 
conspicuous  than  on  the  moraine,  but  are  not  rare.  Along  Bokes  Creek,  a 
western  tributary  of  the  Scioto  flowing  nearly  parallel  with  the  moraine  and 
less  than  10  miles  distant  from  it,  there  are  in  places  sliglitly  undulatory 
tracts  suggesting  the  marks  of  an  ice  mai-gin,  but  there  does  not  aj^pear 
to  be   a  well-defined  moraine.      The  valley  of  this  creek  is  of  interest, 


538  GliACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

inasmuch  as  flowing  wells  have  been  obtained  along  it  throughout  almost 
the  entire  length  of  the  stream.  The  flow  of  water  is  from  gravel  below 
blue  till.  The  depth  of  the  wells  seldom  exceeds  30  feet,  and  the  water 
rises  but  a  few  feet  above  the  surface.  The  wells  are  all,  so  far  as  noted, 
on  the  flood  plain  of  the  stream. 

TAYLOR    CREEK    ESKER. 

The  features  of  greatest  interest  in  this  district  are  the  eskers  and  other 
beds  of  assorted  material  that  show  the  work  of  water  in  connection  with 
the  ice  sheet.  The  Taylor  Creek  esker  has  already  been  referi-ed  to,  and 
the  other  belts  have  been  well  described  by  N.  H.  Winchell  in  his  report 
on  the  geology  of  Ohio.  The  Taylor  Creek  esker,  being  the  best  illustra- 
tion of  that  class  of  formations  found  in  this  district,  first  recei^'es  attention. 
It  Hes  in  Hardin  County,  nearly  due  south  from  Kenton,  as  indicated  in 
PI.  XIII,  its  north  end  being  about  3  miles  from  that  city.  By  the  residents 
it  is  known  as  the  "Devils  Backbone,"  and  less  commonly  as  the  "Taylor 
Creek  Ridge."  Its  length  is  about  3  miles.  The  most  prominent  part  has 
a  trend  nearly  north  to  south,  but  local  variations  occur,  as  described 
below.  It  so  nearly  coincides  in  trend  with  the  bearing  of  neighboring 
striae  at  Big  Springs  and  Belle  Center  (S.  10°  W.)  that  it  represents  the 
direction  of  the  ice  movement  about  as  well  as  the  striae,  and  yet  its  local 
variations  seem  to  be  out  of  harmony  with  the  direction  of  the  ice  move- 
ment, it  being  scarcely  probable  that  the  great  ice  sheet  made  the  sudden 
deflections  which  this  ridge  exhibits 

For  nearly  a  mile  in  its  northern  portion  the  ridge  is  low,  seldom 
exceeding  10  feet  in  height,  and  is  subject  to  frequent  gaps  and  to  sudden 
changes  in  trend.  It  then  rises  to  a  height  of  20  to  30  feet  or  more,  and 
for  perhaps  one-half  mile  exhibits  considerable  winding  and  is  interrupted 
by  short  gaps.  Here  the  main  ridge  sets  in  and  is  nearly  continuous  for 
about  1^  miles,  lying  in  Taylor  Creek  Valley  on  the  west  side  of  the  stream. 
Its  height  is  30  to  50  feet  and  the  breadth  at  top  sufficient  for  a  wagon 
road.  The  slopes  are,  as  a  rule,  very  sharp,  being  30°  or  even  greater 
from  the  horizontal.  At  the  southern  end  of  this  main  ridge  a  low  ridge 
slightly  separated  from  it  leads  off  toward  the  southwest  a  few  rods  and 
there  dies  away.  About  one-fourth  mile  to  the  south  a  sharp  gravel  ridge 
with  northwest-to-southeast  trend  appears  and  runs  from  the  center  of  the 
valley  up  to  the  east  bluff  of  the  creek,  a  distance  of  about  one-fourth  of  a 


BKOADWAY  MORAINE.  539 

mile,  where  it  dies  out.  Nearly  oue-half  mile  farther  south  sharp  gravelly 
knolls  appear  in  the  valley.  They  seem  to  constitute  the  southern  end  of 
this  system  of  ridges,  for  toward  the  west,  south,  and  east  there  is  a  till 
tract.  The  disjointed  northern  portion  of  the  ridge  is  not  in  the  valley  of 
Taylor  Creek,  but  crosses  the  uplands  on  the  west  side  of  the  stream  and 
makes  a  descent  of  about  50  feet  in  entering  the  valley. 

There  is  not  a  well-defined  esker  trough  on  the  uplands,  but  the  lowland 
tract  in  which  the  esker  mainly  lies,  and  which  is  now  called  Taylor  Creek 
Valley,  is  to  all  appearances  an  esker  trough,  and  was  probably  excavated 
by  the  stream  which  deposited  the  esker.  Its  breadth  is  200  to  300  yards, 
and  in  but  few  places  is  its  depth  less  than  30  feet.  The  uplands  east  are 
lower  than  those  west  of  it.  The  stream  occupying  it  is  hardly  worthy  the 
name  creek,  its  bed  being  scarcely  10  feet  in  width  where  it  borders  the 
esker.  The  small  size  of  the  stream  no  less  than  the  presence  of  the  esker 
opposes  the  idea  that  this  valley  was  formed  by  the  present  stream  after 
the  ice  sheet  had  withdrawn. 

Many  excavations  have  been  made  in  the  disjointed  portions  of  this 
esker,  lint  none  of  great  extent  in  the  main  ridge.  The  main  ridge,  however, 
has  Ijeen  examined  sufficiently  by  persons  negotiating  for  the  sale  of  the 
ridge  to  railway  companies  to  niake  certain  that  its  great  mass  consists  of 
gravelof  suitable  coarseness  for  railway  ballast.  Its  structure  is  probably 
more  uniformlj^  gravelly  than  that  of  the  disjointed  ridges.  Indeed,  the 
disjointed  ridges  have  proved  to  be  extremel}^  variable  in  structure,  con- 
taining not  only  gravel  and  cobble,  but  fine  sand  and  till  and  gradations 
from  till  into  assorted  material.  The  latest  deposit  on  these  disjointed  ridges 
seems  to  have  been  till,  for  till  is  in  several  places  exposed  on  the  slopes 
Avhere  the  interior  consists  of  well-assorted  material.  Till  also  occurs 
sometimes  on  the  inner  curve  of  a  ridge  where  the  outer  curve  consists 
of  a  well-washed  gravel.  At  the  disconnected  ridge  south  of  the  main 
ridge,  noted  above,  there  is  coarse  gravel  at  the  northwest  end  in  beds 
dipping  toward  the  southeast,  which  traced  southeastward  becomes  finer 
and  terminates  at  the  southeast  end  in  a  sandy  till.  The  bedding,  both  by 
dip  of  beds  and  the  attitude  of  individual  stones,  shows  clearly  that  the  flow 
of  water  was  northwest  to  southeast — that  is,  from  the  coarse  gravel  toward 
the  sandy  till.  This  ridge  represents,  therefore,  a  deposit  in  a  stream  whose 
flow  was  being  rapidly  checked.     We  find  in  this  sudden  change  in  the 


540  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

degree  of  assorting  and  force  of  cuiTent,  and  also  in  the  existence  of  an 
excavated  trough,  strong  evidence  in  siipport  of  the  hypothesis  of  the 
subglacial  origin  of  the  esker.  By  this  it  must  not  be  understood  that  all 
eskers  are  thought  to  have  been  formed  in  subglacial  channels;  indeed,  it 
seems  not  improbable  that  in  some  instances  they  may  have  had  a  super- 
glacial  origin,  having  apparently  been  formed  in  a  channel  open  above  to 
the  air.  Possibly  cases  occur  in  which  an  esker  is  in  part  superglacial 
and  in  part  subglacial  in  its  origin,  the  stream  which  formed  it  being  for  a 
portion  of  its  course  on  the  sin-face  or  in  a  deeply  covered  tunnel  or  chasm 
in  the  ice,  while  later,  or  upon  approaching  the  ice  margin,  it  ilowed  on 
the  ground  beneath  the  ice  and  excavated  the  trough.  In  places  where  the 
current  was  not  swift  enough  to  carry  onward  all  the  material  it  deposited 
the  material  for  the  ridges.  In  some  esker  systems  a  delta  or  fan  was  devel- 
oped at  the  end  nearest  the  margin  of  the  ice  sheet,  but  in  the  Taylor  Creek 
esker  no  such  delta  appears.  The  tracts  where  the  esker  terminates,  as  well 
as  those  bordering  it,  are  underlain  by  till,  and  show  no  more  assorted 
material  than  portions  of  the  moraine  not  associated  with  an  esker. 

EICHWOOD    ESKER. 

In  the  village  of  Ricliwood,  in  Union  Count}',  there  is  a  low  gravel 
ridge  of  the  esker  type.  It  is  10  to  15  feet  high  where  most  prominent, 
and  30  to  50  yards  wide.  It  sets  in  about  one-half  mile  north  of  Ricliwood 
station,  and  runs  in  a  course  S.  20°  E.  to  the  business  portion  of  the  village. 
From  Ricliwood  southward  no  well-defined  ridge  appears,  but  a  nearly 
plane  gravelly  belt  in  line  with  the  ridge  continues  to  Fulton  Creek,  1 J  miles 
south  of  the  village.  The  bordering  tracts  are  till.  The  relation  between 
this  level  gravelly  belt  and  the  esker  is  thought  to  be  somewhat  close,  both 
being  deposited  probably  by  a  glacial  stream,  the  esker  perhaps  in  a  narrow 
tunnel  and  the  level-surfaced  gravel  in  a  broad  one.  The  thickness  of 
drift  in  Richwood  along  the  line  of  this  gravelly  belt  is  only  about  30  feet. 

KADNOR   ESKER. 

A  gravelly  belt  formed  along  the  Scioto  River  Valley  from  Prospect 
southward  to  the  moraine  has  been  well  described  by  Winchell,  as  follows:^ 

A  singular  line  of  gravel  knolls  and  .short  ridges  pertaining  to  the  glacier  drift 
crosses  Radnor  Township,  coming  into  the  countj'  from  the  north  at  Middletown 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  II,  187-4,  pp.  30-1-306. 


BROADWAY  MORAINE.  541 

[Prospect],  which  is  on  the  Scioto,  in  Marion  County,  and  passing  about  a  mile  to  the 
west  of  Delhi.  It  is  traceable  nea!rly  to  Millville.  It  is  intersected  by  the  gravel 
road  about  a  mile  north  of  Delhi.  The  road  then  follows  it  to  Middletown,  where 
it  becomes  lost  from  further  observation.  This  interesting  series  of  ridges  is  not 
arranged  in  a  single  continuous  line,  but  the  separate  ridges  overlap  each  other,  rising 
and  falling  at  irregular  intervals.  Sometimes  the  line  appears  double;  low  places  on 
one  side  are  in  some  places  made  up  by  full  deposits  on  the  other.  On  either  side  the 
country  is  fiat,  the  soil  is  of  close  clay,  and  the  roads  very  muddy  in  rainy  weather. 
The  Delhi  beds  of  the  Lower  Corniferous  are  exposed  at  a  number  of  places  in  close 
proximity  to  these  gravel  knolls,  proving  the  strike  of  the  formation  to  be  exactly 
coincident  with  this  strip  of  gravelly  land.  Toward  the  east  is  the  enduring  Cornif- 
erous; toward  the  west,  the  easily  disrupted  Wateldime.  There  is  a  general  but 
very  gentle  slope  to  the  west.  The  material  in  these  ridges  is  stratified  sand  and 
gravel,  which  has  been  considerablj'  used  in  constructing  the  gravel  roads  that  inter- 
sect that  part  of  the  county.  One  of  these  sand  and  gravel  deposits  is  open  for  such 
purposes  on  the  land  of  Mrs.  Rachael  Fleming,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Scioto,  near 
the  mouth  of  Bogg's  Creek,  and  shows  the  following  alternation  of  parts:  (1)  Soil  and 
hard  pan,  2  feet;  (2)  gravel  and  sand,  stratification  confused  or  wanting;  (3)  hand- 
some strata  of  saod  obliquely  stratified. 

The  outward  appearance  and  composition  of  this  series  of  gravel  ridges  are  the 
same  as  of  those  ridges  well  known  in  the  country  as  "hogs'-backs,"  yet  they  are  less 
prominent  than  some  others  that  have  been  described  in  northwestern  Ohio.  (See 
report  on  the  geology  of  Hardin  County,  also  report  on  geology  of  Allen  County.) 
Their  long  continuance  and  their  more  uniform  height  make  them  in  some  respects 
comparable  to  those  very  long  gravel  ridges  that  have  been  described  in  northwestern 
Ohio,  and  referred  to  the  efiect  of  glaciers,  crossing  a  number  of  counties  consecu- 
tively. Their  real  oi'igin,  however,  is  not  that  of  terminal  glacier  moraines,  but  is 
the  same  as  of  those  isolated  gravel  knolls  known  as  "hogs' -backs."  Similar  lines  of 
gravellj^  rolling  land  following  and  marking  the  boundarj^  between  two  geological 
formations  have  been  mentioned  in  reports  on  the  geologj-  of  Crawfoi'd  and  Morrow 
counties.  Such  boundary  lines,  when  between  two  formations  of  unequal  endurance 
under  the  glacier,  would  be  the  place  where  most  frequently  deep  fissures  in  the  ice 
would  be  produced  by  the  efforts  of  the  great  sheet  to  adapt  itself  to  the  unevenness 
of  its  bed.  In  such  fissures  and  along  such  openings  running  water  would  appear, 
and  would  most  effectually  carry  away  the  transportable  clayey  portions  of  the  drift 
with  which  it  might  come  in  contact.  During  the  prevalence  of  the  ice,  such  washed 
and  perhaps  stratified  drift  would  be  liable  to  a  further  transportation;  but  when  the 
margin  of  the  glacier  finally  passed  northward  over  anj'  point  on  such  boundary 
line,  the  final  efiect  of  the  water  issuing  from  the  ice  at  that  point  would  be  left 
undisturbed,  and  would  be  preserved  to  the  present  time.  The  obliqueness  of  the 
stratification  and  the  sudden  changes  in  the  kind  and  arrangement  of  material 
making  up  the  strata,  together  with  an  occasional  mass  of  unassorted  glacier  clay 
included  in  the  stratified  portions,  not  onl}^  indicate  the  force  and  direction  of  the 
torrents  of  water  and  an  interrupted  supply  of  drift,  but  also  the  presence  and  agencj' 
of  thick  glacier  ice  at  the  time  of  deposition. 


542  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


LEESVILLE    ESKER. 


A  short  esker  near  Leesville,  in  Crawford  County,  about  3  miles  west 

of  Crestline,  is  also  described  by  Wincliell  in  his  report  on  that  county,  as 

follows :  ^ 

At  Leesville,  in  the  southern  pai-t  of  section  7,  Jackson,  is  a  long-  and  prominent 
ridge  of  g-ravel  popularly  denominated  a  "hog's-back."  The  gravel  ridge  has  been 
in  use  for  fourteen  years,  during  which  time  thousands  of  carloads  have  been  taken 
awajr  for  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Railroad,  but  the  part  which 
still  remains  rises  40  feet  above  the  surrounding  level.  A  former  spur  from  this, 
known  as  the  ''Cleveland  Hill,"  rose  20  feet  higher,  but  it  has  been  entirely  removed. 
This  gravel  ridge  is  a  little  over  half  a  mile  long  and  runs  nearly  north  and  south, 
or  a  trifle  east  of  south.  The  "Cleveland  Hill"  tended  more  easterly  along  the 
southern  extremity.  The  main  ridge  lies  on  the  obser\'ed  line  of  superposition  of 
the  Berea  grit  over  the  Bedford  shale.  The  soft  shale  is  in  outcrop  along  the  banks 
of  the  Sandusky  River,  on  section  12,  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  ridge,  and 
the  sandstone  is  extensively  wrought  about  half  a  mile  east  of  the  ridge.  This  ridge 
is  not  bordered  on  both  sides  bj"^  low,  swampy  belts,  as  several  others  have  been 
obsei'ved  to  be,  at  least  it  is  not  on  the  eastern  side.  On  the  west  side  there  is  more 
low  ground,  but  the  Sanduskj^  River  and  a  ravine  tributar}^  to  it  have  somewhat 
broken  up  its  original  sui'roundings  in  this  respect.  The  country  about  is  flat,  or 
nearly  so,  and  the  drift  is  made  up  of  the  common  hardpan  claj'.  The  gravel  of  the 
ridge  embraces  a  great  manj'  bowlders  about  the  size  of  18  inches  in  diameter:  some 
also  much  larger.  This  conjunction  of  a  graA^el  ridge  pertaining  to  the  drift  with 
the  line  of  outcrop  of  two  formations,  the  one  hard  and  the  other  soft,  is  not  an 
uncommon  occurrence  in  northwestern  Ohio.  They  are  mentioned  under  the  head 
of  "Drift"  in  the  reports  on  Auglaize,  Hardin,  Allen,  Morrow,  and  Delaware 
counties,  and  seem  to  the  writer  to  bear  an  intimate  relation  to  the  cause  of  that 
deposit.  They  indicate  that  whatever  that  cause  was  it  was  susceptible  of  being- 
influenced  bj'  the  character  of  the  underlying  rock.' 

The  coincidence  between  the  line  of  strike  in  the  rock  formations  and 
trend  of  the  esker  noted  by  Winchell  is  not  to  be  found  in  all  eskers. 
While,  therefore,  it  is  not  always  necessary  that  there  should  be  a  line  of 
outcrop  of  two  formations,  one  hard  and  the  other  soft,  to  cause  the  depo- 
sition of  an  esker,  it  still  may  be  true  that  the  position  of  the  stream  which 
produced  the  esker  was  determined  by  the  resistance  offered  by  the  hard 
strata  to  the  flow  of  the  ice  sheet  as  suggested  by  Winchell. 

CORRELATIONS. 

This  moraine  appears  to  be  the  equivalent  of  Winchell's  St.  Johns 
moraine  of  the  Maumee-Miami  glacier,  which  when  traced  into  Indiana  is 
called  the  Salamonie  moraine. 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  II,  p.  247. 


MOUNT  VICTORY  MORAINE.  543 

In  the  shoulder  east  of  the  main  Scioto  lobe  no  well-defined  morainic 
belts  occur  which  can  be  correlated  with  the  Bpadwa^*  moraine,  but,  as 
stated  in  the  discussion  of  the  Powell  moraine,  there  are  occasional  develop- 
ments of  morainic  topography  in  that  district  between  the  main  system  and 
a  later  system  following  nearly  the  Mississippi-St.  Lawrence  divide.  These 
fragmentary  moraines  are  probably  correlatives  of  the  well-defined  moraines 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  Scioto  Basin.  The  ruggedness  of  the  district 
within  the  shoulder  may  have  prevented  the  formation  of  continuous  belts. 


MOUNT  VICTORY  MORAINE. 


This  is  the  northernmost  of  the  moraines  that  are  crossed  by  the  Scioto 
above  Columbus.  It  is  well  developed  from  Mount  Victory  in  south- 
eastern Hardin  County  eastward  to  the  meridian  of  Marion,  a  distance  of 
about  20  miles.  It  may  also  be  traced  for  2  or  3  miles  northwest  from 
Mount  Victory.  This  brings  it  nearly  to  the  Scioto  River,  where  it  becomes 
merged  with  the  later,  stronger,  Wabash  moraine.  Eastward  from  Marion 
there  seems  to  be  no  continuation  of  this  moraine,  for  a  comparatively  flat 
tract  extends  for  several  miles  in  that  direction.  Along  the  headwaters 
of  the  Olentangy,  however,  there  are  drift  knolls,  which  in  places  are  so 
closely  aggregated  as  to  give  the  appearance  of  a  moraine,  and  it  seems 
probable  that  the  continuation  of  the  ice  margin  at  this  time  of  halting  was 
along  that  line.  For  some  reason  not  yet  determined,  the  southeast  limb 
of  all  the  moraines  crossing  the  Scioto  Basin  above  Columbus  is  much 
weaker  than  the  remainder  of  the  belts.  In  the  Powell  moraine  the  south- 
east limb,  though  very  narrow  compared  with  its  breadth  elsewhere,  is 
sufficiently  strong  to  leave  no  doubt  as  to  its  course,  but  in  the  Broadway 
moraine  it  is  only  by  close  comparison  with  the  bordering  tracts  that  one 
can  decide  upon  the  course  of  the  belt.  In  the  Mount  Victory  moraine  this 
limb  is  practically  wanting  for  several  miles,  so  that  no  clew  to  its  course 
was  found;  the  belt  is  well  defined  only  at  intervals  along  the  Olentangy. 

Where  well  defined  the  Mount  Victory  moraine  has  a  breadth  of  1  to 
2  nules.  It  does  not  rise  much  above  the  plahi  south  of  it,  though  for 
several  miles  it  determines  the  eastward  course  of  Rush  Creek,  and  at  the 
Scioto,  on  each  side  of  the  stream,  it  has  an  abrupt  outer  border  rehef  of  25 
feet  or  more.  Between  the  Scioto  and  Rush  Creek  the  inner  (northern) 
border  is  more  abrupt  than  the  outer  and  the  descent  from  the  moraine 
northward  to  the  river  is  more  rapid  than  it  is  southward. 


544  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  morainic  knolls  seldom  exceed  15  feet  and  the  majority  fall  below 
10  feet  in  height,  but  this  amount  of  undulation  puts  the  moraine  in  striking 
contrast  with  the  very  level  tracts  bordering  it,  on  which  an  undulation  of 
5  feet  can  scarcely  be  found.  The  moraine  differs  from  the  bordering 
tracts  also  in  being  much  more  liberally  supplied  with  surface  bowlders. 
Winchell,  in  his  report  on  Marion  County,  calls  attention  to  these  bowl- 
ders, some  of  which  are  stated  to  be  6  feet  in  diameter.^  The  bowldery 
tract  referred  to  by  Winchell  is  immediately  west  of  the  Scioto  River, 
where  the  bowlders  are  perhaps  more  numerous  than  in  any  other  part  of 
the  moraine. 

The  moraine,  like  the  Ijordering  plains,  seems  to  be  composed  mainly 
of  till.  Two  wells  in  Mount  Victory  reach  the  rock  at  about  60  feet.  One 
is  at  a  livery  stable,  the  other  is  the  town  well  in  the  street  southeast  of  the 
station  of  the  Big  Four  Railway.  In  each  the  drift  is  n:iainly  till.  The 
southern  part  of  the  city  of  Marion  touches  the  inner  border  of  the  moraine. 
Here  wells  in  the  vicinity  of  Delaware  avenue,  at  a  level  about  20  feet 
above  the  railway  stations  at  Marion,  penetrate  50  feet  of  drift,  mainly  till. 
In  the  business  portion  of  the  city  of  Marion  and  from  there  northward  to 
the  quarries,  a  mile  north  of  the  city,  there  is  scarcely  any  drift,  so  that 
rock  is  struck  in  many  places  in  grading  the  streets. 

That  there  was  not  a  vigorous  di'ainage  down  the  Scioto  at  the  time 
this  moraine  was  forming  is  inferred  from  the  character  of  the  valley  drift. 
No  well-defined  terrace  heads  in  the  moraine,  and  the  valley  is  filled  with 
till  from  the  moraine  southward  to  Prospect,  as  it  is  from  the  moraine 
northward.  On  a  previous  page  Winchell's  account  of  a  gravelly  belt  along 
the  Scioto  from  Prospect  southward  is  presented.  This  gravelly  belt,  how- 
ever, was  apparently  a  subglacial  formation  about  contemporaneous  with 
the  Broadway  moraine.     It  certainly  has  not  the  level  surface  of  a  terrace. 

Between  this  moraine  and  its  neighbor  on  the  north  there  is  a  plain, 
much  of  which  is  treeless.  It  has  a  black  prairie  soil  a  foot  or  more  in 
depth  and  occasional  low  knolls  rise  abruptly  above  the  level  of  the  plain. 
These  have  a  clayey  soil  less  black  than  the  plains.  The  drift  on  this  plain 
ranges  from  a  thin  coating  up  to  50  feet  or  more  in  thickness  and  is  mainly 
till.  Occasional  bowlders  dot  the  surface,  but  they  are  not  so  numerous  as 
on  the  moraine  south  of  the  plain. 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  1873,  p.  644. 


WABASH  MORAINE.  545 

The  cause  of  this  extensive  prairie  tract  in  the  midst  of  the  forests  of 
Ohio  is  an  interesting  problem,  but  a  sohition  has  not  yet  been  found. 
It  is  popularly  supposed  that  these  treeless  plains  were  once  covered  by  a 
lake ;  but  they  have  not  the  horizontal  stirface  which  a  lake  bottom  should 
have.  Instead  the  surface  rises  from  west  to  east  at  the  rate  of  10  feet  or 
more  per  mile,  the  altitude  near  the  Scioto  being-  920  feet,  while  on  the 
eastern  borders  of  the  prairie,  12  to  15  miles  eastward,  it  is  fully  1,050  feet. 
The  prairie  extends  north  beyond  the  plain,  occujjying  a  portion  of  the 
moraine  that  follows  the  divide  between  the  Scioto  and  Sandusky  rivers. 
Its  altitude  decreases  toward  the  north,  until  near  Upper  Sandusky  it  is  but 
850  feet.  No  well-defined  lacustrine  formations,  such  as  beaches  or  sand 
deposits,  were  observed  on  its  surface.  The  soil  has  fewer  pebbles  than 
ordinaril}^  charactei'izes  the  till  plains,  but  it  is  not  a  pebbleless  clay.  It 
seems  to  be  a  glacial  deposit,  and  the  presence  of  surface  bowlders  of 
Archean  rocks  makes  it  evident  tliat  not  much  deposition  has  occurred  since 
the  ice  sheet  withdrew,  else  they  would  have  been  covered. 

SECTION  III.     MORAINES   OF  THE  MAUMEE   LOBE. 

WABASH    MORAINE. 

The  portion  of  this  moraine  traversing  western  Ohio  \vap  traced  some 
years  ago  by  N.  H.  Winchell,  and  by  him  was  given  the  name  Wabash  ^ 
More  recently  Dryer  has  traced  much  of  the  portion  in  Indiana.^  The 
writer's  observations  cover  the  interval  between  the  portions  thus  studied, 
and  also  extend  the  entire  length  of  the  moraine  in  these  States. 

DISTRIBUTION. 

The  Wabash  moraine  does  not  connect  with  the  interlobate  morainic 
tract  of  Logan  and  southern  Hardin  counties,  Ohio,  but,  as  indicated  in 
Pis.  XI  and  XIII,  may  be  readily  traced  from  the  highlands  east  of  the 
Scioto  Basin  westward  across  that  basin  into  the  region  occupied  by  the 
Maumee-Miami  lobe.  Farther  east  it  is  closely  associated  with  a  later 
moraine  (the  Fort  Wayne).  The  combined  belt,  however,  is  traceable  east- 
ward into  an  interlobate  moraine  occupying  the  highlands  west  of  the  Grrand 
River  Basin,  beyond  which  it  has  not  been  recognized. 

iProc.  Am.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  1872,  pp.  166-167. 

^  Sixteenth  Ann.  Eept.  Geol.  Survey_  Indiana,  1888,  pp.  119-122. 

HON    XLI 35 


546  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

From  the  interlobate  moraine  just  referred  to,  tlie  combined  Wabash 
and  Fort  Wayne  moraine  takes  a  westward  course  along  the  contii:iental 
divide,  constituting-  that  divide  from  near  Akron  to  the  head  of  Huron 
River,  about  15  miles  northwest  of  Mansfield.  For  a  few  miles  between 
the  villages  of  Creston  and  Savamiah  the  two  moraines  are  distinct,  but  with 
tliis  exception  they  are  combined  into  a  single  belt  as  far  west  as  the  point 
named.  Farther  Avest  the  two  belts  are  more  widely  separated,  and  only 
the  Wabash  will  now  be  traced. 

The  Wabash  moraine  follows  the  north  side  of  the  westward-flowing 
headwater  portion  of  the  Sandusky  River  to  the  village  of  Wyandot,  where 
the  river  turns  northwestward  through  the  moraine.  The  course  of  the 
moraine  is  there  southward  for  a  few  miles  along,  the  west  side  of  Little 
Scioto  to  Scioto  River  at  the  bend  of  that  stream  west  of  Marion.  The 
moraine  then  follows  the  north  side  of  the  headwater  portion  of  the  Scioto 
to  the  Scioto  Marsh  a  few  miles  west  of  Kenton,  Ohio.  From  this  marsh 
its  course  is  south  of  west  along  the  north  side  of  the  Auglaize  River  to 
Wapakoneta.  The  river  here  turns  northward,  passing  through  the  moraine, 
while  the  latter  continues  westward  to  the  town  of  St.  Marys,  and  thence 
along  the  north  side  of  the  Grand  Reservoir  and  Big  Beaver  Creek  to  tlie 
bend  of  the  Wabash  River,  near  the  State  line,  where  it  assumes  a  similar 
position  with  reference  to  that  stream.  For  30  miles  or  more  in  eastern 
Indiana  it  trends  north  of  west,  and  lies  immediately  north  of  the  Wabash, 
but  near  Blufifton  the  river  takes  a  nearly  westward  course  and  leaves  the 
moraine.  The  latter  continues  in  a  course  north  of  west  past  Zanesville 
to  the  old  lake  outlet  at  Aboit,  in  western  Allen  County.  This  outlet 
crosses  at  the  most  westerly  point  of  the  morainic  loop.  North  of  the  out- 
let the  moraine  takes  a  northeasterly  course,  its  inner  border  following  the 
lake  outlet  nearly  to  Fort  Wayne  and  the  St.  Joseph  River  north  of  that 
city,  while  the  outer  follows  the  east  side  of  Aboit  River  and  the  Hunter- 
town  marshes  to  northern  Allen  County.  It  there  crosses  Big  Cedar 
Creek,  and  follows  its  east  side  to  the  vicinity  of  Auburn.  The  moraine 
here  swings  eastward,  and  enters  Ohio  southeast  of  Butler,  Ind.  In  north- 
western Ohio  it  follows  the  west  side  of  the  St.  Joseph  River  to  the  Michigan 
line.     Its  exact  course  and  its  connections  in  Michigan  are  not  determined. 

Like  the  Mississinawa  and  Salamonie  moraines,  this  belt  governs  to  a 
considerable  degree  the  course  of  the  streams  that  drain  it.     By  reference 


WABASH  MORAINE.  547 

to  the  map  (PL  XI)  it  will  be  seen  that  streams  in  northwestern  Ohio  and 
northeastern  Indiana  usiially  flow  either  parallel  with  or  at  right  angles  to 
the  trend  of  the  moraines.  In  both  cases  the  course  plainly  results  from 
slopes  due  to  drift  aggregation.  This  is  true  of  the  Mississinawa,  the 
Salamonie,  the  Wabash,  the  St.  Marys,  the  St.  Joseph,  and  the  Auglaize 
rivers,  as  Avell  as  of  several  smaller  streams.  Attention  is  here  called  only 
to  such  as  have  their  courses  controlled  by  the  Wabash  moraine.  The 
westward-flowing  portion  of  Sandusky  River,  the  eastward-flowing  por- 
tion of  the  Scioto,  and  the  westward-flowing  portion  of  the  headwaters  of 
Auglaize  and  St.  Marys  rivers  and  Big  Beaver  'Ci'eek  are  all  controlled  by 
this  moraine.  The  Wabash  above  Fort  Recovery  has  its  course  governed 
by  the  Salamonie  moraine;  the  river  then  flows  northward  for  several  miles 
as  if  to  discharge  into  the  Maumee  River,  but  upon  reaching  the  outer 
border  of  the  Wabash  moraine  it  is  turned  westward,  and  instead  of  flowing 
into  the  Maumee  and  becoming  a  part  of  the  St.  Lawrence  drainage  basin, 
it  passes  westward  to  the  old  lake  outlet  at  Huntington,  and  eventually 
discharges  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Had  a  suitable  break  occurred  in  the 
Wabash  moraine,  either  in  western  Ohio  or  eastern  Indiana,  the  upper 
portion  of  this  stream  might  have  become  a  part '  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
system. 

Blue  Creek,  in  Adams  County,  Ind.,  after  flowing  for  several  miles 
parallel  with  the  inner  border  of  the  moraine,  and  distant  but  4  or  5  miles 
from  the  Wabash  River,  turns  abruptly  northeastward  and  discharges  into 
the  St.  Marys  River. 

In  Wells  County,  Ind.,  two  small  streams  flow  along  the  inner  border 
in  opposite  directions,  but  jDai'allel  with  the  moraine,  when  the}'  find  a 
break  which  permits  their  passage  through  it  into  the  Wabash  near  Bluff- 
ton.  The  bends  in  Eightmile  Creek,  in  Wells  County,  between  Ossian  and 
Zanesville,  are  also  determined  by  the  morainic  ridges. 

The  southwestward  course  of  Big  Cedar  Creek,  in  Dekalb  County, 
from  near  Auburn  to  northern  Allen  County,  is  due  to  the  presence  of  the 
moraine.  The  creek  then  flows  in  a  southeastward  course,  or  almost 
exactly  at  a  right  angle  to  the  course  above  this  bend. 


548  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


The  Wabash  moraine  throughout  much  of  its  course  presents  an  abi'upt, 
bluff-hke  outer  border  relief  of  about  30  feet,  but  the  relief  ranges  from  20 
feet  or  less  up  to  50  or  60  feet.  After  the  moraine  bears  away  from  the 
Wabash  River,  in  northern  Wells  and  western  Allen  countie.s,  the  relief 
above  the  outer  border  plain  is  usually  but  20  to  25  feet  and  occasionally 
but  10  to  15  feet  above  this  j)lain.  North  of  the  old  lake  outlet  the  crest 
of  the  moraine  stands  20  to  50  feet  above  the  valley-like  plain  which  occu- 
pies much  of  the  outer  border.  The  slope  is,  however,  so  broad  that  the 
relief  is  not  so  striking  a  feature  as  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  loop, 
except  locally.  Near  Hunterstown,  for  example,  there  is  a  rather  abrupt 
rise  of  about  20  feet  from  the  marshes  into  the  border  of  the  moraine. 

On  the  inner  border  there  is  a  gradual  descent  from  the  moraine  to  the 
streams  which  follow  the  outer  border  of  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine,  viz, 
Brokensword  Creek,  Hog  Creek,  St.  Marys  River,  and  St.  Joseph  River.  In 
a  few  places  the  moraine  rises  abruptly  20  feet  or  more  above  the  adjacent 
portion  of  the  inner  border  plain;  quite  as  often,  however,  there  is  no  abrupt 
rise  but  a  gradual  transition  from  the  plain  to  the  moraine. 

RANGE    IX    ALTITUDE. 

The  range  in  altitude  in  the  Indiana  portion  of  this  moraine  is  very 
slight,  the  highest  points  being  scarcely  900  feet  above  tide,  while  the  low- 
est points  (aside  from  valleys  of  streams)  are  about  850  feet.  In  Ohio  there 
is  a  gradual  ascent  from  about  850  feet  at  the  Miami  Canal  to  1,025  feet  at 
the  north  border  of  the  Scioto  Marsh  in  Hardin  County.  The  moraine  then 
drops  to  about  925  feet  at  the  bend  of  the  Scioto  west  of  Marion,  but  rises 
to  1,050  feet  at  its  junction  with  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine  near  the  head  of 
Sandusky  River.  The  combined  belt  eastward  from  there  to  Akron  ranges 
from  about  970  feet  in  lowlands  to  1,250  feet  on  lidges. 

The  old  lake  outlet  at  Aboit,  Ind.,  is  about  750  feet  above  tide,  or 
nearly  100  feet  below  the  altitude  of  the  crest  of  the  moraine  through  which 
it  has  a  passage. 


WABASH  MORAINE. 


549 


The  following  altitudes  of  points  along  the  crest  of  the  moraine  will 
serve  to  illustrate  the  above  remarks: 

TcMe  of  altitudes  along  the  Wabash  mwaine. 


Creston 

Burbank,  south  of 

Killbuck  Valley,  east  of  Congress 
Congress,  ridge  li  miles  west  of.. 
Lake  Fork,  south  of  West  Salem  . 

Polk  station 

Jerome  Creek,  north  of  Ashland  . 
Shiloh,  high  point  6  miles  east  of 

Shiloh 

Bucyrus,  northwest  of 

Agosta  -J 

Larue - 

Kenton,  meteorological  station 

Scioto  Marsh,  near 

Scioto  Marsh,  crest  north  of 

South  of  Westminster,  Ohio 

Wapakoneta,  2  miles  north  of 

St.  Marys,  in  valley 

St.  Marys,  on  ridge 

Crest  near  Celina 

Near  Berne,  Ind 

East  of  Bluffton,  Ind 

Near  Kingsland 

Bowman's,  sec.  8,  T.  29,  R.  11,  E 

Upland  south  of  Aboit 

Aboit  station 

Summit  east  of  Aboit  River 

Summit  near  Hadley 

Summit  north  of  Wallen 

Dutch  Ridge,  in  Allen  County  . . . 
Summit  east  of  Auburn 


Wheeling  and  Lake  Erie  R.  R 

Barometric 

Barometric 

Barometric 

Barometric 

ErieR.  R 

Barometric 

Barometric 

Big  Four  R.  R 

Barometric 

Big  Four  R.  R 

Big  Four  R.  R 

Ohio  Meteorological  Bureau 

Barometric - 

Estimated 

Estimated 

Cincinnati,  Hamilton  and  Dayton  R.  R  . . 

Estimated 

Estimated 

Estimated 

Grand  Rapids  and  Indiana  R.  R 

Toledo,  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City  R.  R. . . 

Chicago  and  Erie  R.  R 

C.  R.  Dryer 

Prel.  Surv.  Wabash  R.  R 

Wabash  R.  R 

New  York,  Chicago  and  St.  Louis  R.  R 

Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  R.  R. . 

Grand  Rapids  and  Indiana  R.  R 

C.  R.  Dryer 

C.  R.  Dryer 


Feet. 

970 

1,200 

900 

1, 215 

1,025 

1,240 

1,040 

1,200 

1,080 

960 

941 

926 

1,050 

1,020 

1,  025 

1,000 

923 

850 


878 
873 
848 
753 
865 
853 


923 
900 


550  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

In  general  it  may  be  said  that  the  narrowest  portions  of  the  moraine 
are  also  the  most  prominent.  In  Ohio  and  throughout  tlie  greater  part  of 
the  portion  south  of  the  old  lake  outlet,  the  moraine  is  crowded  into  a  space 
about  1  mile  in  width,  and  consequently  |)resents  a  definite  ridge.  North 
from  the  outlet  it  is  spread  over  a  Avidth  of  3  or  4  miles,  and  is  correspond- 
ingly inconspicuous,  though  it  contains  morainic  features  of  characteristic 
type. 

In  the  Ohio  portion  of  the  moraine  as  far  east  as  the  uplands  east  of 
the  Scioto  Basin,  there  is  little  variety  in  feature.  The  moraine  is  most 
conspicuous  by  its  relief,  standing  as  it  does  20  to  40  feet  or  more  above 
the  outer  border  plain.  Its  surface  carries  only  low  swells,  seldom  20  feet 
and  usually  but  5  to  10  feet  in  height.  In  places  the  crest  lies  within 
one-fourth  mile,  but  usually  it  is  about  one-half  mile  distant  from  the  outer 
border.  The  inner  slope  is  longer  than  the  outer,  as  is  the  case  in  nearly 
all  the  moraines  of  the  smooth  ridge  type  in  Ohio  and  Indiana. 

On  the  uplands  west  of  the  Cuyahoga  the  morainic  features  are  well 
displayed.  The  district  is  hilly,  but  the  borders  of  the  morainic  belt  are 
easily  recognized.  In  the  districts  to  the  north  and  to  the  south,  the  valleys 
have  only  occasional  drift  knolls,  while  the  slopes  of  the  ridges  are  nearly 
free  from  them,  but  within  the  morainic  belt  the  valleys  are  filled  with 
these  knolls,  while  the  slopes  and  crests  of  the  ridges  are  dotted  by  them, 
there  being  scarcely  a  40-acre  field  on  which  there  are  not  one  or  more 
knolls  to  be  seen.  On  its  outer  (southern)  border  a  nearly  continuous 
sheet  of  di'ift  20  feet  or  more  in  thickness  is  present,  into  which  an  abrupt 
rise  is  made  from  the  outer  border  district.  Tliis  sheet  of  drift  is  dotted 
by  drift  knolls  5  to  50  feet  in  height.  The  most  conspicuous  ones  noted 
are  north  of  Smith  Roads,  where  they  are  associated  in  groups  whose 
height  ranges  from  20  to  50  feet,  but  the  general  height  of  these  knolls  is 
10  to  15  feet  and  their  area  2  to  5  acres.  .  South  of  Smith  Roads  the  drift 
shows  a  tendency  to  aggregation  in  ridges  trending  ENE.  to  WSW.,  the 
general  trend  of  the  moraine  being  nearly  east  to  west.  West  of  the 
meridian  of  Sharon  the  ridges  trend  NNE.  to  SSW.,  near  the  outer  border 
of  the  complex  morainic  belt,  while  near  the  inner  border,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Remsons  Corners,  they  trend  nearly  north  and  south.     The  tendency  to 


WABASH  MORAINE.  551 

distinct  ridging  is  more  pronounced  on  the  west  than  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Cuyahoga. 

Upon  approacliing  the  valley  in  which  Rocky  River  and  the  River  Styx 
find  a  common  source,  the  belt  of  morainic  drift  assumes  a  more  subdued 
expression,  its  knolls  being  seldom  more  than  10  feet  in  height.  The 
change  in  topography  coincides  with  a  change  in  structure,  the  drift  being 
a  compact  till  in  the  vicinity  of  Rocky  River,  while  east  of  that  stream  it 
contains  much  assorted  material  and  its  till  is  quite  porous. 

The  Wabash  moraine  is  feebly  developed  on  the  uplands  west  of  the 
valley  in  which  Rocky  River  and  the  River  St3'x  have  their  sources, 
consisting  only  of  low  swells  10  to  15  feet  or  less  in  height,  which  are  less 
closely  aggregated  than  in  the  corresponding  portion  of  the  Fort  Wayne 
moraine.  In  the  Chippewa  Valley  it  is  also  feeble,  the  knolls  being  very 
few  and  separated  by  extensive  marshy  tracts.  Similar  marshy  tracts 
occupy  the  low  divide  between  Chippewa  and  Killbuck  creeks.  After 
crossing  the  headwaters  of  Killbuck  Creek,  near  Creston,  the  moraine  rises 
to  the  uplands  and  assumes  considerable  strength,  there  being  sharp  knolls 
25  to  40  feet  in  height.  There  are  also  ridges  whose  general  trend  is  ENE. 
to  WSW.,  but  which  are  connected  occasionall}^  by  cross  ridges.  The 
inclosed  low  tracts  contain  small  knolls.  Upon  approaching  the  southward- 
flowing  portion  of  Killbuck  Creek,  near  Congress,  the  moraine  consists  of  a 
single  ridge  about  one-half  mile  in  width,  standing  2.0  to  30  feet  above  the 
plain  on  its  outer  (southern)  border.  Its  crest  and  slopes  have  undulations 
of  10  to  15  feet  and  there  are  a  few  basins  along  the  crest,  the  deepest  of 
which  are  depressed  6  to  8  feet.  For  a  mile  or  more  north  of  this  main 
ridge  there  are  occasional  swells  8  to  15  feet  in  height,  but  the  greater  part 
of  the  surface  is  smooth. 

No  trace  of  the  moraine  was  found  in  Killbuck  Valley  east  of  Congress, 
but  it  reappears  on  the  west  bluif  and  passes  just  north  of  that  village.  It 
there  consists  of  short  ridges  10  to  20  feet  in  height  with  east-west  trend, 
and  knolls  of  similar  height.  The  moraine  enters  Lake  Fork  Valley  just 
above  Pleasant  Home,  and  has  a  well-defined  terrace  connected  with  it 
in  which  are  numerous  shallow  basins,  such  as  frequently  characterize 
outwash  aprons  and  the  heads  of  moraine-headed  terraces.  On  a  western 
tributary  of  Lake  Fork,  in  eastern  Ashtabula  County,  west  from  this  place, 
there  is  also  a  moraine-headed  terrace.     The  road  from  Pleasant  Home  to 


552  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Ashland  leads  across  the  valley  near  the  head  of  the  terrace,  there  being  an 
open  valley  south  of  the  road  with  a  terrace  standing  about  25  feet  above 
the  stream,  while  toward  the  north  the  valley  and  its  slopes  are  dotted  with 
drift  knolls  and  ridges  10  to  20  feet  in  height. 

On  the  uplands  between  this  tributary  of  Lake  Fork  and  Jerome  Fork 
the  moraine  has  rather  feeble  expression,  its  knolls  and  ridges  being  but  10 
to  15  feet  high.  It  stands,  however,  nearly  20  feet  above  the  tract  south 
of  it. 

In  the  valley  of  Jerome  Fork,  north  of  Ashland,  it  is  well  developed, 
with  numerous  basins,  and  with  knolls  often  15  to  25  feet  in  height. 

West  of  Jerome  Fork  the  moraine  enters  a  less  hilly  district  than  that 
to  the  east.  The  preglacial  valleys  and  ridges  are  either  entirely  obscured 
or  are  represented  only  by  broad  sags  and  low  divides  whose  slopes  are 
scarcely  appreciable  to  the  eye.  The  moraine  is,  therefore,  a  more  conspic- 
uous feature  than  in  the  hilly  districts,  though  it  has  little,  if  any,  stronger 
expression.  Its  knolls  and  ridges  commonly  fall  between  10  and  25  feet 
in  heig'ht,  and  basins  are  not  numerous,  but  there  is  a  nearly  continuous 
main  ridge  with  well-defined  crest,  which  stands  15  to  30  feet  or  more 
above  the  outer  border  district. 

The  knolls  are  somewhat  sharper  and  higher  on  the  eastern  and 
western  borders  of  the  Scioto-Sandusky  Basin  than  in  the  central  portion, 
their  height  in  the  central  portion  being  usually  but  5  to  10  feet.  The 
central  portion  was  a  -  prairie  region  when  the  country  was  settled,  while 
the  borders  were  heavily  timbered.  Whether  the  softening  of  contoiu'  in 
the  prairie  disti'ict  is  due  to  a  more  rapid  subaerial  erosion  there  than 
in  the  timbered  districts,  or  to  original  differences  in  features  occasioned 
by  the  ice  sheet,  has  not  been  determined.  Neither  is  it  apparent  why  this 
district  was  untimbered,  for,  as  in  the  great  prairies  of  Illinois  and  other 
western  States,  timber  flourishes  wherever  introduced   by  the  residents. 

This  prairie  tract  differs  from  the  level  and  marshy  prairies  which 
appear  on  portions  of  the  continental  divide  in  Ohio  in  being  dry  land  and 
in  having  an  inclined  surface  whose  altitude  has  a  range  of  fully  150  feet 
It  is  not  probable,  therefore,  that  it  is  an  old  lake  bottom,  as  has  been 
supposed  by  many  of  the  residents. 

In  Indiana  this  moraine  presents  considerable  variation  in  contour, 
portions  of  it  being  a  smooth  ridge  as  in  western  Ohio,  while  other  portions 


WABASH  MORAINE.  553 

are  diversified  by  knolls.  In  southeastern  Adams  County,  where  the 
moraine  enters  Indiana,  it  consists  of  a  ridge  30  or  40  feet  in  height  with 
gentle  swells  and  shallow  basins  on  its  crest  and  slopes,  a  subdued  but 
chai-acteristic  morainic  topography.  No  change  is  observed  for  about  4 
miles  west  of  the  State  line.  Here  a  break  occizrs  through  which  Indian 
Creek  passes.  West  of  this  creek,  in  the  southeast  part  of  T.  25,  R. 
14  E.,  there  is  no  definite  ridge,  and  the  swells  rise  but  10  to  15  feet 
above  the  Wabash  blufFs.  North  of  this  point,  along  the  line  of  sections 
14  and  23  of  this  township  is  found  the  eastern  end  of  a  ridge  which  passes 
2  miles  or  more  WNW.  to  a  small  creek  in  section  16.  This  ridge  has,  in 
sections  14  and  23,  a  relief  of  20  feet  or  more  above  the  plains,  both  north 
and  south  of  it,  and  is  scarcely  one-half  mile  in  width.  At  the  Wabash 
River,  in  section  16,  it  stands  about  40  feet  above  the  stream.  In  the 
northwestern  part  of  this  township  there  are  several  ridges  one-half  mile  or 
more  in  length,  each  trending  ESE.  to  WNW.  They  rise  15  to  20  feet 
above  bordering  low  ground.  They  are  most  conspicuous  in  sections  5  and 
8,  but  occur  in  sections  6  and  7.  Northeast  of  these  ridges  are  low  swells 
and  shallow  basins  extending  beyond  the  village  of  Berne. 

About  2  miles  from  the  county  line  in  sec.  22,  T.  21,  R.  13  E.,  the 
moraine  again  assumes  a  ridge-like  form,  rising  abruptly  10  to  20  feet  above 
the  plain  on  the  south,  and  carrying  on  its  crest  swells  and  sags  with 
oscillations  of  10  feet  or  more.  Near  the  Adams  and  Wells  county  line  it 
assumes  much  greater  strength,  there  being  knolls  30  to  40  feet  in  height 
that  inclose  basins  and  winding  sloughs.  The  highest  points  stand  probably 
60  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Wabash  bluff,  which  is  less  than  a  mile 
distant  to  the  south.  The  knobs  and  basins  are  confined  to  a  small  tract 
scarcely  a  square  mile  in  extent.  Northwest  of  this,  in  Wells  County,  tlie 
moraine  is  in  the  form  of  a  nearly  smooth  ridge,  whose  crest  stands  40 
to  50  feet  above  the  Wabash  bluff,  and  whose  width,  including  slopes,  is  a 
mile  or  more.  A  break  tlu-ough  which  a  creek  passes  occurs  about  2  miles 
northeast  of  Blufifton.  From  this  creek  northwestward  for  10  miles  or  more 
there  is  a  series  of  swells  and  sags  along  a  poorly  defined  ridge,  the  swells 
rising  10  to  15  feet,  and  occasionally  20  to  25  feet  above  the  bordering 
sags.  In  T.  28,  R.  11  E.,  a  well-defined  ridge  or  series  of  ridges  appears, 
the  most  prominent  of  which  passes  through  sections  13,  14,  15,  10,  and  9. 
This  ridge  stands  30  feet  or  more  above  the  plain  on  the  south.     It  has 


554         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

gentle  swells  and  sags  along  its  crest.  There  are  minor  ridges  between 
Zanesville  and  Ossian  on  the  north  side  of  Eightmile  Creek.  This  creek 
cuts  through  the  main  portion  of  the  moraine  at  Zanesville,  having  here  a 
valley  fully  twice  as  deep  as  it  has  on  the  plain  which  it  enters  west  of  the 
moraine.  Between  Zanesville  and  Aboit  the  moraine  consists  of  a  single 
ridge  with  slopes  a  mile  or  more  in  length.  These  slopes,  as  well  as  the 
crest,  carry  swells  10  to  20  feet  in  height.  The  ridge  is  distinctly  maintained 
nearly  to  the  old  lake  outlet  south  of  Aboit.  There  the  "  Huntington  wagon 
road"  crosses  it  in  sec.  17,  T.  26,  R.  11  E.;  its  altitude  by  pike  survey  is 
about  75  feet  above  the  court-house  square  at  Fort  Wayne,  and  30  to  40 
feet  above  the  altitude  at  the  county  line,  IJ  miles  west  of  the  crest.  It  is 
fully  100  feet  above  the  lake  outlet  at  Aboit. 

The  gap  in  the  moraine  through  which  this  old  outlet  passes  is  1^  to  1^ 
miles  wide.  The  marsh  which  now  occupies  it  is  bordered  by  very  abrupt 
bluffs,  50  to  75  feet  in  height,  composed  entirely  of  glacial  drift.  Just  north 
of  the  outlet,  near  the  mouth  of  Aboit  River,  several  basins  occur  among 
the  morainic  knolls.  They  deserve  especial  attention,  since  such  features 
are  rare,  saucer-like  sags  being  the  usual  form,  and  these  are  noi  common. 
Dryer  has  published  the  following  brief  account  of  the  group  of  basins 
referred  to:^ 

Upon  the  blufl  near  the  mouth  of  the  Aboit  River  (sees.  29  and  32,  Aboit 
Township)  there  is  an  interesting-  group  of  typical  potash  kettles,  seven  within  a 
space  of  about  30  acres.  The  largest  forms  an  irregular  depression  750  feet  long, 
and  from  100  to  200  feet  wide.  The  rest  are  smaller,  of  oval  or  circular  outline,  and 
about  20  feet  deep. 

The  northwest  limb  of  this  morainic  loop  consists,  as  a  rule,  of  a  series 
of  swells  and  sags,  and  low,  winding  ridges  which  apparently  have  no 
uniformit)^  of  trend  or  system  in  their  arrangement.  Along  Aboit  River 
for  several  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  stream  knolls  30  to  40  feet  in 
height  are  common.  There  has  been  nuich  erosion  along  the  north  side  of 
the  lake  outlet  west  of  Fort  Wayne,  which  obscures,  to  some  extent,  the 
morainic  features,  but  2  or  3  miles  back  from  the  outlet  the  morainic 
topography  may  be  seen  to  good  advantage.  Throughout  much  of  the 
tract  in  Allen  and  Dekalb  counties  the  swells  fall  below  15  feet  in  height, 
but  in  northern  Allen  County  there  is  a  prominent  ridge,  known  as  "Dutch 

^  Sixteenth  Ann.  Eept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  pp.  121-122. 


WABASH  MORAINE.  555 

Ridge,"  which  stands  nearly  50  feet  above  the  surrounding  country.  Also 
in  southern  Dekalb  County,  in  the  southwest  part  of  T.  33,  R.  13  E.,  knolls 
30  to  40  feet  in  height  occur.  East  of  this  prominent  part  of  the  moraine 
and  near  the  line  of  Allen  and  Dekalb  counties  several  marshes  and  sloughs 
were  noted.  They  are  narrow  and  look  like  obstructed  valleys,  though  no 
connection  with  modern  valleys  could  be  found.  East  of  these  depres- 
sions is  an  undulatory  till  tract  presenting  oscillations  of  10  to  20  feet  in  20 
to  40  rods. 

In  a  trip  from  Butler  south  to  the  St.  Joseph  River  near  the  State  line 
a  few  swells  10  to  15  feet  high  and  shallow  basins  3  to  5  feet  deep  were 
noted,  the  sharpest  knolls  being  in  sees.  23  and  24,  T.  34,  R.  14  E.  But 
slight  though  the  undulations  are  they  furnish  a  decided  contrast  to  the 
very  flat  surface  north  of  Butler  and  between  Butler  and  Auburn,  where 
a  hummock  or  rise  of  ground  as  great  as  5  feet  in  height  is  rare. 

THICKNESS   OF   THE    DRIFT. 

In  each  of  the  moraines  under  discussion  the  thickness  of  the  drift  is 
perceptibly  greater  than  on  the  plane  tracts  on  either  side,  the  difference 
being  measured  by  the  relief  of  the  moraines.  The  relief,  as  has  already 
been  stated,  ranges  from  15  up  to  50  or  60  feet,  but  the  average  relief  is 
probably  about  30  feet.  The  relief  represents  the  increase  in  thickness 
beneath  the  crest,  but  on  the  slopes  the  amount  of  increase  would  be  less. 
Assuming  for  each  of  the  moraines  an  average  breadth  of  1^  miles  the 
average  thickness  of  the  drift  properly  included  in  them  would  be  not  more 
than  20  feet. 

The  amount  of  drift  deposited  by  various  invasions  and  covered  by 
this  moraine  ranges  from  20  feet  or  less  up  to  about  400  feet.  The  average 
thickness  is  probably  less  than  100  feet  from  the  old  lake  outlet  westward, 
but  is  much  more  than  100  feet  from  the  outlet  northward  into  Michigan. 
The  thickness  in  the  coalesced  portion  of  this  morainic  series  in  northern 
Ohio  is  somewhat  less  than  in  the  portion  where  the  moraines  are  distinct 
in  western  Ohio,  the  amount  on  the  elevated  hills  and  ridges  being  seldom 
so  much  as  40  feet. 

STRUCTURE    OF   THE    DRIFT. 

This  moraine  is  preeminently  a  till  tract,  there  being  but  few  gravel 
knolls.  It  is  known  tliroughout  much  of  its  course  as  the  "White  oak 
ridge,"    since    the    forests  along  it  are  largely  oak,  while   the  bordering 


556  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

plains  carry  a  larger  amount  of  beech,  maple,  elm,  and  other  kinds  of 
trees  that  flourish  in  a  deep  black  soil,  but  do  not  find  so  good  a  habitat  in 
the  thin  clayey  soil  of  the  moraine.  Along  a  part  of  its  course  within  the 
Scioto  Basin,  as  indicated  above,  there  is  a  prairie.  The  surface  clay 
contains  many  pebbles,  but  bowlders  are  rare.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
surface  pebbles  are  crystalline  rocks  of  Canadian  derivation,  and  nearly 
all  of  the  bowlders  are  of  this  class  of  rocks.  The  till  is  of  a  yellowish- 
brown  color  at  surface,  changing  to  a  brighter  yellow  at  a  depth  of  4  to  5 
feet,  and  this  in  turn  to  a  gray  color  at  10  to  15  feet. 

The  most  conspicuous  bowlder  belts  on  this  moraine  are  to  be  found 
along  the  Aboit  River  and  the  borders  of  the  old  lake  outlet;  elsewhere 
they  are  not  a  striking  feature.  The  bowlders  are  mainly  granites  and 
are  well  rounded.  But  few  show  striated  surfaces.  These  and  other  bowl- 
der belts  north  of  the  old  lake  outlet  have  been  interpreted  by  Taylor 
to  indicate  interglacial  stream  concentrations  followed  by  readvances  of 
the  ice  sheet.^ 

In  the  Ohio  portion  of  the  moraine  scores  of  gas  wells  have  been 
put  down,  for  it  passes  through  the  Lima  gas  and  oil  district.  Where 
best  tested  (in  southeastern  Allen  County,  Ohio),  the  thickness  along  the 
crest  of  the  moraine  is  60  to  100  feet,  with  an  occasional  greater  thickness 
where  a  buried  valley  is  struck.  Thus,  in  the  vicinity  of  Cridersville,  a 
much  greater  amount  has  been  penetrated  in  several  of  the  wells;  one, 
known  as  the  George  De  Long  well,  is  reported  by  Orton  to  have  pene- 
trated 428  feet,  while  the  Lydia  De  Long  well  penetrated  335,  and  Cobb, 
Page  &  Co.'s  well  penetrated  300  feet.  The  buried  valley  in  which  these 
wells  are  sunk  must  be  narrow,  for  within  less  than  a  mile  in  all  directions 
rock  is  struck  at  20  to  50  feet.  Attention  was  called,  on  a  preceding 
page,  to  wells  south  of  St.  Marys  which  passed  through  about  400  feet  of 
drift,  but  the  connection  between  these  points  has  not  been  made  out, 
though  a  connecting  valley  probably  exists.  Along  the  direct  line  through 
Wapakoneta  and  Moulton  rock  is  usually  struck  at  80  to  150  feet,  so  that 
if  it  occurs  along  that  line  it  must  be  very  narrow.  In  the  vicinity  of  the 
town  of  St.  Marys  the  thickness  of  the  drift  ranges  from  24  feet  to  over 
400  feet.  From  St.  Marys  westward  to  the  State  line  the  genei-al  thickness 
along  the  moraine  is  about  60  feet,  though  there  are  places  where  it  is 

^Moraines  of  recession,  etc.,  by  F.  B.  Taylor:  Jour.  Geol.,  Vol.  V,  pp.  438-441. 


WABASH  MORAINE.  557 

mucli  less,  and  rock  is  quarried  both  on  the  outer  and  inner  borders  of  the 
moraine.  There  are  also  wells  south  of  the  moraine,  as  noted  above, 
where  the  thickness  of  the  drift  reaches  400  feet. 

Farther  east  than  the  Lima  oil  and  gas  field  a  few  well  sections  were 
obtained  that  are  worth}^  of  note.  In  the  valley  of  the  River  Styx,  west  of 
Wadsworth,  Ohio,  and  2  to  3  miles  south  from  the  outer  border  of  this 
moraine,  several  flowing  wells  have  been  obtained  from  the  drift.  The 
deepest  one  visited  is  at  Samuel  Leatherman's.  It  has  a  depth  of  107  feet. 
One  at  a  schoolhouse  is  62  feet  in  depth.  One  at  Noah  Baker's,  30  to  40 
rods  east  of  the  schoolhouse  and  at  about  the  same  elevation,  is  only  42 
feet  in  depth.  The  greater  part  of  the  material  penetrated  in  these  wells 
is  described  to  be  a  blue  clay  free  from  pebbles.  It  is  perhaps  a  silt  similar 
to  that  exposed  in  the  Cuyahoga  bhififs,  a  description  of  which  is  given  on 
a  later  page.  The  water  rises  in  no  case  more  than  7  and  in  some  cases 
but  3  feet  above  the  surface. 

At  Seville,  in  the  valley  of  Chippewa  Creek,  an  attempt  was  made 
some  years  ago  to  obtain  an  artesian  well,  but  without  success,  though  the 
water  rose  nearly  to  the  surface.  J.  N.  High,  a  hardware  merchant  in 
Seville,  who  supplied  the  drivepipe  for  the  well,  states  that  the  total  depth 
of  the  Avell  was  336  feet,  and  that  it  penetrated  the  rock  only  aboiit  50  feet. 
There  is,  therefore,  about  300  feet  of  drift,  and  the  altitude  of  the  rock  floor 
of  the  valley  is  scarcely  700  feet,  the  altitude  of  Seville  station  being  986 
feet  above  tide. 

At  Sterling,  3  miles  soiTth  of  Seville,  in  the  Chippewa  Valley,  and  at 
an  altitude  about  960  feet  above  tide,  there  are  100  or  more  flowing  wells 
which  obtain  water  from  the  drift  at  depths  ranging  from  45  to  95  feet,  the 
majority  being  70  feet  or  more  in  depth.  Mr.  Lee,  of  Sterling,  gave  from 
memory  the  following  section  of  the  drift  penetrated  in  a  well  at  the  gas 
works : 

Section  at  gas  works  well  at  Sterling. 

Feet. 

Soil  of  sandy  nature 5 

Clay  of  bluish  color,  about 20 

Quicksand 6 

Clay  of  blue  color 20 

Sand 10 

Clay,  about 30 

Sand  and  gravel 4 

Total  depth 95 


558  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  clay  is  described  as  free  from  pebbles.  It  is  usually  blue,  but  it 
is  stated  to  be  nearly  white  in  some  of  the  wells. 

A  gas-well  boring  at  Sterling  is  reported  by  J.  E.  Barnard,  a  resident 
of  that  village,  to  have  penetrated  nearly  400  feet  of  drift  before  striking 
rock.  It  passed  through  several  alternations  of  clay  and  fine  sand.  The 
rock  floor  is  here,  therefore,  at  about  the  level  of  Lake  Erie  (573  feet  above 
tide),  though  it  is  but  a  few  miles  from  the  continental  divide.  There 
are  no  borings  either  to  the  north  or  south  along  this  valley  in  which  a 
lower  point  in  the  rock  floor  has  been  struck,  but  the  silty  character  of  the 
drift  seems  to  throw  doubt  upon  the  existence  of  a  southward  outlet. 
Toward  the  north  tliere  is  a'  lowland  tract  connecting  the  head  of  Chippewa 
Creek  with  Rocky  River.  It  seems  not  improbable  that  this  may  contain 
a  channel  deep  enough  to  have  been  the  outlet  for  this  deep  portion  of  the 
Chippewa  Valley  and  that  the  divide  at  the  time  this  valley  was  excavated 
lay  south  of  Sterling. 

A  well  at  McVicker's  hotel,  in  West  Salem,  is  reported  as  not  reaching 
rock  at  a  depth  of  80  feet.  This  is  located  between  the  Wabash  and  St. 
Marys  moraines.  At  Savannah  wells  strike  rock  at  from  15  to  30  feet. 
The  drift  is  mainl}'  till. 

At  E.  Murray's,  4  miles  west  of  Savannah,  on  the  crest  of  the  Wabash 
moraine,  rock  is  struck  at  50  feet,  and  on  a  neighboring  farm,  also  on  the 
morainic  crest,  at  42  feet.  About  one-half  mile  north  of  the  crest,  on  lower 
ground,  Mr.  Murray's  well  struck  rock  at  20  feet  and  obtained  a  flow  of 
water  from  that  depth.  At  Adario,  about  a  mile  southwest  of  Mr.  Murray's, 
on  the  outer  border  plain,  some  flowing  wells  have  been  obtained  from  the 
drift  at  a  depth  of  20  feet. 

Near  Greenwich  the  drift  has  been  penetrated  65  to  100  feet  by  water 
wells  without  reaching  rock,  but  in  places  in  and  near  that  village  rock  is 
struck  at  about  35  feet. 

At  Shiloh  wells  40  to  45  feet  deep  have  been  made,  none  of  which 
reach  rock.  Three  miles  north  of  Shiloh  rock  is  struck  at  20  feet,  and 
there  are  outcrops  along  Black  Fork,  on  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine,  a 
few  miles  southeast  of  Shiloh. 

At  Plymouth,  in  the  midst  of  the  moraine,  there  are  rock  quai-ries  on 
ground  but  little  lower  than  the  bordering  moraine,  but  in  the  western  pait 
of  the  village,  near  the  public  square,  wells  penetrate  about  80  feet  of  drift. 


WABASH  MORAINE.  559 

At  Shelby,  which  hes  on  the  outer  border  plain,  near  the  moraine, 
rock  is  struck  in  gas  wells  at  about  50  to  60  feet,  the  drift  being  almost 
entirely  till. 

At  Sulphur  Springs,  in  the  midst  of  the  Wabash  moraine,  5  to  6  miles 
northeast  of  Bucyrus,  a  well  at  Dr.  J.  B.  Squires's,  60  feet  in  depth,  does 
not  reach  rock.  There  are  several  flowing  wells  in  this  village  whose  depth 
is  about  30  feet.  They  are  in  a  sag,  and  water  rises  but  a  foot  or  so  above 
the  surface.  The  source  of  supply  is  probably  from  higher  parts  of  the 
moraine  toward  the  south  and  east. 

At  Bucyrus  the  drift  is  25  to  40  feet  thick,  mainly  till.  This  city 
stands  on  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine. 

In  Nevada  a  gas  well  penetrated  27  feet  of  drift.  Its  mouth  is  10  to 
12  feet  below  the  level  of  the  railway  station.  About  a  mile  above  Nevada 
rock  appears  in  the  bed  of  Brokensword  Creek,  and  for  several  miles 
above  that  point  is  exposed  in  the  bed  and  bluffs.  This  is  between  the 
Wabash  and  St.  Marys  moraines. 

A  well  at  the  village  of  Wyandot,  in  the  street,  near  crossroads,  struck 
rock  at  80  feet.  There  was  some  till,  but  much  of  tlie  drift  was  sand.  The 
well  mouth  is  at  least  50  feet  above  the  Sandusky  River,  and  is  on  the  crest 
of  the  moraine. 

At    Morral   the    town  well    struck  rock    at    50    feet,  the  drift  being 

mainly  till. 

At  Cochranton  the  gas  well  struck  rock  at  50  feet.  Several  flowing 
wells  in  the  village  obtain  water  from  drift  gravel  beneath  blue  till  at  a 
depth  of  40  to  45  feet.  Wells  on  the  prairie,  for  3  to  4  miles  north  from 
Cochranton,  strike  rock  at  35  to  50  feet. 

At  Agosta  wells  on  the  moraine  strike  rock  at  50  to  65  feet;  the  drift 
is  mainly  till. 

In  the  Scioto  Valley,  south  of  Kenton,  rock  is  struck  at  12  to  20  feet. 
This  is  at  a  level  about  60  feet  lower  than  the  crest  of  the  moraine.  On 
the  north  slope  of  the  moraine  two  wells  north  of  Kenton  struck  rock  at  30 
to  45  feet,  or  about  the  same  level  as  in  the  Scioto  Valley  south  of  Kenton. 
No  records  were  obtained  of  borings  in  Kenton  showing  the  thickness  of 
the  drift  on  the  crest  of  the  moraine.  In  case  the  rock  is  as  low  here  as 
on  the  other  side,  which  is  not  improbable,  the  drift  has  a  thickness  of  about 
75  feet. 


560  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

In  the  Indiana  portion  of  the  moraine  the  following  include  the  deepest 
well  sections  obtained:  On  a  plane  tract  north  of  the  moraine  in  sec.  31, 
T.  26,  R.  15  E.,  David  Smdebaker  made  a  boring  for  oil  which  penetrated 
.52  feet  of  till  and  18  feet  of  sand  before  striking  the  Lockport  (Niagara) 
limestone.  Six  miles  soiith  from  Studebaker's,  on  the  crest  of  the  moraine, 
in  sec.  32,  T.  25,  R.  15  E.,  Gr.  Cramer  made  one  well  which  entered  rock  at 
60  feet  and  another  at  51  feet.  In  each  there  is  about  40  feet  of  till,  below 
which  is  sand  and  gravel.  A  mile  south  of  Mr.  Cramer's  there  are  quarries. 
At  Geneva,  only  5  miles  west  of  these  quarries,  on  ground  equally  low,  the 
drift  is  390  feet  in  thickness.  A  gas  boring  made  here  penetrated  80  feet 
of  till,  below  which  for  310  feet  there  is  reported  to  be  nothing  but  sand. 
The  first  rock  encountered  was  the  Hudson  River  shales,  the  overlying 
limestone  being  entirely  removed.  On  a  preceding  page  attention  was 
called  to  the  connection  of  the  valley  here  struck  with  an  equally  deep 
one  at  the  Grand  Reservoir  in  western  Ohio.  The  Wabash  River  is  now 
flowing,  in  this  portion  of  its  course,  in  a  postglacial  valley  near  the  level 
of  the  rock  surface  of  preglacial  uplands,  for  the  bed  in  several  places  has 
a  rocky  floor,  but  the  bluff's  are  entirely  of  drift.  Throughout  much  of  its 
course  from  the  State  line  to  Huntington  the  bluff's  are  very  low,  averaging 
scarcely  30  feet  in  height. 

On  tlie  crest  of  the  moraine  1^  miles  west  of  the  Adams  and  Wells 
county  line  a  well  strikes  limestone  at  92  feet,  the  following  being  its 
section : 

Well  on  Wahash  moraine  in  eastern  Wells  Coimty,  Ind. 

Feet. 

Yellow  till 15 

Blue  till - 45 

Gravelly  clay  with  beds  of  clear  gravel 32 

Limestone - - 7 

Tota,l '. 99 

At  Kingsland,  in  Wells  County,  a  village  situated  near  the  inner  border 
of  the  moraine,  one  well  strikes  limestone  at  80  feet,  but  another  of  the 
same  depth  enters  a  water-bearing  gravel  at  the  bottom.  At  each  well 
there  was  about  15  feet  of  yellow  and  65  feet  of  blue  till.  A  few  miles 
west  of  Kingsland,  near  Uniondale,  on  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine, 
rock  has  been  struck  in  several  places  at  40  feet  or  less,  and  in  one  instance 
at  18  feet.     The  drift  here  consists  of  10  to  20  feet  of  till  underlain  by  fine 


WABASH  MORAINE.  561 

gravel.  Wells  on  the  moraine  north  of  Unioudale  strike  rock  at  50  to  70 
feet.  They  are  through  till  nearly  the  whole  depth,  but  some  of  them  pass 
tln-ough  thin  beds  of  sand  just  above  the  rock. 

A  well  in  Allen  County,  on  the  crest  of  the  moi-aine,  in  sec.  17,  T.  29, 
R.  11  E.,  102  feet  in  depth,  does  not  reach  the  bottom  of  the  drift;  it  is 
mainly  through  till.  A  well  one-half  mile  east,  and  perhaps  15  feet  lower 
at  surface,  penetrates  73  feet  of  till,  beneath  which  is  gravel  which  becomes 
wate    bearing  at  85  feet  fron-i  the  surface. 

North  of  the  old  lake  outlet  in  Allen  County  wells  are  ordinarily 
obtained  at  30  to  40  feet  or  less.  They  seldom  penetrate  much  sand  or 
gravel.  The  yellow  till  is  10  to  20  feet  thick,  being  shallowest  beneath 
level  or  low  portions  and  deepest  in  the  swells.  It  changes  at  these  depths 
to  blue  till.  On  the  plain  northwest  of  the  moraine,  near  Dunfee  station, 
several  wells  are  60  feet  and  one  127  feet  in  depth.  In  all  of  them  the 
greater  part  of  the  section  is  till,  which  is  reported  to  be  very  hard  and 
dry  and  of  a  blue  color  from  within  10  feet  of  the  surface.  Near  Hunter- 
town,  in  section  4,  Perry  Township,  and  on  the  plain  just  outside  the 
moraine,  a  boring  for  gas  passed  through  281  feet  of  drift.  It  penetrated 
yellow  and  blue  till  to  a  depth  of  20  feet,  beneath  which  the  section  is 
mainly  sand  and  gravel.  At  Auburn  and  Butler  gas  wells  penetrated 
equally  large  amounts  of  drift,  as  reported  above  (p.  504). 

INNER   BORDER   PHENOMENA. 

In  Adams,  Wells,  and  southern  Allen  counties,  Ind.,  and  Mercer  County,. 
Ohio,  the  moraine  is  bordered  on  the  northeast  by  a  nearly  plane  till  tract,, 
which  has  a  gradual  descent  to  St.  Marys  River,  while  in  Aiiglaize  and 
Allen  counties,  Ohio,  there  is  a  similar  descent  to  Hog  Creek.  Between  the 
head  of  Hog  Creek  and  the  Sandusky  River  a  plain  extends  northward 
several  miles,  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine  being  veiy  weakly  developed  there; 
but  from  Wyandot  eastward,  as  already  noted,  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine  is. 
separated  but  a  short  distance  from  the  inner  border  of  the  Wabash  moraine. 

There  are  occasional  swells  10  or  15  feet  high  on  the  inner  boi'der 
plain,  but  nearly  the  whole  of  the  surface  is  so  flat  that  large  open  ditches 
have  been  made  to  carry  off  the  surplus  rainfall.  A  black  soil  1  to  2  feet 
or  more  thick  covers  the  greater  part  of  the  plain,  and  beneath  this  is  a 
yellow  clay,  which  contains  fewer  pebbles  than  are  ordinarily  found  in  the, 

MON  XLI 36 


562         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

surface  till.  A  laminated  structure  was  observed  iu  a,  few  places,  and  it  is 
not  improbable  that  it  is  a  subaqueous  deposit,  made  perhaps  during-  the 
retreat  of  the  ice  sheet  from  the  Wabash  to  the  St.  Marys  moraine.  If 
the  retreat  was  such  as  to  block  the  western  outlet,  lakes  may  for  a  time 
have  been  held  between  the  ice  sheet  and  the  Wabash  moraine.  No 
exposures  were  afPorded  by  which  determinations  of  the  thickness  of  the 
deposit  could  be  made,  but,  judging  from  well  sections  reported,  it  is  at 
most  but  a  few  feet. 

The  forest  on  this  plain  contains  beech,  maple,  elm,  ash,  etc.,  with  but 
little  oak,  and  iu  this  respect  the  area  presents  a  sti'iking  contrast  to  the 
oak-covered  moraine. 

In  northern  Allen  and  Dekalb  counties  this  moraine  is  separated  from 
the  Fort  Wayne  only  by  the  narrow  valley  of  the  St.  Joseph  River,  and 
the  phenomena  along  this  river  valley  are  discussed  in  connection  with  the 
latter  moraine. 

OUTER   BOEDER   PHENOMENA. 

From  near  Mansfield,  Ohio,  westward  to  the  old  lake  outlet  there  is  a 
plain  similar  to  the  plain  on  the  inner  border,  just  described,  having  a  deep 
black  soil,  heavy  forest,  and  a  clay  subsoil  which  appears  to  be,  in  part  at 
least,  of  subaqueous  origin.  There  is  remarkably  little  coarse  material 
along  valleys,  and  glacial  outwash  seems  to  have  been  weak.  Gravel 
deposits  occur  along  the  Wabash  River  below  Blufifton,  Ind.,  but  were  not 
observed  above  that  city.  Their  relation  to  the  moraine  was  not  satisfac- 
torily determined.  In  southern  Dekalb  and  northern  Allen  counties,  Ind., 
a  gravel  plain  extends  from  Big  Cedar  Creek  southwestward  past  Hunter- 
town  to  the  head  of  Eel  River.  A  portion  of  it  is  dry  and  sandy,  but  much 
of  it  is  poorly  drained  and  is  known  as  the  "  Huntertown  marshes."  It 
appears  to  have  been  a  line  of  discharge  for  the  waters  of  the  ice  sheet  at 
the  time  the  Wabash  moraine  was  forming.  The  ice  sheet  probably  had 
at  that  time  a  line  of  discharge  down  the  old  lake  outlet  to  the  Wabash, 
but  subsequent  erosion  has  swept  the  valley  so  clean  as  to  remove  such 
evidence  of  discharge  as  may  have  existed. 

Eastward  from  Mansfield  the  outer  border  district  presents  much 
variation  in  features,  and  a  more  detailed  description  seems  necessary  than 
is  required  for  the  smooth  district  to  the  west.  The  features  of  the  uplands 
lying  south  of  the  eastern  part  of  this  moraine  are  discussed  in  connection 


WABASH  MORAINE.  563 

with  the  morames  of  the  Scioto  lobe.  It  is  necessaiy  here  to  consider  only 
the  valley  drift  phenomena,  which  have  a  bearing-  upon  the  drainage  of  the 
ice  sheet  at  the  time  the  moraine  was  forming-.  In  some  of  these  valleys, 
as  will  appear  from  the  description,  the  evidence  of  outwash  from  the  ice 
sheet  is  clear  and  unmistakable,  while  in  others  the  phenomena  are  less 
clear  in  their  impoi't. 

The  easternmost  valley  through  which  the  glacial  waters  could  have 
found  escape  to  the  southward  is  the  one  passing  from  the  bend  of  the 
Cuyahoga  through  the  city  of  Akron  to  the  Tuscarawas  River,  crossing  the 
Lake  Erie-Ohio  divide  at  Summit  Lake  This  valley  carries  heavy  deposits 
of  gravel  and  sand  that  are  of  glacial  age,  a  portion  of  its  gravel  plain  being 
indented  with  deep  basins  such  as  often  characterize  the  outwash  aprons 
along  moraines,  and  which  are  not  known  to  occur  except  in  glacial  deposits. 
The  valley  has  evidently  at  some  time  been  the  avenue  for  the  discharge  of 
glacial  waters,  but  on  account  of  the  great  amount  of  erosion  which  has 
taken  place  in  it  near  the  bend  of  the  Cuyahoga  the  connection  with  the 
morainic  series  under  discussion  is  not  clear.  It  may  possibly  be  of  greater 
age.  A  chain  of  knolls  and  ridges  of  morainic  type  occru's  along  the  western 
border  throughout  nearly  its  entire  course,  which,  though  forming  a  very 
feeble  moraine,  may  indicate  the  position  that  the  ice  margin  occupied  while 
the  gravel  plain  was  being  formed.  The  northernmost  occurrence  of  the 
gravel  plain  is  foimd  in  a  remnant  north  of  the  city  of  Akron,  a  very  level 
tract  extending  southward  from  the  bend  of  the  Cuyahoga  along  the  east 
side  of  the  Little  Cuyahoga  to  the  northern  part  of  the  city  (Akron  on  the 
Heights),  where  it  is  cut  off  by  the  Little  Cuyahoga  Valley.  Its  altitude  is 
about  1,000  feet  above  tide.  It  reappears  on  the  south  side  of  the  Little 
Cuyahoga,  passing  through  the  western  part  of  the  city,  along  the  west  side 
of  the  Ohio  Canal.  In  this  portion  it  is  characterized  by  numerous  basins, 
which  are  most  abundant  on  its  western  border  next  the  chain  of  morainic 
knolls  just  referred  to.  Farther  south  it  is  followed  by  the  canal  and  extends 
some  distance  to  the  east  of  it,  and  includes  larger  basins,  a  few  of  which 
contain  water,  as  Summit  Lake  and  a  chain  of  lakes  leading  south  from 
there  to  the  Tuscarawas  River. 

A  valley  just  west  of  Akron,  leading  southward  through  Copley  Marsh 
to  the  Tuscarawas  from  near  the  head  of  the  Cuyahoga,  has  gravel  deposits 
in  it  that   head   in   the  morainic  series  on  the  continental  divide.     The 


564  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

head,  or  north  end  of  the  gravel  plain,  is  known  as  Ayer  Flats.  It  is 
crossed  by  the  Northern  Ohio  Railroad,  whose  profile  shows  its  altitude 
to  be  998  feet  above  tide,  or  about  425  feet  above  Lake  Erie.  There  is 
a  gradual  descent  southward  through  Copley  Marsh  to  the  Tuscarawas 
River,  near  New  Portage,  the  altitude  of  the  outlet  of  Copley  Marsh  being 
400  feet  above  Lake  Erie.  The  gravel  on  Ayer  Flats  is  rather  fine,  having 
few  pebbles  exceeding  an  inch  in  diameter,  but  is  composed  of  well-assorted 
material.  There  are  numerous  basins  in  the  plain,  depressed  4  to  8  feet 
below  its  surface,  each  an  acre  or  more  in  extent.  The  deeper  ones  have 
about  the  level  of  the  north  end  of  Copley  Marsh.  This  marsh  is  covered 
with  so  heavy  a  deposit  of  peat  and  muck  that  the  ditches  which  drain  it 
(2  to  4  feet  in  depth)  do  not  reach  the  bottom.  As  stated  on  a  previous 
page,  a  boring  near  the  southern  end  of  the  marsh  penetrates  about  400 
feet  of  drift,  mainly  silt.  This  is  the  only  deep  boring  yet  made  in  the 
valley.  It  is  probable  that  the  silt  extends  northward  beneath  the  gravel  of 
Ayer  Flats  and  the  till  of  the  moraine  that  lies  just  north  of  these  flats, 
connecting  with  the  silt  deposits  along  the  Cuyahoga. 

In  Sharon  Township,  Medina  Count}^,  a  small  tributary  of  the 
Tuscarawas  emerges  from  the  moraine.  Its  valley  contains  gravel  deposits 
below  the  point  of  emergence,  but  their  surface  is  not  so  level  as  terrace 
deposits  usually  are,  and  it  seems  probable  that  they  were  an  incident  of 
the  retreat  of  the  ice  sheet  rather  than  an  outwash  from  the  moraine. 

In  the  valley  of  the  river  Styx  there  is  a  broad  marshy  plain  a  mile  or 
more  in  width,  which  heads  in  the  moraine  near  the  village  of  River  Styx. 
It  is  underlain  by  a  mucky  clay  and  appears  to  have  but  little  gravel  on 
its  surface.  In  crossing  the  valley,  4  miles  below  River  Styx  village,  low 
gravelly  ridges  and  knolls  were  observed  on  both  its  eastern  and  western 
borders,  but  they  have  not  the  level  surface  of  the  ordinary  terrace,  and 
are  probably  deposits  incident  to  the  retreat  of  the  ice  sheet. 

In  Chippewa  Valley,  from  Seville  southward  beyond  Sterling,  there 
are  low  sandy  knolls  3  to  5  feet  and  occasionally  10  feet  in  height,  which, 
together  with  a  slight  deposit  of  sandy  clay,  rest  upon  the  silt  deposits 
with  which  the  valley  was  filled.  The  knolls  may  possibly  have  been 
formed  by  the  agency  of  wind.  The  material  was  probably  contributed 
as  a  quiet  outwash  from  the  moraine. 

On  Killbuck  Creek  there  is  an  open  plain  extending  up  to  the  Fort 


WABASH  MORAINE.  565 

Wayne  moraine,  and  no  terraces  were  found  connecting  with  the  Wabash 
moraine. 

In  the  valley  of  Lake  Fork,  near  Pleasant  Home,  there  is  a  pitted 
gravel  plain  with  basins  3  to  4  feet  deep,  which  has  a  sufficiently  close 
connection  with  the  Wabash  moraine  to  render  it  probable  that  it  was 
produced  by  the  escape  of  glacial  waters  at  the  time  the  moraine  was  forming. 
The  gravel  plain  does  not,  however,  fit  closely  against  the  moraine,  there 
being  the  valley  of  a  tributary  of  Lake  Fork  between  the  head  of  the  gravel 
plain  and  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine.  At  its  head  the  gravel  plain 
stands  about  25  feet  above  the  flood  plain  of  Lake  Fork.  It  is  composed  of 
gravel  of  medium  coarseness,  few  pebbles  exceeding  2  inches  in  diameter. 
The  pebbles  are  well  rounded  and  the  gravel  is  almost  free  from  earthy 
material  from  near  the  top  to  the  bottom,  there  being  in  places  scarcely 
enough  earth  on  top  to  form  a  soil.  A  few  miles  below,  this  gravel  plain 
descends  nearly  to  the  level  of  the  creek,  and  the  stream  is  bordered  by  an 
open  marshy  valley  until  the  earlier  moraines  and  their  terraces  set  in. 

On  a  tributary  of  Lake  Fork  which  leaves  the  Wabash  moraine  just 
west  of  the  Wayne- Ashland  county  line  there  is  a  terrace  standing  about 
25  feet  above  the  creek.  It  has  its  head  at  the  moraine  just  north  of  the 
Ashland  and  Pleasant  Home  road.  No  basins  were  observed  at  the  head 
of  this  terrace. 

In  the  valley  of  Jerome  Creek,  north  and  east  of  Ashland,  there  are 
numerous  knolls  or  island-hke  elevations.  They  are,  perhaps,  remnants 
from  erosion,  though  some  appear  to  be  glacial  aggregations,  such  as  those 
in  certain  valleys  of  Medina  County,  which  are  considered  incidents  to  the 
retreat  of  the  ice  sheet.  One  of  these  knolls,  about  2  miles  east  of  Ashland, 
carries  a  basin  near  its  crest,  a  feature  which  negatives  the  hypothesis  that 
the  knoll  is  a  product  of  erosion.  The  knolls  are  elongated  in  the  direction 
of  the  valley — northwest  to  southeast.  They  stand  15  to  25  feet  above  the 
present  flood  plain.  Some  of  them  have  a  nucleus  of  clay  and  a  capping  of 
fine  gravel;  others  seem  to  be  composed  largely  of  gravel  and  sand.  This 
valley  is  characterized  by  such  knolls  throughout  nearly  its  entire  length, 
the  source  of  the  creek  being  near  the  outer  border  of  the  Wabash  moraine. 
At  the  border  of  the  moraine  there  are  basins  as  well  as  knolls.  The  knolls 
rise  abruptly  10  to  25  feet  above  the  basins  and  are  rather  gravelly. 
Among  the  knolls  are  swales  or  marshy  tracts  which  broaden  out  in  places 


566         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

to  extensive  marshes.  It  is  probable  that  the  ice  sheet  had  a  discharge 
for  its  waters  down  this  creek,  and  the  marshes  and  lowland  tracts  may 
represent  the  channels  occupied  by  the  glacial  waters. 

Black  Fork  Valley,  from  the  point  where  it  touches  this  moraine  (south 
of  Shiloh)  southeastward,  contains  numerous  knolls,  which  give  it  an 
appearance  somewhat  similar  to  the  valley  of  Jerome  Fork  just  described. 
It,  however,  soon  enters  the  main  morainic  system  of  the  Scioto  lobe,  and 
these  knolls  may,  perhaps,  form  a  portion  of  the  imier  member  of  that 
system.  It  is  probable  that  the  ice  sheet  had  a  line  of  discharge  down  this 
valley  while  forming  the  Wabash  moraine,  but  it  was  not  sufficiently  strong 
to  clear  the  valley  of  its 'drift  knolls  and  form  conspicuous  terraces. 

There  was  fotmd  along  the  Scioto  Valley  no  decisive  evidence  of 
vigorous  drainage  from  this  morainic  series.  Gravel  and  sand  are  exceed- 
ingly rare,  and  what  little  silt  there  is  in  this  outer-border  district  may  be 
independent  of  the  moraine.  The  lack  of  evidence  of  drainage  from  this 
portion  of  the  ice  margin  is  difficult  to  explain,  especially  since  no  barrier 
appears  to  have  existed  along  the  course  of  the  Scioto  below  the  moraine 
which  could  have  checked  the  drainage.  As  previously  noted,  there  are 
extensive  prairies  on  the  eastern  slope  of  this  basin.  The)^  present  a  plane 
surface  and  are  covered  with  a  black  soil,  but  the  soil  is  apparently  till  to 
which  carbonaceous  matter  has  been  added.  Furthermore,  they  are  not 
level,  there  being  an  eastward  rise  of  100  to  150  feet  from  the  axis  of  the 
basin  to  the  east  border  of  the  prairies. 

ST.  MARYS    OR    FORT    WAYNE    MORAINE. 

This  moraine  was  given  the  name  St.  Marys  by  Gilbei't  from  its  relation 
to  the  St.  Marys  River,  whose  course  it  governs  for  about  60  miles.  But  as 
the  town  St.  Marys,  Ohio,  is  on  an  earlier  moraine,  the  name  has  led  to  some 
confusion.  In  consequence  of  this,  the  name  Fort  Wayne,  taken  from  the 
most  prominent  city  on  the  moraine,  is  supplementing-  the  old  name.  Gilbert 
recognized  and  named  the  moraine  at  the  time  he  made  a  survey  of  western 
Ohio  in  1869  and  1870.  It  is,  therefore,  one  of  the  earliest  recognized 
moraines  on  this  continent.'     It  was  Gilbert's  conception,  however,  that  the 

•The  result  of  Gilbert's  investigations  in  northwestern  Ohio  appear  in  two  places:  First,  in  the 
American  Journal  of  Science  for  May,  1871,  where  a  brief  account  only  is  given;  second,  in  Vol.  I 
of  the  reports  of  the  Ohio  Geological  Survey,  which  was  published  in  1873,  and  which  contains  a 
somewhat  detailed  account  of  the  region. 


ST.  MARYS  OR  FORT  WAYNE  MORAINE.  567 

moraine  itself  is  not  visible,  but  is  concealed  or  blanketed  by  a  heavy  deposit 
of  Erie  clay,  a  deposit  supposed  at  that  time  to  have  been  of  iceberg  origin 
and  of  much  later  age  than  the  glacial  drift.  It  is  but  fair  to  state  that  this 
conception  is  now  abandoned  by  its  author,  for  subsequent  studies  failed  to 
disclose  any  essential  difference  in  structure  between  the  superficial  and  the 
deeper  portions  of  the  drift,  while  the  drainage  phenomena  show  that  at  the 
time  these  moraines  were  forming  the  altitude  was  so  great  as  to  render 
inapplicable  the  theory  of  large  inland  seas  in  Ohio  and  Indiana.  There 
could,  therefore,  have  been  no  extensive  sheets  of  iceberg  drift.  The  ques- 
tions of  the  probable  altitude  of  this  region  and  the  extent  of  lakes  in  it 
are  discussed  on  a  later  page. 

N.  H.  Winchell  has  included  a  description  of  this  moraine  in  a  paper  on 
the  surface  geology  of  northwestern  Ohio,  already  mentioned.'  Dryer  has 
given  a  description  of  the  Indiana  portion  of  the  moraine  in  his  report  on 
Allen  County,  Ind.^ 

DISTRIBUTION. 

As  indicated  above,  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine  is  closely  associated  with 
the  Wabash  moraine  from  the  interlobate  tract  west  of  the  Grand  River 
Basin  in  northeastern  Ohio  westward  to  the-  Sandusky  River  near  Upper 
Sandusky.  For  a  few  miles  west  of  Sandusky  River  there  is  scarcely  any 
development  of  morainic  features,  but  near  Dunkirk  the  Fort  Wayne 
moraine  appears  in  strength  and  follows  the  north  side  of  Ottawa  River  (or 
Hog  Creek)  westward,  determining  the  course  of  the  river  from  Hog  Creek 
marsh  in  Hardin  County  to  the  bend  just  west  of  Lima.  The  moraine  then 
turns  westward,  crossing  Auglaize  River  at  Fort  Amanda  and  coming  to  the  St. 
Marys  at  the  bend  near  Kossuth.  From  Kossuth  it  follows  the  northeast  side 
of  the  St.  Marys  to  its  mouth  at  Fort  Wayne,  Ind.  From  Fort  Wayne,  as 
outlined  by  Gilbert,  its  course  is  northeastward  along  the  east  side  of  the 
St.  Joseph  River  to  the  vicinity  of  Hudson,  Mich.,  near  the  head  of  that 
stream,  beyond  which  its  course  and  connections  are  not  fully  determined. 

From  the  Sandusky  River  eastward  the  moraine,  where  distinct  from 
the  Wabash  moraine,  is  usually  but  1  to  2  miles  in  width.  But  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Sandusky  River  it  has  a  spur  which  extends  north  10 
miles  or  more  to  the  vicinity  of  the  Defiance,  or  next  later  moraine. 

'  Proc.  Am.  Ass.  Adv.  Sci.,  1872,  pp.  168-171. 

^Sixteenth  Ann.  Kept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1889,  pp.  114-11.5. 


568         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  general  width  of  the  moraine  from  Hog  Creek  marsh  westward 
nearly  to  the  State  line  of  Ohio  and  Indiana  is  but  1  to  2  miles.  It  there 
shows  a  marked  increase  in  breadth,  and  throughout  much  of  its  course 
in  Indiana  presents  a  lireadth  of  about  4  miles,  not  including  the  long- 
inner  slope.  In  the  earlier  moraines — the  Union,  Mississinawa,  Sala- 
monie,  and  Wabash — the  greatest  breadth  is  found  along  the  southern 
border  of  the  ice  lobe  instead  of  the  southwestern  border.  It  is  thought 
that  this  difference  may  be  occasioned  by  the  ice  movement,  the  broad 
portions  being  at  the  terminus  of  the  axial  or  strong  movement,  while  the 
narrow  portions  mark  the  terminus  of  the  lateral  or  weak  movement.  At 
the  time  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine  was  forming  the  axial  movement  appears 
to  have  been  southwestward,  or  in  about  the  direction  of  the  trough  of  the 
Erie-Maumee  Basin.  It  seems,  therefore,  but  natural  that  the  moraine 
should  be  broadest  at  the  end  of  that  trough.  At  the  time  the  earlier 
moraines  were  forming  the  ice  appears  to  haA'^e  moved  strongdy  toward  the 
Scioto  and  Miami  basins  and  to  have  been  controlled  less  by  the  Maumee 
trough;  hence  the  great  strength  of  these  moraines  around  the  southern 
end  of  the  loops. 

In  the  distribution  of  this  moraine  Gilbert  found  the  key  to  the 
peculiar  course  of  the  St.  Mar3^s  and  St.  Joseph  rivers.  On  this  subject 
he  says:^ 

North  of  the  Maumee  the  general  descent  is  to  the  southeast,  and  south  of  that 
river  to  the  northeast.  With  slight  exceptions,  the  smaller  streams  follow  and 
indicate  these  slopes,  but  all  the  larger  tributaries  of  the  Maumee,  including  the  St. 
Joseph,  St.  Maiys,  and  Auglaize  rivers,  and  Bean  or  Tiffin  Creek,  appear  to  be 
independent  of  them.  The  St.  Joseph,  for  example,  flows  to  the  southwest,  through 
a  country  where  every  rivulet  runs  to  the  southeast.  The  entire  region  drained  by 
it  lies  on  its  right  bank,  while  from  its  left  the  drainage  is  toward  Bean  Creek,  the 
divide  between  the  two  streams  being  ever jr  where  within  3  or  i  miles  of  the  St. 
Joseph.  In  like  manner  the  course  of  the  St.  Marys  is  west  and  north,  and  while 
from  its  left  bank  the  streamlets  flow  northeast  into  it,  from  the  right  thej'  flow 
northeast  into  the  Auglaize.  These  hj'drographical  peculiarities,  which  may  readilj" 
be  noted  on  the  accompanying  map,  are  so  singular  and  striking  as  to  have  excited 
some  attention  and  curiosity  before  the  region  was  visited.  Upon  examination 
there  was  found  a  continuous  ridge  following  the  eastern  banks  of  these  rivers  and 
evidently  determining  their  courses.  Running  somewhat  obliquely  across  the  slopes 
of  the  country,  it  turned  aside  all  the  small  streams  and  united  them  to  form  the  St. 
•loseph  and  St.  Marys.     The  height  of  this  ridge  is  ordinarily  from  25  to  60  feet 

'Geolosy  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  1873,  p.  541. 


ST.  MARYS  OR  FORT  WAYNE  MORAINE. 


569 


and  its  width  at  base  from  -i  to  8  miles.  Along  the  St.  Joseph  it  is  not  distinguished 
from  the  adjacent  country  bj"  its  superficial  characters.  In  common  with  that,  it  has 
a  gentl}'  rolling  surface  with  a  gravellj"  day  soil  supporting  a  heavy  growth  of 
varied  timber.  Farther  south,  where  it  forms  the  north  bank  of  the  St.  Marys 
River,  in  Van  Wert  and  Mercer  counties,  it  is  mai'ked  b}'  such  peculiarities  as  to 
divide  it  very  sharplj^  from  the  adjoining  plains,  which  are  nearlj^  level,  with  a  soil 
of  fine  clay  and  covered  by  a  heavy  growth  of  elm,  beech,  ash,  maple,  etc.  The 
ridge,  on  the  contrary,  presents  a  confused  series  of  conical  hills,  chiefly  of  clay,  but 
showing  some  pebbles  and  small  bowlders  and  clothed  bj-  forest  growth,  almost 
exclusively  of  oak.  Probably  the  onl}^  essential  point  in  this  contrast  is  that  of  hill 
and  plain,  and  out  of  this  the  others  have  grown 


In  the  Ohio  portion  of  the  •  moraine,  except  near  the  State  line,  the 
relief  is  somewhat  abrupt,  the  moraine  being  narrow,  and  amounts  to  20 
to  30  feet.  In  the  Indiana  portion,  owing-  to  the  greater  breadth  of  the 
moraine,  the  relief  is  not  so  striking,  though  its  amount  is  greater  than  in 
Ohio,  the  altitude  of  the  crest  being  30  to  60  feet,  or  even  more,  above  the 
bluffs  of  the  St.  Marys  and  St.  Joseph  rivers  on  the  outer  border  plain. 

RANGE    IN    ALTITUDE. 

The  range  in  altitude  along  the  crest,  aside  from  the  channel  at  Fort 
Wayne,  is  about  400  feet.  Including  this  channel  it  amounts  to  about  450 
feet.  There  is  a  descent  toward  the  old  lake  outlet,  both  from  the  north 
and  the  east,  but  it  is  so  gradual  as  to  be  scarcely  perceptible.  East  of 
the  head  of  Sandusky  River  the  moraine  crosses  a  series  of  ridges  and 
lowlands  which  cause  abrupt  variations  of  200  to  300  feet.  The  follow- 
ing altitudes,  compiled  from  various  sources,  serve  to  illlustrate  the  above 
statement : 

Tcible  of  altitudes  along  the  Fort  Wayne  tnoraine. 


station. 

Authority. 

Altitude 
above  tide. 

Cleveland,  Lorain  and  Wheeling  R.  R 

Feet. 

913 

Erie  R.  R 

957 

West  Salem,  north,  of 

1  160 

1  220 

1  180 

Savannah  Lake  

Barometric 

L060 

570  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Table  of  altitudes  along  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine — Continued. 


Greenwich,  high  points  southeast  of . . 

Greenwich 

Plymouth 

New  Washington 

Summit  near  Chatfield 

In  Sandusky  Basin 

Near  Dunliirk 

Dunkirk,  Ohio,  one  mile  north  of 

Lima,  Ohio 

Two  miles  south  of  Spencerville 

Ohio  City,  Ohio,  south  of 

Decatur,  Ind. ,  east  of 

Adams  and  Allen  counties  line,  near. . 

Fort  Wayne,  southeast  part  of 

Fort  Wayne  (court-house) 

In  lake  outlet,  head  of  Maumee  River 

West  of  Hicksville,  Ohio 

Crossing  of  Baltimore  and  Ohio  R.  R  . 

Bryan,  Ohio,  west  of 

Hudson,  Mich 


Estimated 

Big  Four  R.  R 

Baltimore  and  Ohio  R.  R 

Northern  Ohio  R.  R 

Northern  Ohio  R.  E 

Estimated 

Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  R.  R. 

Estimated 

Several  railways 

Miami  Canal  Survey 

Estimated 

Chicago  and  Erie  R.  R 

Grand  Rapids  and  Indiana  R.  R 

Estimated 

City  engineer 

City  engineer 

C.  R.  Dryer 

S.  W.  Hartwell - 

Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  R.  R 
Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  R.  R 


Feel. 

1,125 

1,037 

993 

999 

1,017 

850-925 
950 
975 

875-885 
872 
875 
862 
846 
820 
772 
737 
849 
902 
873 
945 


TOPOGRAPHY. 


The  well-defined  crest  which  this  morainic  belt  displays  constitutes 
the  most  marked  as  well  as  most  constant  feature,  yet  it  is  seldom  sharply 
ridged.  lu  places  sharp  knolls  10  to  20  feet  in  height  occur,  but  they 
are  not  a  common  characteristic  feature,  the  greater  part  of  the  surface 
being  very  gently  undulating  with  oscillations  of  but  5  to  10  feet  in  a 
distance  of  10  to  20  rods.  Shallow  basins  are  common,  but  they  are  usually 
saucer  like  in  form,  and  seldom  have  the  depth  or  the  abrupt  borders  of  the 
basins  in  knob-and-basin  morainic  topography. 

The  variations  in  topography  will  appear  in  the  description  which 
follows.  This  description  begins  at  the  eastern  end,  near  the  Cuyahoga 
Valley,  and  passes  westward  along  the  moraine.  On  the  uplands  east  of 
the  Cuyahoga  Valley  south  of  Medina  the  moraine  consists  of  a  swell-and- 
sag  tract,  in  which  few  swells  exceed  1.5  feet  in  height,  though  there  are 
many  ranging  from  8  to  10  feet.     There  is  a  slight  tendency  to  ridging  in 


ST.  MARYS  OR  FORT  WAYNE  MORAINE.  57] 

an  east-northeast  to  west-sonthwest  direction — i.  e.,  in  line  with  the  trend 
of  the  moraine — but  only  for  about  a  half  mile  in  a  place,  the  belt  in  that 
vicinity  being  generall}^  without  distinct  ridge  or  crest. 

In  the  valley  to  the  west,  in  which  Chippewa  Lake  lies,  the  moraine 
has  scarcely  as  many  knolls  as  are  found  on  the  uplands,  and,  so  far  as 
observed,  they  are  all  low — 15  feet  or  less  in  height. 

From  Chippewa  Lake  southwestward  to  Burbank  the  moraine  has  a 
patchy  development,  being  interrupted  by  broad  marshy  tracts  on  the  low- 
lands and  but  feebly  developed  on  the  uplands.  Upon  leaving  Killbuck 
Creek,  near  Burbank,  its  expression  becomes  stronger,  and  throughout 
much  of  the  distance  westward  to  the  Scioto-Sandusky  Basin  it  has  greater 
strength  than  the  Wabash  moraine  and  is  less  irregular  in  its  features.  Its 
surface  is  billowy,  being  seldom  sharply  ridged.  The  knolls  are  10  to  25 
feet  in  height  and  so  closely  associated  as  to  leave  but  httle  plane  surface 
among  them. 

From  Lake  Fork  westward  to  Plymouth  the  Fort  Wayne  lies  imme- 
diately north  of  the  Wabash  moraine;  but  east  from  Lake  Fork  it  is  quite 
distinct  from  the  Wabash  belt  for  several  miles,  there  being  a  nonmorainic 
interval  1  to  3  miles  wide,  and  westward  from  Plymouth  it  is  distinct  all 
the  way  to  the  Sandusky  River,  there  being  a  plain  1  to  3  miles  wide 
■between  the  moi'aines,  through  the  midst  of  which  Brokensword  Creek 
has  its  course. 

From  Plymouth  westward  to  the  Sandusky  River  the  Fort  Wayne 
moraine  has  frequent  developments  of  ridges  which  correspond  in  trend 
with  the  course  of  the  moraine,  being  nearly  east  to  west  in  the  vicinity  of 
.  New  Washington  and  Chatfield  and  northeast  to  southwest  a  few  miles 
farther  west,  near  Seal,  where  the  moraine  curves  toward  the  southwest. 
It  has  also  numerous  knolls  10  to  20  feet  high  and  a  well-defined  and,  in 
places,  very  abrupt  outer  border  relief  of  20  to  30  feet.  This  portion  of 
the  moraine  is  in  strong  contrast  with  the  very  flat  tracts  that  border  it  on 
either  side. 

From  the  curving  portion  of  the  moraine,  near  Seal,  a  spur  runs  out 
to  the  northwest  or  nearly  at  a  right  angle  to  the  trend  of  the  moraine. 
It  occupies  much  of  the  interval  between  Sycamore  Creek  and  Sandusky 
River,  a  breadth  of  4  or  5  miles,  and  extends  to  the  bend  of  the  Sandusky  at 
McCutcheomdlle,  a  distance  of  fully  10  miles  from  the  moraine,  where  it 


572  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

touches  the  outer  border  of  the  Defiance  moraine.  This  spur  occupies  a 
slightly  depressed  tract,  compared  witli  the  region  on  the  east,  its  highest 
points  rising  scarcely  to  the  level  of  the  plain  east  of  it;  but  it  is  full}^  as 
high  as  the  plain  west  of  it.  Basins  are  a  conspicuous  feature,  and  they 
are  associated  Avith  knolls  and  winding  ridges  in  cliaracteristic  raorainic 
fashion.  At  the  northwest  end  of  the  spur,  along  each  side  of  the  Sandusky 
River,  there  are  ridges  whose  trend  is  northeast  to  southwest,  or  nearly 
parallel  with  the  moraine  and  at  right  angles  to  the  spur.  They  rise 
abruptly  15  to  20  feet  above  the  till  plain  that  lies  west  of  the  Sandusky. 
East  of  Mexico  and  near  the  oiiter  border  of  the  Defiance  moraine  is  a 
district  where  the  knolls  and  basins  are  ver)'^  sharp,  presenting  a  strong 
contrast  to  the  gently  undulator)-  topography  of  the  Defiance  moraine. 
As  stated  above,  the  spur  is  traceable  up  to  that  moraine  and  may  have 
extended  still  farther  to  the  north  along  Sandusky  River  and  have  had  its 
northern  portion  overridden  by  the  advance  of  the  ice  sheet  which  produced 
the  moraine. 

The  Fort  Wayne  moraine  crosses  the  Sandusky  River  at  Little  San- 
dusky, and  has  a  remarkably  feeble  development  from  there  westward 
around  the  end  of  the  loop.  A  low  ridge  passing  southwestward  near 
Moral  and  Cochranton  completes  the  eastern  limb  of  the  moraine.  From 
Cochranton  to  Dunkirk  there  are  only  patchy  developments  of  morainic 
topography  which  in  themselves  would  hardly  be  considered  sufficient  to 
be  classed  as  a  moraine,  but  which  serve  as  the  coianecting  links  between 
the  well-defined  portions  to  the  east  and  to  the  west. 

About  1^  miles  east  of  Dunkirk  a  well-marked  drift  ridge  sets  in,  which 
for  2  or  3  miles  has  a  course  north  of  west.  It  then  assumes  a  nearly  due- 
west  course,  which  it  maintains  for  fully  10  miles,  when  it  curves  to  the 
south  of  west  and  follows  the  north  side  of  Hog  Creek  to  Lima.  Before 
reaching  Hog  Creek  it  is  bordered  on  the  south  for  a  few  miles  by  Hog 
Creek  Marsh.  It  has  a  well-defined  crest  standing  20  to  40  feet  above  the 
outer  border  plain,  and  is  dotted  by  low  swells  5  to  10  feet  in  height.  Its 
breadth  is  scarcely  half  as  great  as  that  of  the  portion  of  the  moraine 
east  of  Sandusky  River,  being  but  a  mile,  or  even  less.  From  Lima  west- 
ward the  moraine  maintains  a  well-defined  crest,  but  it  is  not  so  sharp  as  it 
is  east  of  that  city.     It  is  dotted  by  low  swells,  scarcely  10  feet  in  usual 


ST.  MARYS  OR  FORT  WAYNE  MORAINE.  573 

height.  There  is  a  ckister  of  sharp  knolls  east  of  Decatur,  Ind.,  but  few  of 
them  exceed  a  height  of  15  feet.  They  are  abrupt  aud  iuclose  numerous 
basins,  and  there  is,  in  addition,  an  unusual  number  of  surface  bowlders 
which  add  to  the  morainic  expression. 

The  moraine  has  been  deeply  channeled  by  water  in  the  vicinity  of 
Fort  Wayne.  The  most  important  channel  is  the  lake  outlet,  which  has,  in 
its  passage  through  the  moraine,  opened  a  valley  about  1  mile  in  width, 
and  30  to  50  feet  in  depth,  its  depth  at  the  head  of  the  Maumee  being  35 
to  40  feet. 

A  smaller  channel,  known  as  the  Sixmile  Channel,  traverses  the  moraine 
a  few  miles  southeast  of  I'ort  Wayne  and  furnishes  a  much  more  direct 
course  than  the  present  one  for  the  St.  Marys  River.  It  leaves  the  St. 
Marys  about  a  mile  below  Hesse  Cassel,  in  section  7,  Marion  Township, 
and  passes  in  a  course  east  of  north  to  the  Maumee  River  just  west  of  New 
Haven.  Its  summit  is  reported  by  Dryer  to  be  but  10  feet  higher  than 
the  St.  Marys  River,  and  in  flooded  seasons  the  river  discharges  a  portion 
of  its  waters  through  this  channel.  Except  at  its  north  end,  where  it  is 
somewhat  expanded,  the  channel  has  a  width  of  only  one-fourth  mile,  and 
its  banks  are  estimated  by  Dryer  to  be  15  feet  in  average  height,  though 
the  portion  of  the  moraine  on  the  east  soon  rises  along  the  line  of  the  Pitts- 
burg, Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago  Railroad  to  a  height  of  40  feet,  and  that  on 
the  west  to  a  height  of  60  feet  above  the  channel.  The  low  tract  which 
this  channel  follows  was  apparently  occupied  for  a  time  as  an  outlet  for 
Lake  Maumee,  as  indicated  more  fully  on  a  later  page. 

The  continuation  of  Sixmile  Channel  is  westward  down  the  St.  Marys 
River  to  section  26,  Wayne  Township,  about  3  miles  south  of  Fort  Wayne. 
The  river  there  turns  northward  while  the  old  channel  continues  westward 
and  joins  the  outlet  in  the  southwest  corner  of  the  same  township.  This 
part  of  the  channel  is  one-fourth  mile  or  more  in  average  width  and  stands 
about  15  feet  above  the  present  river  bed.  It  is  a  marshy  tract,  apparently 
filled  to  some  depth  with  sediment,  and  has  distinct  bluffs  only  on  its 
southern  border,  where  there  is  an  abrupt  rise  of  15  to  20  feet. 

In  the  triangular  tract  bounded  by  this  marshy  channel,  the  old  lake 
outlet,  and  the  St.  Marys  River,  there  is  a  district  comprising  several  square 
miles  which  stands  considerably  above   the  channels,  its   highest  points 


574         GLACIAL  FOEMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

reaching  an  altitude  of  over  800  feet,  or  about  50  feet  above  the  bordering 
marshy  tracts  and  fully  60  feet  above  the  St  Marys  River,  while  the  greater 
part  stands  20  to  30  feet  above  the  marshy  tracts  that  border  it.  It  is 
traversed  by  sandy  ridges,  to  which  Dryer  has  given  attention,  and  which 
have  received  individual  description  in  his  report  on  Allen  County,  Ind.^ 
The  ridges  are  in  some  cases  about  a  mile  long  and  have  a  tendency  to 
trend  east-northeast  to  west-southwest,  but  various  other  trends  are  assumed 
by  the  different  ridges.  In  some  cases  there  is  a  main  ridge  from  which 
branches  lead  off  at  nearly  a  right  angle.  The  ridges  are  10  to  30  feet  in 
height  and  vary  in  width  from  a  few  rods  up  to  nearly  one-fourth  mile. 
There  are  similar  ridges  on  the  crest  of  the  moraine  in  the  east  part  of  Fort 
Wayne.  The  most  prominent  one  is  estimated  by  Dryer  to  have  had  a 
lieight  of  30  feet  previous  to  its  removal  by  the  railroad.  The  portion 
remaining  (east  of  the  freight  yards)  stands  about  15  feet  above  the 
bordering  portion  of  the  moraine.  This  ridge  has  an  east-west  trend, 
parallel  with  the  lake  outlet  and  at  a  right  angle  to  the  crest  of  the  moraine. 
It  was  originally  a  mile  or  more  in  length  (Dr}^er),  but  the  greater  part 
is  now  removed.  Similar  ridges  also  occur  in  the  west  part  of  Fort  Wayne 
on  the  east  bluff  of  the  St.  Marys  River.  They  follow  the  bluff  in  a  curving 
course  from  southwest  to  northeast.  These  ridges  seem  to  be  due  in  large 
part  to  the  work  of  wind  upon  sand  that  was  deposited  in  the  outlet.  This 
interpretation,  it  will  be  noted,  differs  from  that  given  by  Dryer  in  the  report 
above  cited,  it  being  his  opinion  that  they  are  of  glacial  origin. 

The  portion  of  this  moraine  north  of  the  outlet,  as  noted  by  Grilbert, 
is  less  strongly  in  contrast  with  the  adjacent  plain  from  Fort  Wayne  north- 
eastward than  in  the  portion  bordering  the  St.  Marys  River,  though  its 
surface  is  "gently  rolling."^  It  presents  but  little  variation  from  Fort 
Wayne  northeastward  across  northwestern  Ohio  into  Michigan. 

THICKNESS   AND    STRUCTURE    OF   THE    DRIFT. 

From  the  eastern  end  in  Ohio  westward  to  Decatur,  Tnd.,  the  general 
thickness  of  the  diift  (not  including  that  in  buried  valleys),  is  scarcely 
twice  as  great  as  the  relief  of  the  moraine,  there  being  numerous  outcrops 
of  rock  along  the  shallow  valleys  that  follow  the  outer  border  of  the 
moraine,  while  the  wells  along  the  moraine  and  on  the  border  plain  often 

^Sixteenth  Ann.  Kept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1889,  pp.  116-118.    ^Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  1, 1873,  p.  541. 


ST.  MARYS  OR  FORT  WAYNE  MORAINE.  575 

strike  rock  slightly  below  the  level  of  the  base  of  the  ridge.  In  buried 
valleys  the  drift  in  places  reaches  a  depth  of  about  300  feet,  as  has  been 
shown  in  the  discussion  of  the  Wabash  moraine.  In  Allen  County,  Ind., 
and  in  northwestern  Ohio  the  thickness  g-reatly  exceeds  the  amount  repre- 
sented by  the  relief  of  the  moraine,  the  avei'age  thickness  at  Fort  Wayne 
being  about  100  feet  on  the  moraine  and  50  feet  or  more  along  the  lake 
outlet,  while  in  northwestern  Ohio  the  thickness,  as  indicated  by  gas  wells  at 
Hicksville  and  Bryan,  is  160  to  200  feet,  or  at  least  four  times  the  amount 
of  the  relief  of  the  moraine. 

In  the  portion  where  the  drift  is  mainly  comprised  in  the  morainic  ridge 
there  is  but  little  assorted  material,  the  body  of  the  ridge  being  a  stony 
blue  till,  but  where  the  drift  extends  much  below  the  level  of  the  base  of 
the  lidge  it  is  apparently  composed  largely  of  sand  and  gravel  in  its  lower 
portions. 

Gilbert  called  attention,  in  his  I'eport  for  the  Ohio  survey  noted  above, 
to  the  more  stony  character  of  the  surface  portion  of  the  moraine  compared 
with  the  surface  portion  of  the  bordering  plain.  The  difference  was 
attributed  by  him  in  the  main  to  changes  produced  by  subaerial  erosion. 
It  seems  probable,  however,  that  there  was  also  an  original  or  inherent 
difference,  it  being  natural  that  the  moraine  should  carry  a  larger  propor- 
tion of  stony  material  in  its  surface  portions  than  the  plains,  or  rather  that 
it  should  carry  less  fine  material,  owing  to  the  extraction  and  removal  of 
such  material  by  the  water  escaping  along  the  ice  margin.  So  far  as 
known  the  deeper  portions  of  the  drift  present  no  marked  differences  in 
the  two  situations. 

The  yellow  till  which  constitutes  the  surface  portion  of  the  drift  is 
8  to  12  feet  in  thickness.  In  common  with  the  surface  clays  of  the  other 
moraines  of  this  region  it  is  not  deeply  oxidized,  the  color  being  a  g-rayish 
rather  than  brownish  yellow. 

Gilbert's  report  contains  the  results  of  an  actual  count  of  pebbles 
included  in  a  sample  of  the  surface  till  from  near  Edgerton,  there  being  in  a 
total  of  155  pebbles  24  chert,  19  limestone,  22  quartzite,  and  90  gneissoid 
specimens.  This  comit  displays  a  very  large  preponderance  of  distantly 
derived  material,  a  much  larger  proportion  than  was  found  by  the  same 
observer  in  deeper  portions  of  the  drift,  there  being  near  the  base  of  the 
drift  at  Toledo  80  per  cent  of  nonmetamorphic  or  somewhat  local  pebbles, 
and  only  20  per  cent  of  metamorphic  or  distantly  derived  pebbles.     In 


576         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

view  of  the  results  of  counting  several  samples  from  different  horizons  in 
the  drift,  Gilbert  remarked  as  follows :  ^ 

These  figures  give  numerical  expression  to  a  fact  that  has  been  confirmed  bj^ 
the  inspection  of  the  surface  over  large  areas,  and  of  the  lower  portions  at  man}' 
points — the  fact  that  the  Laurentian  rocks  predominate  over  the  ordinary  sedimentary 
in  the  upper  portions,  while  the  reverse  is  true  in  the  lower,  and  the  intermediate 
parts  present  a  gradation.  When  a  gravel  bed  occurs  near  the  base  of  the  deposit  it 
is  usually,  though  not  invariably,  made  up  of  fragments,  little  worn,  of  the  rocks 
on  which  it  rests. 

The  following  represent  the  more  important  well  records  obtained  west 
from  the  point  where  the  Wabash  and  Fort  Wayne  moraines  become 
widely  separated.  Sections  of  wells  in  the  portion  that  is  closely  associated 
with  the  Wabash  moraine  are  presented  in  the  discussion  of  that  moraine. 

On  the  crest  of  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine  north  of  Dunkirk,  Ohio,  two 
wells  at  J.  P.  Dixon's  strike  rock,  one  at  44  feet,  the  other  at  46  feet.  One 
mile  east,  and  also  on  the  crest,  a  well  at  J.  M.  Reed's  struck  rock  at  50 
feet.  In  all  these  wells  the  drift  is  almost  entirely  till.  Still  farther  east 
(in  sec.  9,  Blanchard  township)  A.  Grillen  has  a  well  which  struck  rock  at 
60  feet,  while  Mr.  C.  F.  Darrett  (in  sec.  16,  Blanchard  township)  has  a  well 
with  100  feet  of  di-ift. 

On  Hog  Creek  Marsh,  near  Dunkirk,  several  flowing  wells  have  been 
obtained  at  30  to  35  feet,  from  gravel  below  blue  clay. 

At  Lima  the  di-ift  generally  has  a  thickness  no  greater  than  the  relief 
of  the  moraine  (about  20  feet),  but  in  one  boring  within  the  city  limits  170 
feet  is  reported.  It  is  somewhat  thicker  than  20  feet  south  of  Spencerville, 
there  being  no  rock  exposed  by  the  Miami  Canal,  which  is  excavated  to  a 
depth  of  fully  20  feet  at  the  crest  of  the  moraine.  Between  the  Miami 
Canal  and  the  State  line  rock  appears  at  intervals  along  St.  Marys  River, 
but  at  Rockford  a  well  passed  through  130  feet  of  drift,  mainly  till,  while 
near  that  village  more  than  300  feet  of  drift  is  reported  by  Bownocker. 
At  Enterprise  (Ohio  City)  north  of  Rockford  on  the  inner  slope  of  the 
moraine  the  drift  is  about  60  feet  in  thickness.  In  the  southwestern  part 
of  Van  Wert  County  wells  along  the  crest  of  the  moraine  north  of 
Willshire  pass  through  70  to  100  feet  of  drift.  Several  exposures  of  rock 
occur  between  Willshire,  Ohio,  and  Decatur,  Ind.,  along  the  St.  Marys 
River,  at  a  level  60  to  75  feet  below  the  crest  of  the  moraine. 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  1873,  p.  .547. 


ST.  MAKYS  OR  FORT  WAYNE  MORAINE.  577 

The  only  wells,  so  far  as  ascertained,  which  reach  the  bottom  of  the 
drift  in  tlie  Indiana  portion  of  the  moraine  are  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort 
Wayne.  A  gas-well  boring  made  near  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and 
Chicago  Railroad,  2  miles  east  of  the  court-house,  penetrated  100  feet  of 
drift.  The  driller  described  it  as  being  mainly  blue  till  in  the  upper  half, 
but  having  alternations  of  till  with  sand  and  gravel  in  the  lower  half,  the 
till  beds  being  5  to  6  feet  and  the  sand  and  gravel  beds  somewhat  thicker. 
Seven  borings  made  in  Fort  Wayne  and  vicinity  show  a  range  from  62^  to 
123  feet  in  the  thickness  of  the  drift.  The  public  water  stipply  is  partly 
from  wells  in  the  drift  at  depths  of  40  to  60  feet  and  partly  from  wells  in 
rock  at  250  to  450  feet. 

At  New  Haven,  just  east  of  the  moraine  near  the  head  of  the  old  lake 
outlet,  a  prospect  boring  for  gas  struck  rock  at  about  50  feet  below  the  bed 
of  the  Maumee  at  that  point,  the  amount  of  drift  being  69  feet. 

The  thickness  of  the  drift  along  the  crest  of  the  moraine  east  and 
southeast  from  Decatur  may  be  about  the  same  as  its  height  above  the  rock 
outcrops  at  and  above  Decatur  (60  to  75  feet),  though  no  records  were 
obtained  in  that  part  of  the  moraine  of  wells  sufficiently  deep  to  reach  rock. 

Frank  Williams,  a  well  driller  residing  at  Avilla,  Ind.,  has  made  several 
deep  wells  near  Maples,  in  Allen  County,  which  penetrated  till  70  or  80 
feet,  and  at  this  depth  entered  a  bed  of  bowlders  which,  he  thinks,  has  a 
definite  horizon  near  the  base  of  the  till,  for  few  bowlders  are  encountered  at 
a  lesser  depth  in  the  wells. 

From  Fort  Wayne  northeastward  the  drift  increases  in  thickness  to  200 
feet  or  more,  as  shown  by  deep  wells.  A  well  198  feet  deep,  on  the  farm 
of  Christian  Hirsch,  about  1  mile  southeast  of  Spencerville,  in  Dekalb 
County,  Ind.,  does  not  reach  the  bottom  of  the  drift.  It  passes  through 
the  following  beds : 

Section  of  Hirsch  well,  near  Spencerville,  Ind. 

Feet. 

Yellow  till 8-10 

Blue  till ,  50-60 

Sand,  about 120 

Cemented  gravel 9 

Total 198 

A  dozen  or  more  wells  in  the  neighborhood  penetrate  60  to  70  feet  of 
till  and  obtain  water  in  the  sand  and  gravel  which  underlie  it.     A  well  at 

MON  XLI 37 


578         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  A>)D  OHIO  BASINS. 

Byron  Hadsell's,  near  St.  Joe,  and  about  10  rods  east  of  St.  Joseph  River, 
is  110  feet  in  depth.  It  encountered  nothing  but  sand  and  gravel.  This 
well  is  outside  the  moraine,  otherwise  it  might  have  penetrated  some  till. 

From  the  foregoing  sections  it  is  apparent  that  the  upper  portion  of 
the  drift  is  mainly  till,  while  the  lower  portion,  so  far  as  discovered,  is  more 
largely  sand  and  gravel. 

OUTER   BORDER   PHENOMENA. 

The  portion  of  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine  south  of  Lake  Erie  stands  so 
near  the  divide  between  the  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio  drainage  that  the 
glacial  waters  appear  to  have  found  a  ready  escape  into  tributaries  of  the 
Ohio. 

There  is  likely  to  have  been  a  small  lake  in  the  Cuyahoga  Valley  dis- 
charging southward  past  the  "Akron  Summit"  to  the  Tuscarawas,  at  an 
altitude  of  about  965  to  970  feet. 

The  Sandusky  drainage  basin  also  is  likely  to  have  had  a  small  lake 
in  the  southern  portion  discharging  at  first  southward  to  the  Scioto  through 
the  "Tymochtee  Pass,"  at  an  altitude  about  910  feet  above  tide.  The  dis- 
charge was  probably  changed  to  a  westward  outlet  when  the  ice  front  had 
receded  a  little  from  the  moraine  and  offered  a  lower  line  of  escape.  This 
lake  may  have  received  the  glacial  waters  from  points  on  the  ice  margin  as 
far  east  as  the  head  of  Brokensword  Creek.  The  writer's  studies  in  that 
region  were  rather  hurried,  and  the  presence  of  the  lake  is  inferred  on  theo- 
retical grounds  alone,  but  more  detailed  studies  ought  to  bring  to  light 
features  that  will  prove  its  existence. 

From  Dunkirk,  Ohio,  to  Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  the  glacial  drainage  appeai-s 
to  have  followed  the  border  of  the  ice  sheet  westward  in  a  current  inferred 
to  have  been  sluggish  from  the  fact  that  the  portions  of  the  valleys  of 
Ottawa  River  (or  Hog  Creek)  and  St.  Marys  River  which  follow  the  outer 
border  of  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine  are  not  characterized  b}'  gravel  and 
sand  deposits,  such  as  should  accompany  a  good  current.  There  is  a  thin 
deposit  of  silt  on  the  surface  of  the  plains  bordering  these  valleys,  ranging 
in  depth  from  a  few  inches  to  several  feet,  which  seems  referable  to  the 
flooding  of  the  plains  by  sluggish  waters. 

The  northwestern  limb  of  this  moraine  being  followed  somewhat  closely 
by  the  St.  Joseph  River  from  the  Michigan-Ohio  line  to  Fort  Wayne,  Ind., 


U.    S.    GEOLOGICAL    SU 

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ST.  MARYS  OR  FORT  WAYNE  MORAINE.  579 

the  glacial  waters  would  naturally  find  escape  down  that  valley  to  its 
junction  with  the  St.  Marys,  and  thence  pass  southwestward  through  the 
Lake  Maumee  outlet  to  the  Wabash  River.  There  is  a  belt  of  gravel  along 
the  St.  Joseph  Valley  which  is  shown  by  well  sections  to  have  great  depth 
and  to  pass  under  the  till  of  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine.  It  is  probable, 
therefore,  that  only  the  surface  portion,  including  perhaps  that  standing- 
above  the  level  of  the  present  stream,  is  to  be  correlated  with  the  Fort 
Wayne  moraine. 

In  the  west  part  of  Fort  Wayne  there  are  gravel  deposits  along  the 
outer  border  of  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine,  occupying  the  interval  between 
the  moraine  and  the  St.  Marys  River.  They  seem,  however,  not  to  have 
been  deposited  b}^  direct  outwash  from  the  part  of  the  moraine  which  they 
border,  but  seem  instead  to  have  been  brought  in  from  the  north  by  a 
stream  flowing  down  the  St.  Joseph  Valley.  This  interpretation  was  made 
by  Taylor  p»rior  to  the  writer's  visit,  and  seems  well  sustained  by  the 
bedding  of  the  gravel.  The  gravel,  as  shown  in  PL  XVI,  presents  beds 
with  a  sharp  southward  dip,  and  these  are  overlain  by  horizontal  beds  that 
appear  also  to  have  been  produced  by  a  southward-moving  stream.  The 
excavations,  only  a  part  of  which  are  shown  in  these  photographs,  have 
exposed  several  acres  of  the  gravel,  and  there  is  throughout  the  excavations 
e'S'idence  of  the  southward  movement  of  the  depositing  waters.  The  course 
of  St.  Marys  River  in  its  passage  through  these  gravel  deposits  is  northward, 
or  the  reverse  of  the  course  of  the  depositing  waters.  It  is  probable  that  the 
gravel  was  deposited  while  the  ice  sheet  still  occupied  the  Fort  Wayne 
moraine,  but  the  stream  appears  to  have  had  its  rise  some  distance  up  the 
St.  Joseph  Valley.  As  above  noted,  the  valley  carries  large  amounts  of 
gravel  of  similar  character  to  that  under  discussion.  This  graviel  near  Fort 
Wayne  is  capped  by  several  feet  of  sand,  which  in  jjlaces  has  been  drifted 
into  dunes.  The  sand  may  have  been  deposited  by  the  waters  of  Lake 
Maumee,  for  it  extends  westward  some  distance  down  the  lake  outlet. 

INNER   BORDER   PHENOMENA. 

On  the  inner  slope  of  the  moraine  there  is  a  till  plain  which  descends 
gradually  to  the  upper  beach  of  Lake  Maumee.  Tlie  descent  continues 
past  this  beach  line  to  the  valleys  of  Blanchard  and  Tiffin  rivers,  thus 
repeating  the  drainage  phenomena  of  the  inner  slope  of  earlier  moraines  than 


580         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  Fort  Wayne.  On  this  plain  the  amount  of  undulation  is  very  slight, 
even  in  the  district  outside  the  beach,  while  on  the  portion  inside  or  below 
it  the  waves  have  smoothed  the  surface  to  such  a  degree  that  scarcely  a 
discernible  undulation  remains. 

The  drift  on  this  plain  is  thinner,  on  the  whole,  than  on  the  moraine, 
and  its  thickness  varies,  as  does  that  beneath  the  moraine,  there  being  a 
thinner  sheet  in  the  region  south  of  the  Maumee  than  north  of  that  stream. 
From  Findlay,  Ohio,  westward  to  the  State  line  the  general  thickness 
scarcely  exceeds  20  feet.  In  the  Indiana  portion  of  the  plain  the  thickness 
is  40  to  60  feet,  while  in  northwestern  Ohio  it  is  fully  1 00  feet. 

Aside  from  fhin  deposits  made  by  the  glacial  lake,  which  to  some 
extent  cover  the  siu'face  of  this  plain,  the  drift  is  mainly  till.  An  occasional 
well,  however,  penetrates  considerable  sand  and  gravel.  Thus  at  Bryan  the 
drillers  report  a  thickness  of  about  60  feet  of  quicksand,  or  more  than  one- 
third  of  the  drift  section. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Auglaize  River,  from  near  Ottawa  to  its  mouth,  there 
are  deposits  of  yellow  clay  several  feet  in  thickness  in  which  pebbles  are 
very  rare.  Similar  deposits  have  been  reported  by  Winchell  to  occur  along 
the  Maumee  Valley.  They  are  probably  due  to  the  lake  occupancy  of  that 
region  which  followed  the  glaciation,  but  the  precise  mode  or  modes  of 
deposition  can  not  be  stated.  The  fineness  of  material  distinguishes  these 
deposits  from  the  gravel  and  sand  of  the  beach  lines  of  the  old  lake  bottom. 

The  discussion  of  the  beach  lines  which  traverse  this  plain  and  of  the 
southwestward  outlet  of  Lake  Maumee  follows  the  description  ot  the  Defiance 
and  other  moraines,  with  which  they  are  correlated,  a  knowledge  of  the 
moraines  being  necessary  to  a  proper  understanding  of  the  beaches  or  lake 
features. 

STRI^. 

Several  observations  of  striae  in  the  district  lying  between  the  Fort 
Wayne  and  Defiance  moraines  are  reported  by  Winchell  and  others  by 
Gilbert.  Their  bearing,  as  shown  by  the  following  list,  varies  from  south- 
west to  nearly  due  south. 


BLANCHARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE.  581 

List  ofstrice  observed  between  the  Fort  Wayne  and  Defiance  moraines  in  western  Ohio. 


Observer. 


Near  Upper  Sandusk}' 

Near  Marseilles 

Near  Carey 

Findlay,  Hancock  County 

Section  20,  Blanchard  Township,  Putnam  County . 
Section  13,  Sugar  Creek  Township,  Putnam  County 

Section  15,  Amanda  Township,  Allen  County 

Lima,  Allen  County 

Section  31,  Auglaize  Township,  Paulding  County . . 

Near  Junction,  Paulding  County 

Middlepoint,  Van  Wert  County .'.. 


S.  5°  W 

S.  10°  E' toS.  10°  W.. 

S.  20°  W 

S.  40°-45°  W 

S.  28°  W 

S.  50°  W 

S.  35°  W 

S.  35°  W 

S.  48°  W 

S.  45°  W  

S.  15°  W 


H.  Winchell. 
H.  Winchell. 
H.  Winchell. 
H.  Winchell. 
H.  Winchell. 
H.  Winchell. 
H.  Winchell. 
K.  Gilbert. 
H.  Winchell. 
K.  Gilbert. 
K.  Gilbert. 


BLANCHARD    OR    DEFIANCE    MORAINE. 

This  moraine,  like  the  one  outside  of  it,  has  received  two  names — one, 
Blanchard,  from  a  stream  whose  course  it  governs,  and  the  other,  Defiance, 
from  the  principal  city  in  the  line  of  the  moraine.  While  the  former  has 
priority  in  use,  the  latter  seems  to  be  supplanting  it,  for  it  is  commonly 
refeiTed  to  among  glacialists  as  the  Defiance  moraine.  Its  course  from 
Findlay,  Ohio,  west  and  north  to  the  Michigan  line,  was  determined  by 
Gilbert  about  1870.  The  writer's  studies  have  brought  to  light  the  east- 
ward continuation  from  Findlay. 


DISTRIBUTION. 


The  Defiance  moraine,  as  indicated  in  Pis.  II  and  XIII,  follows  the 
western  border  of  the  great  interlobate  moraine  which  occupies  the  uplands 
west  of  G-rand  River  Basin  in  Ohio,  and  is  in  places  distinct  from  the 
remainder  of  the  morainic  belt.  From  near  Chardon  it  passes  southwest- 
ward  between  Chagrin  Falls  and  Twinsburg,  and  comes  to  the  Cuyahoga 
Valley  just  below  Peninsula.  Thence  it  continues  southwestward  past 
Richfield,  near  which  village  it  separates  into  two  members. 

The  outer  or  main  member  is  closely  associated  with  the  St.  Marys 
and  Wabash  moraines  to  the  vicinity  of  Lodi,  but  farther  west  it  is  entirely 
distinct  from  them.  The  inner  member  passes  through  Medina  and  crosses 
Black  River  about  5  miles  below  Lodi,  beyond  which  it  is  traceable  only 
about  15  miles,  its  western  terminus  being  near  Rochester. 

The  outer  or  main  ridge  leads  from  Lodi  in  a  course  slightly  west 


582  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

of  north  through  New  Loudon,  and  crosses  Vermilion  River  just  below 
the  junction  of  the  two  forks.  A  spur  from  the  moraine  extends  north 
2  or  3  miles  along  the  east  side  of  the  river  valley.  From  Vermilion 
River  the  moraine  bears  south  of  west  to  Chicago  Junction,  but  a  spur 
extends  north  several  miles  along  Huron  River,  reaching  the  old  beach 
south  of  Norwalk.  The  moraine  curves  to  the  north  of  west  at  Chicago 
Junction  and  passes  through  Attica  to  Republic.  It  then  turns  abruptly 
southwestward,  following  the  north  side  of  Honey  Creek  to  Melmore, 
where  it  crosses  the  creek  and  soon  comes  to  the  valley  of  Sandusky 
River.  It  crosses  the  river  below  Mexico  and  follows  up  its  noi'thwest  bluff 
to  McCutcheonville.  It  then  leads  westward  through  Alveda  to  the  bend  of 
Blanchard  River  a  few  miles  east  of  Findlay,  from  which  pohit  west  and  north 
it  was  traced  by  Gilbert.  For  about  15  miles  its  course  is  south  of  west  along 
the  north  side  of  Blanchard  River  through  Findlay  to  the  vicinity  of  Gilboa. 
It  there  turns  northwestward,  leaves  the  river,  and  takes  a  nearly  direct  course 
to  Defiance,  its  outer  border  through  much  of  the  way  being  followed  by 
Powell  Creek,  a  small  tributary  of  the  Auglaize  River.  Its  course  north  of 
the  Maumee,  as  outlined  by  Gilbert,  is  east  of  north  through  northeastern 
Defiance,  northwestern  Henry,  and  central  Fulton  counties,  its  crest  con- 
stituting the  divide  between  Tiffin  River  and  eastward-flowing  tributaries  of 
the  Maumee.  Its  course  in  Michigan  was  outlined  by  Gilbert  as  far  a,s 
Adrian,  that  city  being  at  the  western  border  of  the  moraine.  The  writer 
has  continued  the  tracing  in  Michigan  to  the  Imlay  outlet  north  of  Imlay, 
Mich.,  but  the  discussion  of  the  Michigan  portion  is  reserved  for  another 
report,  now  in  preparation. 

It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  note  that  with  the  single  exception  of  the  Maumee 
River  no  stream  crosses  this  moraine  between  Findlay  and  the  Ohio-Michigan 
line,  a  distance  of  fully  75  miles.  The  streams  on  its  outer  border  flow 
parallel  with  it,  and  away  from  Lake  Erie,  until  they  enter  the  Maumee, 
tlien  their  line  of  discharge  becomes  nearly  direct  into  the  lake.  The 
streams  on  its  inner  border  flow  directly  toward  Lake  Erie. 


The  breadth  of  the  moraine  is  seldom  less  than  2  miles,  and  is  ill  places 
4  miles  or  more.  It  is  like  a  broad  wave  whose  crest  stands  20  to  50  feet 
above  the  border  of  the  plain  outside  it.     It  falls  away  gently  on  the  inner 


ELANCHARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE. 


583 


face,  the  descent  being  barely  perceptible  to  the  eye,  but  its  outer  face 
has  a  more  rapid  descent.  On  portions  of  the  inner  slope  the  lake  waves 
have  cut  benches  or  accumulated  gravelly  ridges  which  interrupt  and  modify 
the  original  smoothness  of  the  slope.  The  outer  border  has  definite  relief 
throughout  the  curve  in  western  Ohio  and  as  far  east  as  Lodi,  beyond 
which  it  is  so  closely  combined  with  the  St.  Marys  moraine  as  to  be  difficult 
of  separation.  The  weak  inner  member  developed  between  Richfield  and 
Rochester  has  a  rehef  of  but  10  to  20  feet,  but  as  it  is  usually  only  one-half 
mile  or  so  in  width  it  is  very  distinct. 


KANGE    IN   ALTITUDE. 


The  altitude  of  the  crest  of  this  moraine  in  the  part  traced  by  Gilbert 
west  from  Findlay  declines  from  about  850  feet  on  the  meridian  of  Findlay 
to  less  than  750  feet  at  the  bluffs  of  the  Maumee,  but  rises  north  from  the 
Maumee  to  a  height  of  nearly  850  feet  near  Adrian,  Mich.  The  altitudes 
along  the  portion  east  from  Findla}^  are  set  forth  in  the  accompanying  table 

Altitudes  along  the  Defiance  moraine  hetween  Medina  and  Findlay^  Okie. 


station. 

Authority.                                     i     Altitude 
1  above  tide. 

West  of  Medina 

Northern  Ohio  R.  R 

Feet. 
1, 103 
1  1''0 

Chatham  Center,  1  mile  north  of 

Barometric  .  _ 

Lodi,  moraine  near 

933 
903 

1,182 
1, 050 

Cleveland,  Lorain  and  Wheeling  R.  R 

Preliminary  Survey  Northern  Ohio  R.  R. . 

Nova,  2  miles  northeast  of 

Near  New  London 

Near  Chicago  Junction 

Attica 

963 
900 

Near  Rockaway 

Sandusky  River  bluff 

830 

Alvada . 

Columbus,    Hocking  Valley  and   Toledo 
R.  R. 

851 

North  of  Findlay 

TOPOGRAPHY. 


In  its  surface  contours  the  Defiance  moraine  presents  more  variation 
than  au}'  of  the  minor  moraines  already  discussed.  The  portion  which  was 
deposited  above  tlie  level  of  Lake  Maumee,  and  which  may  be  designated 


584         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  EEIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  land-laid  portion,  presents  all  the  variations  displayed  by  the  moraines^ 
outside  of  it,  and  has  more  prominent  spurs  on  its  inner  or  north  border. 
The  portion  which  was  deposited  below  the  level  of  Lake  Maumee,  and 
which  may  be  designated  the  water-laid  portion,  presents  a  smooth,  some- 
what flattened  surface,  decidedly  in  contrast  with  the  land-laid  portion. 

The  detailed  description  which  follows  begins  at  the  eastern  end  at  the 
interlobate  tract  west  of  Grand  River  Basin  and  proceeds  westward  along 
the  moraine. 

The  portion  of  the  morainic  series  east  of  the  Cuyahoga  does  not 
exhibit  either  a  single  well-defined  crest  or  a  series  of  such  crests  which  can 
be  correlated  with  the  several  distinct  belts  farther  west.  Instead,  it  forms 
a  billowy  sea  of  swells  and  sags,  knobs  and  basins.  It  is  characterized  on 
its  eastern  border  by  numerous  sharp  knolls  and  winding  ridges,  15  to  50 
feet  in  height,  with  hummocky  slopes,  among  which  are  occasional  basins. 
In  places  the  basins  form  a  chain,  connected  by  narrow  sloughs,  but  quite 
as  often  they  are  isolated,  being  either  without  an  outlet  or  having  but  a 
narrow  one.  The  basins  just  referred  to  are  small,  covering  but  a  few  acres 
each.  There  are  also  a  few  large  basins  covering  a  square  mile  or  more, 
some  of  which  contain  lakelets.  Such  are  Pundesons  Pond,  north  of  Soutli 
Newberry,  and  smaller  lakes  east  of  that  >dllage,  and  the  Twin  Lakes  near 
Earlville,  and  Turtle  Lake  and  Silver  Lake  north  of  Cuyahoga  Falls.  These 
lakes  appear  to  occupy  shallow  basins,  and  nearly  all  of  them  have  outlets. 
Thev  are  fed  by  springs  from  the  bordering  gravel  knolls. 

The  western  or  inner  portion  of  the  morainic  system,  which  includes, 
perhaps,  all  that  should  be  correlated  with  the  Defiance  moraine,  is  charac- 
terized by  a  gentle  swell-and-sag  topography  with  an  occasional  develop- 
ment of  sharp  knolls  and  a  few  small  lakes.  There  is  a  somewhat  distinct 
belt  of  sharp  knolls  lying  slightly  within  (northwest  of)  the  main  morainic 
belt  which  is  thought  to  be  of  the  date  of  the  Defiance  moraine.  It  con- 
stitutes a  nearly  continuous  series  of  knolls  covering  a  belt  a  mile  or  less  in 
width,  which  passes  from  near  Fowlers  Mills  in  a  southwesterly  course  just 
south  of  Russell  Center  and  Solon  Center  to  the  valley  of  Tinkers  Creek 
at  South  Solon,  beyond  which  its  continuation  was  not  so  definitely  worked 
out.  Its  knolls  are  20  to  50  feet  in  height,  the  most  prominent  ones  being 
in  the  vicinity  of  South  Solon  in  Tinkers  Creek  Valley.  In  places  where 
sharp  knolls  are  wanting  it  presents  gentle  swells  and  a  well-defined  rehef 
of  15  to  30  feet  above  the  immediate  outer  border. 


BLANCHAKD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE.  585 

Along  the  bluffs  of  the  Cuyahoga,  from  near  Peninsula  southward  to  the 
bend  of  the  river,  the  moraine  is  characterized  by  lower  swells  than  on  the 
higher  lands  a  short  distance  back  from  the  river.     The  bluffs  bordering 
the  stream  are  about  250  feet   high,  but  they  do  not  represent  the  height 
of  the  uplands,  there  being  a  rise  of  nearly  250  feet  more  to  the  brow  of 
the  escarpments  of  Carboniferous  conglomerate  which  border  the  valley  at 
a  distance  of  1   to  3  miles  from  the  stream.     The  tract  along  the  valley 
between  these  escarpments  bears  resemblance  to  a  terrace  in  its  nearly  uni- 
form altitude,  but  it  is  dotted  with  low  drift  swells  of  morainic  type.     It 
is  probable  that  the  valley  was  filled  with  drift  about  to  this  height  while 
the  ice  overhung  it,  and  the  inner  valley,  250  feet  in  depth,  has  been 
excavated  since  the  ice  sheet  withdrew.     Between  this  stream  and  Medina 
there  are  few  drift  knolls  worthy  of  note;  but  west  of  Medina,  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  York  Township,  Medina  County,  are  numerous  drift  knolls  and 
ridges  which  in  places  are  definite  enough  to  admit  of  description.     The 
inner  ridge  lies  just  south  of  York  Center,  a  very  level  tract  extending 
for  several  miles  north  from  that  village.     The  ridge  trends  northeast  to 
southwest  and  rises  abruptly  20  to  25  feet  above  the  plain  northwest  of  it. 
A  second  ridge,  about  one-fourth  mile  from  this,  on  the  southeast,  rises  10  to 
20  feet  higher  still.     Near  the  south  line  of  York  Township  is  another  drift 
rido-e  20  feet  or  more  in  height,  which  has  an  east-to-west  trend.    The  inter- 
val between  these  ridges  is  well  filled  with  drift  knolls  about  10  feet  high. 
This  system  of  ridges  and  knolls  continues  in  a  com'se  south  of  west  across 
southeastern  Litchfield  Township,  its  principal  ridge  touching  the  southeast 
corner  of  that  township.     There  are  scattering  knolls  outside  this  main  ridge 
in  the  northern  part  of  Lafayette  Township.     In  Chatham  Township,  also, 
the  moraine  is  separable  into  three  distinct  ridges.     The  outer  one  occupies 
the  eastern  part  of  the  township  and  trends  north-northeast  to  south-south- 
west.   It  consists  of  a  nearly  continuous  chain  of  knolls  10  to  20  feet  high, 
on  each  side  of  which  there  are  scattering  knolls.     It  lies  on  the  slope  east 
of  the  southward-flowing  portion  of  East  Black  River.     The  middle  ridge 
occupies  the  central  portion  of  the  township,  passing  from  north  to  south 
entirelv  across  it.     It  lies  west  of  East  Black  River,  and  constitutes  the 
barrier  which  caused  the  stream  to  take  a  southward  course  in  this  town- 
ship.    It  is  about  a  half  mile  in  width,  and  is  a  smooth  ridge  with  scarcely 
any  knolls  and  basins  along  it.     However,  about  a  mile  south  of  Chatham 
Center,  and  60  rods  west  of  the  Center  road,  a  basin  several  feet  deep,  and 


586  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

just  north  of  it  a  sharp  knoll  12  to  15  feet  high,  were  noted.  The  ridge 
continues  south  to  Lodi,  in  Harrisville  Township,  where  it  unites  with  the 
outer  one.  The  inner  ridge  crosses  the  northwest  corner  of  Chatham 
Township  in  a  northeast-to-southwest  course,  being  combined  with  the 
middle  ridge  in  the  north  part  of  the  township,  but  entii'ely  distinct  from  it 
throughout  its  course  toward  the  west. 

The  inner  one  of  the  ridges  above  noted  is  developed  as  a  distinct  ridge 
for  a  distance  of  20  miles  farther  west,  and  its  general  course  was  outlined 
in  connection  with  the  distribution  of  the  inoraine.  It  has  a  width  of  only 
one-fourth  to  one -half  mile,  but  stands  10  to  25  feet  above  bordering  ti'acts. 
Between  it  and  the  mam  Defiance  moraine  there  is  a  nearly  plane  tract 
rising  toward  that  moraine,  whose  main  crest  from  Black  River  westward 
lies  2  to  5  miles  south  of  this  imier  ridge.  The  ridge  may  be  traced  without 
difficulty  as  far  west  as  the  bend  of  Black  River  in  southwestern  Brighton 
Township.  West  of  this  stream  there  is  no  well-defined  ridge,  but  drift 
knolls  are  quite  numerous  for  a  short  distance,  when  the  morainic  topography 
disappears,  there  being  a  nearly  plane  tract  both  to  the  north  and  west. 

Returning  to  the  main  ridge  at  Lodi,  we  find  a  sharply  rolling  belt 
standing  15  to  30  feet  above  the  Harrisville  Marsh,  which  borders  it  on  the 
south.  There  are  shallow  basins  both  on  the  crest  and  slopes.  Some  of 
them  contain  boggy  bottoms  but  none  were  observed  to  hold  lakelets.  The 
moraine  crosses  a  western  tributary  of  East  Black  River,  2  miles  southwest 
of  Lodi.  It  then  curves  to  a  course  north  of  west  and  follows  the  north  side 
of  that  stream  to  its  source,  there  reaching  a  culminating  point  with  an 
altitude  about  1,180  feet  above  tide,  from  which  it  descends  southward  to 
the  Vermilion  River.  It  consists  throughout  this  portion  of  its  course  of  a 
single  ridge  with  sharp  crest,  on  the  slopes  of  which  there  are  numerous 
gentle  swells  5  to  15  feet  in  height.  It  is  more  conspicuous  by  its  relief  than 
by  its  knolls  or  morainic  contours,  the  relief  being  20  to  40  feet  and  rather 
abrupt.  The  inner  slope  has  but  gentle  undulations  as  far  west  as  the 
meridian  of  New  London,  beyond  which  it  is  dotted  with  sharper  drift 
knolls,  which  become  more  and  more  numerous  upon  approaching  Vermilion 
River,  until  at  the  east  bluff  of  the  river  they  constitute  a  very  sharpl}' 
morainic  belt  which  extends  north  a  few  miles  as  a  spur  from  the  moraine. 
The  northern  end  of  the  spur  is  about  a  mile  north  of  the  corners  of  Hartland, 
Clarksfield.  New  London,  and  Fitchville  townships,  Huron  County,  where 


BLANCHARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE.  587 

it  terminates  abruptly  with  sharp  knolls  20  feet  or  more  in  height.  For  2 A 
miles  south  from  this  place  the  spur  consists  only  of  a  chain  of  scattering 
knolls,  about  one  for  every  one-fourth  mile,  which  follow  somewhat  closely 
the  range  line  between  New  London  and  Fitchville  townships.  The  knolls 
are  conical  hillocks  10  to  30  feet  in  height,  rising  abruptly  from  tlie  plain 
which  they  occupy.  The  spur  then  assumes  greater  proportions,  and  con- 
tains numerous  basins,  6  to  1 0  feet  or  more  in  depth,  and  winding  ridges  as 
well  as  conical  hillocks,  the  whole  surface  being  undulatory.  About  a  mile 
to  the  south  it  joins  the  main  ridge  of  the  moraine  which,  in  j^assing  this 
spur,  still  maintains  its  distinct  east-to-west  trend. 

Westward  from  Vermilion  River  the  moraine  for  about  7  miles  consists 
of  a  single  main  ridge.  Its  crest  is  not  so  continuous  nor  of  so  uniform 
height  as  east  from  that  stream,  and  its  slojjes  are  dotted  by  larger  knolls, 
some  knolls  being  30  feet  or  more  in  height,  while  knolls  10  to  20  feet  high 
are  numerous.  Basins  occur  but  are  not  so  deep  nor  so  numerous  as  in  the 
spur  east  of  Vermilion  River.  The  breadth  of  this  portion  of  the  moraine 
is  about  2  miles.     North  from  it  the  surface  soon  becomes  quite  plane. 

In  eastern  Fairfield  Township  and  in  Greenfield  and  Peru  townships, 
Huron  County,  in  the  districts  embraced  between  the  east  and  west  branches 
of  Huron  River,  there  is  another  spur  running  northward  7  or  8  miles  from 
the  main  ridge  of  the  moraine.  The  moraine  here  embraces  nearly  all  the 
known  phases  of  morainic  topography,  a  portion  of  it  being-  a  gently 
undulating  swell-and-sag  tract,  while  a  larger  portion  is  characterized  by 
sharp  knobs  and  basins;  esker  ridges  also  occur  in  combination  with  the 
knolls  and  basins,  and  near  the  northern  end  of  the  spur,  where  the  knolls 
are  low  and  infrequent,  numerous  basins  occur,  while  along  the  south  border 
of  the  spur  there  is  the  till  ridge  which  forms  the  moraine  proper.  The 
southern  portion  of  Grreenfield  Township  presents  a  swell-and-sag  topog- 
raphy, the  swells  being  10  to  25  feet  in  height.  The  northern  portion  of 
this  township  and  adjoining  portions  of  Fairfield  and  Peru  present  a  sharp 
knob-and-basin  topography,  the  knobs  being  10  to  50  feet  in  height  while 
the  basins  range  from  a  foot  or  two  up  to  20  feet  or  more  in  depth,  some  of 
the  deepest  basins  occupying  an  area  of  but  1  to  2  acres. 

The  principal  esker  ridge  within  this  spur  lies  along  the  "ridge  road'' 
leading  south  from  Norwalk  through  western  Bronson  and  western  Fairfield 
townships.      It    extends    from    the    southern    part  of  Bronson    Township 


588  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

southward  about  to  the  east-to-west  center  road  in  Fairfield  Township,  a  dis- 
tance of  3  miles.  Its  height  ranges  from  10  up  to  50  feet,  or  even  more. 
Its  breadth,  including  slopes,  is  75  to  125  j-ards.  It  presents,  therefore,  very 
abrupt  slopes.  There  are  occasional  short  spurs  running  out  from  it,  and  at 
its  southern  end  there  is  a  plexus  of  sharp,  esker-hke  ridges,  40  to  50  feet 
high,  inclosing  basins  20  to  30  feet  in  depth,  the  system  occupying  a  breadth 
of  one-fourth  mile  or  more.  It  is  bordered  on  each  side  throughout  its 
entire  length  by  the  knolls  of  the  morainic  spur,  and  its  surface  in  places 
has  hummocks  of  drift  plastered  onto  it  which,  when  numerous,  cause  it  to 
resemble  a  moraine  more  nearly  than  an  esker.  These  hummocks  on  the 
esker  ridge  contain  poorly  assorted  material  together  with  small  amounts 
of  till,  features  which  indicate  glacial  deposition  rather  than  fluvial.  The 
features  suggest  that  the  material  forming  this  esker  was  laid  down  by  a 
stream  flowing  beneath  the  ice  sheet,  and  that  the  englacial  material  was 
subsequently  left  upon  it  in  irregular  deposits  as  the  ice  sheet  disappeared. 
In  Greenfield  Township,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  middle  branch  of  Huron 
River,  there  are  short  esker  ridges  one-half  mile  or  less  in  width,  having 
either  a  north-to-south  or  a  northeast-to-southwest  trend. 

North  of  Macksville,  among  the  low  swells,  are  basins,  which  range 
in  depth  from  8  to  15  feet.  Topography  of  this  character  extends  to  the 
upper  beach  of  Lake  Maumee,  and  probably  extended  slightly  farther  north 
before  the  beach  was  formed,  there  being  in  northern  Peru  Township 
occasional  basins  just  north  of  the  beach  line ;  they  do  not,  however,  extend 
a  mile  beyond  the  beach.  The  knolls,  if  present  in  that  district,  have  been 
entirely  obliterated  by  the  lake  waves,  so  that  with  the  exception  of  these 
basins  the  morainic  features  appear  to  terminate  at  the  beach  line.  In  the 
western  part  of  Peru  Township  the  beach  follows  the  northwest  blufii'  of 
Huron  River  and  has  sandy  knolls  10  to  20  feet  in  height  associated  with 
it.  It  is  possible  that  these  knolls  are  of  glacial  origin,  though  it  seems 
probable,  from  their  restriction  to  the  borders  of  the  beach,  that  they 
received  their  sand  from  the  glacial  lake.  The  cause  for  the  development 
of  this  prominent  spur  has  not  been  determined. 

I'he  main  ridge  continues  westward  past  the  southern  end  of  this  spur, 
its  crest  being  about  a  mile  south  of  Chicago  Junction.  It  is  here  decidedly 
billowy,  with  numerous  swells  10  to  20  feet  high,  but  within  a  mile  west  of 
the  meridian  of  Chicago  Junction  it  loses  its  sharply  morainic  expression 


BLANCHARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE.  589 

and  consists  of  gentle  swells  rising  10  to  15  feet  in  a  distance  of  30  to  40 
rods.  The  Avhole  surface  is,  however,  gently  undulating  and  presents  a 
decided  contrast  to  the  flat  tracts  bordering  the  moraine  on  the  north  and  on 
the  south.  For  3  or  4  miles  the  moraine  is  low  and  its  expression  feeble. 
It  then  assumes  the  form  of  a  sharp  main  ridge,  standing  20  to  30  feet  above 
the  plain  south  of  it,  on  which  there  are  numerous  low  swells  10  feet  or  less 
in  height  and  an  occasional  larger  one  15  to  20  feet  in  height;  basins  also 
are  not  infrequent.  The  breadth  of  the  ridge,  including  slopes,  is  scarcely 
a  mile.  This  shai'ply  ridged  phase  continues  to  the  vicinity  of  Republic, 
where  the  moraine  expands  to  a  width  of  2  or  3  miles,  and  curves  from  a 
course  north  of  west  to  one  nearly  southwest.  In  this  broad  portion  there 
are  ridges  forming  the  southern  border  of  the  moraine,  north  from  which 
are  loosely  connected  knolls  and  low  short  ridges  of  drift  forming  a  rolling 
or  billowy  surface.  The  oscillations  are  in  places  25  or  30  feet  in  300  to 
400  yards.    The  widening  of  the  moraine  here  has  the  form  of  a  slight  spur. 

At  the  curving  portion  of  the  moraine,  south  of  Republic,  there  is  a 
double  ridge,  each  member  of  which  trends  east-northeast  to  west-south- 
west, but  only  the  inner  one  continues  far  to  the  southwest.  This  ridge 
leads  down  to  the  Sandusky  Valley,  following  the  northwest  side  of  Honey 
Creek  to  Melmore,  where  it  crosses  the  stream  and  passes  southwestward 
to  the  Sandusky  River.  On  this  slope,  between  the  creek  and  river,  it 
presents  only  low  swells,  seldom  exceeding  5  feet  in  height,  and  occasional 
shallow  basins.  There  is  a  well-defined  ridge  trending  east-northeast  to 
west-southwest,  lying  near  the  Melmore  and  Mexico  road  in  sections  33 
and  32,  Eden  Township,  which  constitutes  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine. 
North  of  it  for  a  mile  or  more  is  an  undulating  tract,  points  on  which  rise 
slightly  above  the  level  of  the  outer  ridge. 

West  of  the  Sandusky  River  the  moraine  has  stronger  expression  than 
it  has  on  the  east  side  of  that  stream,  its  highest  points,  whei'e  crossed  by 
the  Tiffin  and  McCutcheonville  road,  standing  40  to  50  feet  above  the 
village  of  McCutcheonville  and  about  75  feet  above  the  river.  It  consists 
here  of  a  series  of  short  ridges  with  east-to-west  trend  and  numerous 
knolls  10  to  15  feet  high  covering  3  to  5  acres  or  more  each.  There  are  a 
few  basins  on  its  outer  slope. 

From  the  Sandusky  River  westward,  past  Findlay  to  western  Hancock 
County,  there  is  a  nearly  continuous  ridge,  on  whose  crest  and  slopes  are 


590  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

gentle  swells  10  feet  or  less  in  height,  and  shallow,  saucer-like  depressions. 
Similar  swells  and  basins  characterize  nearly  the  whole  of  the  tract  l.ying 
between  the  morainic  crest  and  the  upper  beach  of  Lake  Matimee,  about 
6  to  8  miles  to  the  north. 

Near  the  comaty  line  just  referred  to  the  crest  becomes  ill  defined  and 
the  moraine  consists  of  a  series  of  small,  sharp  knolls  with  abrupt  slopes, 
among-  which  are  numerous  basins.  These  knolls  and  basins,  small  though 
they  are  (seldom  occupying  an  acre  each),  present  all  the  characteristic 
features  of  the  kuob-and-basin  topography  of  a  kettle  moraine.  The 
knolls,  however,  rarely  exceed  10  feet  hi  height,  whereas  in  the  strongly 
developed  portions  of  kettle  moraines  they  rise  abruptly,  in  some  cases  to 
a  height  of  100  feet.  This  phase  seems  to  mark  the  transition  from  the 
land-laid  to  the  water-laid  portion,  and.  is  developed  for  a  distance  of  only 
10  or  12  miles. 

About  3  miles  northwest  of  Leipsic  the  moraine  is  crossed  by  the  upper 
beach  of  Lake  Maumee,  and.  from  there  to  the  Maumee  River  and  thence 
northward  nearly  to  Wauseon,  Ohio,  it  presents  a  very  smooth  surface. 
To  the  unaided  eye  this  portion  can  not  be  readily  distinguished  from  the 
bordering  plahis.  Indeed,  there  are  few  places  within  the  region  under 
discussion  where  the  drift  surface  is  so  nearly  featureless.  Yet  this  part  of 
the  Defiance  moraine  has  sufficient  relief  to  control  drainage  to  a  remarkable 
degree  and  to  cause  the  Belmore  beach  to  extend  out  nearly  to  the  Maumee 
River,  as  indicated  on  PI.  XXIV.  This  smoothness  of  the  moraine  is  appar- 
ently due  to  its  having  been  laid  down  in  water  rather  than  to  subsequent 
wave  action.  The  wave  work  shown  in  the  beaches  and  cut  banks  of  that 
region  is  evidently  inadequate  to  produce  so  marked  a  change  as  the 
moraine  presents  in  passing  from  the  land-laid  to  the  water-laid  portion. 
The  studies  carried  on  by  Taylor  in  eastern  Michigan  and  in  the  Pro^dnce 
of  Ontario  have  brought  to  light  several  water-laid  moraines,  which,  like 
this  portion  of  the  Defiance  moraine,  are  known  to  be  present  from  their 
connections  with  well-defined  land-laid  n:ioraines  and  from  their  influence 
upon  drainage,  but  which  are  with  difficulty  detected  by  the  eye. 

From  the  vicinity  of  Wauseon  northward  to  the  Michigan  line  there 
is  a  tract  similar  to  that  near  Leipsic  which  connects  the  land-laid  and  the 
water-laid  parts  of  the  moraine,  though  it  is  more  sandy.     There  are  a  few 


BLANCHARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE.  591 

low  till  swells  5  to  10  feet  high,  and  with  thein  sandy  knolls  aud  ridges, 
some  of  which  are  20  to  25  feet  in  height.  This  part  of  lhe  moraine  is 
known  to  have  been  only  partly  submerged,  for  portions  of  it  rise  20  to  30 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  upper  beach  of  Lake  Manmee,  yet  the  sand 
has  been  deposited  on  the  highest  points.  Tliere  has  probably  been  some 
transportation  of  the  sand  by  wind  after  the  withdrawal  of  the  ice  sheet, 
but  some  of  the  sand  knolls  appear  to  have  been  formed  like  the  till  knolls 
in  connection  v/ith  glaciation.  This  seems  to  be  the  case  where  knolls  of 
sand  are  isolated,  and  separated  from  other  sand  deposits  by  wide  areas  with 
scarcely  a  trace  of  sand,  as  often  occurs  in  that  part  of  the  moraine. 

Upon  continuing  north  into  Michigan  a  few  miles  the  typical  land-laid 
moraine  appears,  with  a  sharply  outlined  crest  and  swell-and-sag  topogra- 
phy, similar  to  that  found  near  Findlay,  Ohio.  The  description  of  the 
Michigan  portion  of  the  moraine  will,  however,  be  deferred  to  a  later  report. 

STRUCTURE    OF    THE    DRIFT. 

The  Defiance  moraine,  like  the  moraines  which  lie  outside  of  it,  is 
composed  very  largely  of  till  in  which  there  is  a  liberal  admixture  of  small 
stones,  but  surface  bowlders  and  large  stones  are  comparativeh^  rare.  The 
water-laid  part  seems  to  be  a  little  more  compact  than  the  land-laid  part, 
but  the  contrast  is  not  striking.  The  water-laid  part  carries  remarkably 
little  surface  sand,  much  of  its  surface  being  a  black,  mucky  clay.  The 
little  sand  and  gravel  which  occurs  is  mainly  confined  to  the  Belmore 
beach  and  its  immediate  borders. 

As  already  noted,  sand  knolls  are  a  conspicuous  feature  from  near 
Wauseon  northward  to  the  Michigan  line.  There  are  also  a  few  in  the 
tract  near  Leipsic,  Ohio,  that  connects  the  land-laid  with  the  water-laid 
part  of  the  moraine.  These  are  often  comjjosed  of  clear  sand,  but  in  some 
cases  a  few  pebbles  are  present.  The  sand  is  somewhat  calcareous  at 
depths  of  several  feet  from  the  surface,  but  the  surface  portion  seems  to  be 
thoroughly  leached.  In  the  portion  near  Leipsic  some  interesting  varia- 
tions are  displayed;  in  one  knoll  onlj^  a  fine  sand  may  be  present,  while  its 
neighbors  are  composed  of  clay,  or  a  portion  of  a  knoll  may  be  composed 
of  sand  and  tlie  remainder  of  clay,  the  whole  being  molded  into  a  sym- 
metrical knoll,  like  the  different  kinds  of  material  in  a  kame.  A  few  knolls 
contain  pockets  of  gravel,  but  coarse  material  is  rather  rare.     These  abrupt 


592  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

variations  are  perhaps  to  be  expected  in  the  part  of  tlie  moraine  which  was 
formed  near  the  lake  level. 

In  the  land-laid  part  of  the  moraine  from  near  Findlay  eastward  occa- 
sional shai'p  gravelly  knolls  occur,  and  also  a  few  short  esker  ridges,  as 
already  indicated,  but  they  do  not  constitute  a  conspicuous  feature. 

The  surface  bowlders,  as  in  other  moraines  of  this  region,  are  chiefly 
crystalline  rocks  of  Canadian  derivation,  but  Paleozoic  rocks  are  also  repre- 
sented. Some  of  the  rocks  and  minerals  are  of  such  restricted  outcrop  that 
their  sources  may  be  determined,  notably  the  red  jasper  conglomerates, 
copper  nuggets,  and  certain  limestones. 

Red  jasper  conglomerates  have  been  found  on  the  spur  of  the  Defiance 
moraine  south  of  Norwalk,  and  copper  near  Medina,  both  of  which  are 
thought  to  indicate  that  there  has  been  an  ice  movement  in  a  course  east  of 
south  from  the  north  shore  of  Georgian  Bay  and  the  eastern  end  of  Lake 
SuDerior.  This  being  true,  the  movement  is  out  of  harmony  with  the  later 
movements  of  the  ice  sheet  in  northern  Ohio,  which,  as  shown  by  moraines 
and  stride,  were  southwestward.  A  fine  specimen  of  the  red  jasper  con- 
glomerate is  to  be  seen  in  the  yard  in  front  of  F.  Parrott's  residence,  in  the 
northwest  part  of  Fairfield  Township,  about  8  miles  south  of  Norwalk.  It 
was  found  by  Mr.  Parrott  near  the  line  of  Peru  and  Bronson  townships,  a 
mile  or  more  south  of  Macksville.  It  is  3  or  4  feet  in  diameter  and  well 
rounded.  One-half  is  an  almost  solid  mass  of  pebbles,  whose  size  ranges 
.  from  one-half  inch  up  to  2  inches  or  more.  The  majority  are  semitrans- 
parent  quartz,  but  red  and  blue  jasper  pebbles  are  not  rare.  The  other 
half  of  the  rock  is  nearly  free  from  pebbles,  being  a  coarse-grained  quartzite 
with  a  faint  pink  tinge.  The  pebbles  are  so  firmly  cemented  that  they  are 
in  some  cases  more  easily  fractured  than  torn  loose  from  their  matrix. 
Bowlders  of  this  class  are  not  rare  over  the  portion  of  Ohio  lying  west  of 
a  line  connecting  Brownhelm,  Norwalk,  and  Mansfield,  but  are  very  rare 
farther  east. 

The  limestone  bowlders  in  Northampton  Township,  Summit  County, 
which  Newberry  thinks  were  derived  from  the  islands  of  Lake  Erie^  lie 
in  this  moraine,  but  those  observed  near  Talmadge  lie  in  an  earlier  moraine 
It  is  quite  probable  that  these  limestones  and  also  the  red  jasper  con 
glomerates  and  other  bowlders  derived  from  the  north  or  northwest  were 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  1873,  p.  206. 


BLANCH ARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE.  593 

brought  in  before  this,  moraine  was  formed  and  were  then  taken  up  and 
redeposited  with  the  moraine. 

The  following  detailed  account  of  well  sections  and  other  exposures  of 
the  drift  begins  in  Geauga  County  near  the  great  interlobate  moraine  and 
follows  the  Defiance  moraine  westward. 

Mr.  Ashcroft's  well,  on  elevated  land  in  Munson  Township,  Geauga 
County,  penetrated  20  feet  of  till  without  reaching  rock.  A  knoll  near  by 
rises  20  feet  above  the  well  mouth. 

At  Leach's  grocery,  in  southern  Newberry  Township,  a  well  struck 
rock  at  50  feet.  It  is  on  comparatively  low  ground,  150  to  175  feet  below 
sandstone  hills  north  of  it.  On  these  hills  the  drift  seldom  exceeds  30  feet 
in  depth. 

At  Mrs.  Reed's,  2  miles  west  of  South  Newberry,  on  ground  slightly 
higher  than  that  in  the  village,  a  well  159  feet  deep  did  not  reach  rock. 
It  was  mainly  through  sand,  but  there  was  a  soapy  clay  at  bottom. 
Bo.wlders  were  encountered  at  40  to  42  feet. 

At  WiUiam  McLaughlin's,  2  miles  west  of  South  Newberry  and  less 
than  one-half  mile  from  Mrs.  Reed's,  a  well  penetrated  a  large  amount  of 
blue  till,  tlie  only  thick  bed  of  sand  and  gravel  being  in  the  lower  25  feet. 
Rock  was  struck  at  162  feet. 

About  a  mile  west  of  McLaughlin's,  on  ground  but  little  lower,  rock  is 
exposed  in  shallow  ravines,  and  southward  from  there  along  Bridge  Creek, 
in  Auburn  Township,  rock  is  exposed  to  a  height  of  25  feet  above  the  creek. 
Immediately  west  of  this  creek,  on  ground  but  a  few  feet  higher,  wells  70 
to  80  feet  in  depth  do  not  reach  rock. 

Near  Auburn  Center  ravines  30  to  40  feet  deep  do  not  expose  rock. 
The  drift  in  knolls  near  Auburn  Center  contains  much  gravel,  but  below 
the  level  of  the  base  of  the  knolls  there  appears  to  be  a  sheet  of  till. 

In  the  northwest  part  of  Auburn  Township  G..  A.  Richards  has  a  well 
on  comparatively  low  ground  which  does  not  strike  rock  at  a  depth  of  65  feet. 

A  well  at  Oscar  Niece's,  in  Brainbridge  Township,  southwestern 
Geauga  County,  is  reported  by  the  well  driller,  R.  A.  Dayton,  of  Burton, 
Ohio,  to  have  penetrated  115  feet  of  drift.  A  well  3  miles  west  of  Bain- 
bi-idge  Center,  near  the  line  of  Geauga  and  Cuyahoga  counties  (owner's 
name  not  known),  also  reported  by  R.  A.  Dayton,  penetrates  about  200 
feet  of  drift. 

MON   XLI 38 


594  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

At  Asahel  Chamberliu's,  3  miles  iiortli  of  Twinsburg,  a  well  struck 
rock  at  55  feet,  as  reported  by  the  well  driller,  E.  B.  Center.  At  C.  H. 
Cramer's,  one-fourth  mile  north  of  Chamberlin's,  the  drift  is  80  feet.  At 
S.  Hales,  across  the  street  from  Cramer's,  the  drift  is  also  80  feet. 
At  Mrs.  Maloney's,  2.^  miles  north  of  Twinsburg,  the  drift  is  60  feet. 

At  George  Haskell's,  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Solon  Township, 
Cuyahoga  County,  a  well  75  feet  deep  does  not  strike  rock.  At  James 
Aiken's,  also  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Solon  Township,  a  well  passed 
through  140  feet  of  di'ift.  At  Frank  Baldwin's,  near  Aiken's,  the  drift  is 
about  125  feet.  In  the  last  seven  wells  mentioned  the  drift  is  mainly  till, 
though  in  some  of  them  the  drillers  were  troubled  by  beds  of  quicksand. 

At  Twinsburg,  in  the  valley  of  Tinkers  Creek,  a  well  at  Albert 
Chapman's,  108  feet  deep,  does  not  reach  rock.  It  is  mainly  through  sand. 
At  William  Center's,  3  miles  northwest  of  Twinsburg,  a  well  entered  rock 
at  40  feet,  and  at  E.  B.  Center's,  one-half  mile  west,  on  ground  with  about 
the  same  altitude,  rock  is  struck  at  14  feet.  For  2  miles  north  or  south 
from  E.  B.  Center's  many  wells  on  the  high  ground  reach  rock  at  14  to 
25  feet. 

At  Macedonia,  Leroy  Foster's  well  penetrated  80  feet  of  drift,  largely 
sand.  At  B.  A.  Robinett's,  one-half  mile  northwest  of  Macedonia,  a  well 
struck  rock  at  40  feet,  and  a  short  distance  north  of  there  rock  ledges 
rise  considerably  above  the  level  of  Macedonia  station. 

In  Aurora  Township,  Portage  County,  exposures  along  ravines  show 
30  to  40  feet  of  till  with  scarcely  any  assorted  material,  and  no  outcrops  of 
rock  were  noted. 

In  Streetsboro  Township  the  moraine  is  composed  of  till  in  the  central 
and  western  portions  and  gravelly  knolls  in  the  eastern.  Several  wells 
show  the  drift  to  be  rather  thick.  One,  a  mile  north  of  Streetsboro  Center, 
at  Mrs.  Russell's,  struck  rock  at  115  feet.  At  Streetsboro  Center,  N.  D. 
Peck's  well,  74  feet  deep,  did  not  reach  rock.  At  Samuel  Barker's,  li  miles 
south  of  Streetsboro  Center,  a  well  146  feet  deep  strikes  no  rock.  The 
upper  100  feet  was  till,  the  remainder  gravel.  At  H.  V.  Crowley's,  one- 
half  mile  farther  south,  a  well  252  feet  deep  did  not  reach  rock.  It  passed 
through  much  sand  and  gravel.  The  well  mouth  is  about  30  feet  lower 
than  at  Barker's,  or  about  1,125  feet  above  tide.  About  2  miles  southeast 
from  Mr.  Crowley's,  on  the  east  side  of  East  Twin  Lake,  is  a  well  300  feet 


BLANCH ARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE.  595 

deep  which  did  not  reach  rock.  It  is  on  Mrs.  James  Haymaker's  farm. 
The  altitude  of  the  well  mouth  is  about  1,100  feet  above  tide.  The  Cleve- 
land and  Canton  Railway  has  driven  spiles  in  the  borders  of  a  swampy 
tract  between  Streetsboro  station  and  Streetsboro  Corners  to  a  depth  of 
127  feet  without  reaching-  rock.  The  above  sections  indicate  a  deep 
valle}'  between  Streetsboro  and  Kent  in  what  is  now  a  gentl}^  undulatory 
district  but  little  lower  than  the  sandstone  hills.  No  definite  knowledge  as 
to  its  preglacial  course  and  connections  was  obtained,  since  the  region  is 
so  heavily  covered  with  drift  in  all  directions  as  to  obscure  the  preglacial 
topography. 

Newberry  reports  a  well  in  the  valley  of  Cuyahoga  River,  near  the 
line  of  Cuyahoga  and  Summit  counties,  that  struck  rock  at  220  feet  below 
the  level  of  the  stream  and  about  175  feet  below  the  level  of  the  surface  of 
Lake  Erie.^  Several  borings  in  Cleveland  show  a  rock  floor  much  lower,2 
the  lowest  level  being  nearly  500  feet  below  Lake  Erie,  or  not  more  than 
100  feet  above  tide. 

Within  the  city  of  Medina  a  range  in  the  thickness  of  the  drift  from 
zero  up  to  60  feet  was  noted,  the  greatest  depth  reported  being  in  a  well 
for  the  city  at  the  northwest  corner  of  the  public  square.  The  altitude  is 
about  30  feet  greater  at  this  well  than  at  rock  outcrops  in  the  southwest 
part  of  the  city. 

In  Chatham  Center  a  well  at  E.  Talbott's,  42  feet  deep,  obtains  water 
from  a  gravel  bed  beneath  till.  A  well  at  the  crossroads  in  this  village,  56 
feet  in  depth,  did  not  reach  rock.  On  Mr.  Sanford's  farm,  1^  miles  south 
of  Chatham  Center,  a  well  was  made  many  years  ago  by  Mr.  Packard 
which  was  still  in  the  drift  at  a  depth  of  50  feet.  These  wells  are  all  near 
the  crest  of  the  morainic  ridge  that  follows  the  west  side  of  East  Black 
River. 

At  Lodi  rock  is  exposed  in  the  low  ground  near  Black  River  and  is 
reported  to  be  struck  at  slight  depth  beneath  the  Harrisville  Marsh,  south 
of  that  village;  but  a  deep  channel  has  been  discovered  west  of  Lodi  in  the 
lowland  tract  connecting  Black  River  and  Killbuck  Creek,  the  drift  there 
being  about  200  feet  in  depth. 

At  the  village  of  Homerville,  which  stands  just  south  of  the  Defiance 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  p.  205. 

2  Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  XX,  pp.  176-181,  PI.  XIII.  See  also  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  VIII, 
1897,  pp.  7-1.3. 


596  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

moraine,  rock  is  struck  at  10  to  15  feet.  The  thickness  on  the  moraine  is 
probably  as  much  greater  as  its  relief  above  the  outer  border  district — 
about  30  feet. 

At  the  villag-e  of  Sullivan,  also  just  south  of  the  moraine,  a  well  at  the 
Sullivan  House,  35  feet  deep,  does  not  reach  rock;  and  many  other  wells  in 
that  vicinity  obtain  water  from  the  drift  at  25  to  30  feet.  Blue  till  is  encoun- 
tered at  about  10  feet  and  extends  to  the  water  veui,  which  is  iisually  from 
gravel.  On  the  north  slope  of  the  moraine,  3  or  4  miles  northwest  from 
Sullivan,  there  are  exposures  of  rock  in  the  shallow  ravines.  The  thick- 
ness of  drift  along  the  crest  in  this  vicinity  probably  averages  50  feet,  as  it 
stands  fnlly  30  feet  above  the  bordering  plains. 

At  Nova  the  town  well  strikes  rock  at  25  to  30  feet.  This  village 
also  is  on  the  plain  south  of  the  moraine. 

Along  the  inner  till  ridge,  in  Spencer  and  Huntington  townships,  rock 
is  struck  at  20  to  30  feet,  and  outcrops  are  found  in  shallow  ravines.  In 
Spencer  Center  there  is  a  cutting  15  feet  deep,  where  the  ridge  is  crossed 
by  the  Wheeling  and  Lake  Ei-ie  Railroad,  which  shows  yellow  till  from 
the  top  nearly  to  the  base,  and  there  blue  till  sets  in.  A  few  rods  south 
is  a  ravine  in  which  rock  appears  at  a  level  about  20  feet  below  the  base 
of  the  cutting. 

In  the  vicinity  of  New  London  the  drift  is  rather  thick.  Dorr  Smith, 
a  well  driller,  has  made  several  wells  in  the  village  which  have  passed 
through  95  to  115  feet  of  di'ift.  Many  wells  obtain  water  in  gravel  below 
till  at  75  to  95  feet.  It  is  Mr.  Smith's  opinion  that  there  is  a  buried 
channel  leading  from  New  London  northeastward  past  Wellington,  for  rock 
is  not  struck  along  this  line  at  so  shallow  depth  as  it  is  on  either  side  of 
the  line.  A  well  at  Bushnell  Post's,  2  miles  north  of  New  London,  appears 
to  be  in  this  channel,  since  it  has  over  100  feet  of  drift;  and  two  wells  in 
the  southwest  corner  of  Brighton  Township,  Lorain  County,  also  appear  to 
be  in  the  channel — one  at  D.  S.  Stocking's  having  98  feet,  and  the  other 
at  C.  D.  Stocking's  88  feet  of  drift.  In  C.  D.  Stocking's  well  there  is  68 
feet  of  till,  beneath  which  20  ^eet  of  fine  sand  was  penetrated.  Near 
Rochester,  about  2  miles  southeast  of  Mr.  Stocking's  and  at  about  the  same 
altitude,  James  Horton  has  a  well  which  struck  rock  at  only  55  feet,  and 
rock  is  struck  in  shallow  wells  a  mile  or  so  west  of  Mr.  Stocking's.  In 
Wellington  there  are  several  wells  which  penetrate  90  to  105  feet  of  drifr. 


BLANCHARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE.  597 

The  upper  75  feet  is  usually  a  compact  till,  below  which  there  is  a  fine  sand 
extending  to  the  rock.  About  2  miles  northeast  of  Wellington,  at  a  cheesei 
factory,  a  well  penetrated  91  feet  of  drift.  The  channel  has  been  traced  no 
farther  northeast.  The  drift  has  completely  concealed  its  course,  hence  it  is 
only  by  borings  that  it  can  be  traced.  It  probably  leads  into  the  Lake 
Erie  Basin. 

Near  Fitchville,  where  the  moraine  crosses  the  Vermilion  River,  there 
are  exposures  of  rock.  The  knolls  which  constitute  the  spur  along  the  east 
side  of  this  stream  contain  much  gravel  and  sand,  while  the  main  moraine 
in  that  vicinity  is  comj^osed  largelj'  of  till.  Gravel  probably  occurs  in 
the  sharpest  of  the  knolls  along  the  main  moraine,  but  no  exposures  were 
observed. 

The  esker  ridge  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Fairfield  Township 
presents  no  deep  exposures,  but  is  pi'obably  composed,  in  the  main,  of 
gravel  and  sand.  The  surface  is  a  poorly  assorted  material,  grading  on  the 
one  hand  into  till  and  on  the  other  into  sand  and  gravel. 

There  is  gravel  at  slight  depth  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  spur  from 
Macksville  northward,  the  capping  of  till  being  but  6  to  10  feet  in  thick- 
ness. Many  of  the  basins  which  occur  in  this  region  are  dry,  even 
when  without  outlet,  a  pretty  certain  indication  that  they  are  underlain  by 
g-ravel  and  that  the  till  which  covers  the  knolls  does  not  pass  underneath 
the  basins.  The  large  knolls  m  Peru  Township,  west  of  Macksville,' 
exhibit  a  variable  structure,  there  being  rapid  transitions  horizontally  from 
till  to  gravel  and  sand.  A  well  50  feet  in  depth,  at  Mr.  Ruggles's,  on  a 
high  point  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  south  of  the  center  of  the  township, 
passed  through  23  feet  of  till  in  its  upper  portion,  the  remainder  being  sand. 

Isaac  Lafever,  a  well  driller  residing  at  Chicago  Jmiction,  states  that 
the  drift  in  that  village  is  100  to  120  feet  in  thickness.  There  is  a  contin- 
uous sheet  of  till  for  60  feet,  beneath  which  is  a  thin  bed  of  gravel  from 
which  some  wells  derive  water.  Beneath  the  gravel  is  a  sandy  till,  harder 
and  drier  than  that  above.  It  contains  pockets  or  thin  beds  of  gravel,  from 
which  some  of  the  wells  obtain  water.  •  The  well  at  the  Dole  House 
entered  rock  at  107  feet.  In  a  town  well  just  east  of  the  railway  junction 
gas  was  found  in  the  drift  at  a  depth  of  95  feet.  It  bubbles  up  in  connec- 
tion with  the  water.  About  1^  miles  south  of  Chicago  Junction,  on  the 
crest  of  the  moraine,  there  are  sevei'al  wells  from  which  gas  is  obtained  in 


598  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  drift  at  a  depth  of  about  65  feet.  They  ai-e  on  the  farms  of  Messrs. 
Wilhams,  Buzzard,  and  Courtwright.  The  wells  penetrate  till  for  about  60 
feet  and  then  a  hard  cemented  clay  for  about  5  feet,  at  which  point  gas  is 
struck  in  a  bed  of  sand.  The  gas  when  lighted  is  reported  to  have  blazed 
to  a  height  of  several  feet.  A  well  on  Samuel  Miller's  farm,  a  mile  west  of 
Chicago  Junction,  struck  gas  at  a  depth  of  64  feet,  but  water  came  in  soon 
after  the  gas  was  struck,  since  which  time  gas  has  not  been  observed  to 
escape  from  the  well.  A  short  distance  from  this  well,  on  the  farm  of  Mr. 
Franklin,  a  flowing  well  was  obtained  at  the  base  of  the  drift  at  a  depth  of 
83  feet;  water  rises  4  feet  above  the  surface.  The  well  is  south  of  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  and  on  ground  10  feet  or  more  below  the 
level  of  the  track. 

At  Attica  station  a  well  made  by  the  railroad  just  mentioned  struck 
shale  at  70  feet.  The  drift  was  mainly  blue  till.  A  gas-well  boring  in  the 
village  of  Attica  has  about  80  feet  of  drift.  Between  Attica  and  Chicago 
Junction,  along  the  line  of  the  moraine,  there  are  several  wells  40  to  60 
feet  in  depth,  which  obtain  water  from  gravel  beneath  the  till.  A  short 
distance  north  of  Attica  limestone  rises  nearly  to  the  surface  and  the  drift 
continues  thin  from  there  northward  as  far  as  the  upper  beach  of  Lake 
Maumee  at  Bellevue.  It  is  also  thin  west  of  Attica  compared  with  its 
thickness  between  that  village  and  Chicago  Junction,  the  general  thickness 
along  the  moraine  being  less  than  50  feet,  while  on  bordering  plains  it  is 
so  thin  that  ravines  10  to  20  feet  in  depth  reach  the  rock. 

At  Melmore  there  is  an  exposure  of  till  40  feet  in  height  in  the  bluff 
of  Honey  Creek,  and  west  from  Melmore  on  Sandusky  River  there  are 
similar  exposures  of  till. 

At  Freuchtown,  2  miles  west  of  Berwick,  the  drift  is  fully  90  feet  thick, 
and  from  there  west  to  Alveda,  along  the  line  of  the  moraine,  wells  penetrate 
60  to  80  feet  of  drift.  A  short  distance  south  of  this  portion  of  the  moraine, 
near  Spring-\dlle,  there  are  limestone  ridges  which  rise  above  the  level  of  the 
crest  of  the  moraine.  These  ridges  extend  south  nearly  to  Carey,  and  thence 
west  to  Vanlue.  The  drift  is,  as  a  rule,  very  thin  on  the  plain  between 
the  Defiance  and  Fort  Wayne  moraines  from  the  Sandusky  River  westward 
beyond  the  meridian  of  Findlay,  its  general  thickness  being  but  10  to  20 
feet.  North  of  the  moraine,  also,  it  is  much  thinner  than  along  the  crest, 
the  general  thickness  from  the  Sandusky  River  westward  to  the  meridian  of 


BLANCHARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE.  599 

Findlay  being  about  30  feet.  Nortli  of  Findlay  the  thickness  on  the  crest 
is  about  50  feet,  while  on  the  inner  slope  at  Stuartsville  it  is  about  25  feet. 
In  a  well  at  McComb,  a  few  miles  to  the  west,  rock  is  entered  at  62  feet. 

On  the  outer  border  plain  from  Findlay  westward  to  within  4  miles  of 
Ottawa  rock  is  frequently  struck  at  about  the  level  of  Blanchard  River,  or, 
but  15  to  20  feet  below  the  level  of  the  base  of  the  moraine.  On  the  crest 
of  the  moraine  north  of  Gilboa  a  well  at  Dr.  Newman's  residence  penetrated 
SO  feet  of  drift.  It  passed  through  several  feet  of  sandy  material,  then  a  few 
feet  of  yellowish-brown  clay,  and  entered  blue  clay  at  about  16  feet.  A 
well  at  F.  J.  Oren's,  on  the  outer  face  of  the  moraine,  one  mile  south  of 
Newman's,  penetrated  70  feet  of  drift.  It  entered  a  stony  clay  near  the 
surface  and  passed  through  it  to  a  depth  of  45  feet.  Here  a  blue  sandy  clay 
nearly  free  from  pebbles  was  struck,  which  continued  about  to  the  rock. 

Near  Crawfis  College,  just  south  of  the  moraine,  a  well  at  Joshua 
Powell's  struck  rock  at  40  feet.  At  the  railway  pumping  station,  a  few  rods 
south  and  at  an  altitude  7  or  8  feet  lower,  rock  is  struck  at  47  feet.  At  the 
latter  well  the  material  thrown  out  at  the  time  of  digging  was  mainly  a  blue 
sandy  clay  nearly  free  from  pebbles.  There  is  only  about  4  feet  of  oxidized 
surface  clay  at  this  well,  but  some  wells  in  that  neighborhood  penetrated  20 
to  25  feet  of  sand  and  oxidized  clay  before  striking  the  blue  clay. 

At  Leipsic  a  gas-well  boring  penetrated  78  feet  of  drift,  said  to  be 
mainly  blue  clay.  Several  wells  in  the  vicinity  of  West  Leipsic  struck  rock 
at  90  to  100  feet.  After  passing  through  the  sandy  surface  deposits,  which 
are  but  10  to  15  feet  thick,  there  is  usually  an  unbroken  sheet  of  blue  clay 
(till)  extending  to  the  rock.  It  is  said  to  contain  some  pebbles  and  an 
occasional  bowlder. 

At  Henry  Foltz's  residence,  2  miles  northwest  of  West  Leipsic  and  on 
the  highest  part  of  the  moraine,  rock  was  struck  at  88  feet.  There  is  8  or 
10  feet  of  sandy  surface  clay,  beneath  which  is  blue  clay  extending  to  the 
rock.  Three  other  wells  in  the  neighborhood  of  Foltz's  strike  rock  at  88, 
95,  and  96  feet,  respectively.  Many  wells  in  that  vicinity  are  obtained  in 
limestone  at  90  to  115  feet. 

In  the  Maumee  Valley,  near  Defiance,  rock  is  struck  at  slight  depth, 
and  is  ex^josed  in  places  in  that  vicinity.  The  drift  on  the  neighboring 
portions  of  the  moraine  probably  has  a  thickness  as  great  as  the  difference 
in  altitude  between  the  valley  and  the  moraine,  or  60  to  80  feet.     North 


600 


GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


from  the  Maumee  the  thickness  is  much  greater,  as  appears  from  the  table 
of  wells  below. 

The  following-  list  of  deep  wells  in  Fnlton  County,  Ohio,  was  prepared 
by  Carl  D.  Greenleaf,  of  Wauseon,  who  collected  the  data  from  the  well 
owners  and  well  drillers.  The  wells  are  principally  in  the  southern  half  of 
the  county,  there  being  but  few  made  in  the  northern  half  The  majorit}' 
of  the  wells  pass  through  a  large  amount  of  blue  till.  In  some  cases  a 
water-bearing  gravel  is  found  at  the  base  of  the  di-ift,  but  quite  often  it  is 
found  necessary  to  sink  the  wells  a  few  feet  into  the  underlying  rock. 


Deep  wells  in  Fultcm  County,  Ohio. 


Location  of  well. 

Total 
depth. 

Depth  in 
rock. 

Head  from 
surface. 

Remarks. 

Feet. 

Feel. 

Feet. 

Sec.32,T.9S.,R.2E 

120 

0 

0 

AVater  in  gravel  near  bottom. 

Sec.  11,  T.  10  S. ,  E.  1  E 

120 

0 

+  2 

A  strong  flowing  well. 

Sec.34,T.8N.,R.5E 

113 

0 

(?) 

Water  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 

Sec.33,T.8N.,R.5E 

178 

0 

—11 

Water  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 

Sec.36,T.8N.,K.5E 

±120 

0 

±  5 

Several  flowing  wells  about  120  feet  deep. 

Secs.l,2,3,T.7N.,R.5E...... 

1       '''} 
I       140i 

0 

d=  5 

Several  flowing  wells  120  to  140  feet  deep. 

George  Pound,  sec.  3,  T.  7  N.,  R. 

136 

0 

+  3 

Throws'a  strong  half-inch  stream  at  3  feet 

5E. 

above  surface.     AVater  from  gravel. 

Sec.  10,  T.  7  N.,R.  5E 

143 

0 

(?) 

AA'ater  in  gravel;  rock  was  not  reached. 

Sec.l3,T.7N.,R.5E 

ISO 

12 

(?) 

Water  from  gravel  above  the  rock. 

Sec.  16, T.  7  N.,R.5E...: 

135 

0 

-10 

AA'"ater  in  gravel;  rock  was  not  reached. 

Sec.  23,  T.  7  N.,  R.  5  E 

227 

70 

—25 

Salt  water  obtained  in  the  rock. 

Sec.24,T.7>..  R.5E 

226 

69 

-25 

Salt  water  obtained  in  the  rock. 

Sec.24,T.7N.,R.5E 

218 

50 

-14 

AVater  found  in  the  rock. 

Sec.25,T.7N.,R.5E 

150 

0 

-15 

Water  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 

Sec.25,  T.  7  N.,R.  5E 

1.50 

8 

-15 

AVater  from  gravel  above  the  rock. 

Sec.26,T.7N.,R.5E 

130 

0 

-17 

Water  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 

Sec.26,T.7N.,R.5E 

160 

3 

—  14 

AA^ater  from  the  rock. 

Archbold  village 

146 

2 

(?) 

AVater  from  the  rock. 

J.  Sigg,  sec.ll,T.7N.,R.  6E., 

280 

80 

Dry. 

Nineteen  wells  were  bored,  of  which  this 

2  miles  north  of  Wauseon,  on 

is  the  deepest:  all  dry. 

crest  of  moraine. 

Sec.l3,T.7N.,R.6E 

210 

45 

-38 

AA'ater  from  the  rock. 

Seo.l4,T.7N.,R.6E 

180 

10 

—40 

AVater  from  the  rock. 

Sec.  15,  T.  7  N.,  R.  6  E.,  2  miles 

300 

100 

Dry. 

Two  holes  were  drilled;  both  dry. 

northwest   of    Wauseon,  on 

crest  of  moraine. 

BLANCHAED  OE  DEFIANCE  MOEAINE. 

Dee2y  wells  in  Fulton  County^  Ohio — Continued. 


601 


Location  of  well. 

Total 
depth. 

Depth  In 
rock. 

Eead  from 
surface. 

Kemarks. 

Feel. 

Feet. 

Feel. 

Sec.  15,  T.  7  N.,  R.  6  E.,  perhaps 

210 

10 

(7) 

Brackish  water  obtained  in  the  rock. 

\  mile  south  of  last  boring. 

Sec.20,T.7N.,B.6E 

210 

10 

-30 

Water  from  the  rock. 

Sec.20,T.7N.,E.6E 

179 

16 

—15 

Water  from  gravel  above  the  rock. 

Wauseon,  C.  S.  Clement 

265 

115 

(?) 

Brackish  water  from  the  rock. 

Wauseon,  William  Hubbell 

154 

2 

36 

The  head  was  at  first  only  16  feet  from  top; 
water  suitable  for  boiler  use. 

Wauseon  waterworks,    1   mile 

159 

0 

—50 

Water  from  gravel;  rock  was  not  reached. 

south  of  city. 

Sec.24,T.7N.,R.6E 

190 

34 

—12 

Water  from  the  rock. 

Sec.28,  T.  7  N.,B.  6E 

228 

50 

(?) 

Water  from  the  rock. 

Sec.28,T.7N.,R.6E 

160 

0 

-20 

Water  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 

Sec.30,T.7N.,R.6E 

168 

12 

-24 

Water  from  the  rock. 

Near  Pettisville,  sec.  30,  T.  7  N., 

162 

0 

—22 

Water  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 

R.6E. 

Near  Pettisville,  sec.  30,  T.  7  N., 

154 

0 

-22 

Water  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 

R.6E. 

Near  Pettisville,  sec.  31,  T.  7  N., 

164 

0 

—26 

Water  in  gravel  at  top  of  rook. 

R.6E. 

Sec.31,T.7N.,R.6E 

150 

10 

-30 

Water  from  rock;  altitude  of  rock  surface 
about  620  feet. 

Sec.31,T.7N.,R.6E 

226 

0 

—24 

Water  from  gravel  at  top  of  rock;  altitude 
of  rock  surface  about  530  feet. 

Sec.31,T.7N.,R.6E 

218 

0 

-24 

Water  from  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 

Sec.32,T.7N.,E.6E 

225 

0 

-30 

Water  from  gravel;  rock  not  reached. 

Sec.  33,  T.  7  N.,  R.  6  E 

266 

50 

—30 

Water  from  the  rock. 

Sec.33,T.7N.,R.6E 

161 

0 

-20 

Water  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 

Sec.  33,  T.  7  N.,R.  6E 

218 

18 

(?) 
—22 

Water  from  the  rock. 

Sec.3-1,T.7N.,R.6E 

154 

0 

Water  in  gravel  at  toiD  of  rock. 

Sec.34,T.7N.,R.6E 

165 

0 

—30 

Water  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 

Sec.35,T.7N.,R.6E 

185 

0 

-30 

Water  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 

Sec.36,T.7N.,R.6E 

165 

10 

-30 

AVater  from  the  rock. 

Sec.8,T.7N.,R.7E 

182 

12 

-25 

Water  fi-om  the  rock. 

Sec.8,T.7N.,R.7E 

160 

3 

-18 

Water  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 

Sec.9,T.7N.,R.7E 

156 

0 

—14 

Water  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 

Delta  on  Belmore  beach 

122 

12 

—22 

Water  from  the  rock. 

Sec.  14,  T.  7  N.,  R.  7  E.,  near 

■  90 

1 

+  5 

Flows  a  strong  2-inch  stream.     Altitude 

Belmore  beach. 

of  well  mouth  about  730  feet. 

Sec.l5,T.7N.,R.7E 

176 

36 

-30 

AVater  from  the  rock. 

Sec.l6,T.7N.,R.  7E 

142 

7 

-22 

AVater  from  the  rock. 

602  GLACIAL  FOEMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Dee])  wells  in  Fultcrn  County^  Ohio — Continued. 


Location  of  well. 


Total       Depth  in  Head  from 
depth.         rock.        surface. 


Sec.  18,T.  7N.,R.7E 

Sec.l9,T.  7N.,R.  7E 

Sec.20,T.7N.,R.  7E 

Sec.21,T.7N.,R.7E 

Sec.  21,  T.  7  N.,  R.  7  E.,  near 
Belmore  beach. 

Sec.  23,  T.  7  N. ,  R.  7  E 

Sec.23,T.7]Sr.,R.  7E , 

Sec.  27,T.7N.,R.7E , 

Sec.30,T.  7N.,R.7E 

Sec.30,T.  7N.,R.  7E 

Sec.31,T.7K,R.  7E 

Sec.31,T.  7N.,R.7E' 

Sec.32,T.7N.,R.7E 

Sec.  32,  T.  7  N.,  R.  7  E.,  near 

Belmore  beach. 
Sec.  34,  T.  7N.,  R.  7E.... 

Sec.  8,  T.  7N.,  R.  8E 

Sec.  9,  T.  7N.,  R.  8E..... 
Sec.  11,  T.  7N.,  R.  8E.... 
Sec.  20,  T.  7N.,  R.  8E.... 
Sec.  22,  T.  7N.,  R.  8E.... 
Sec.  24,  T.  7N.,  R.  8E.... 
Sec.  29,  T.  7N.,  R.  8E.... 
Sec.  34,  T.  7N.,  R.  8E.... 
Sec.  35,  T.  7N.,  R.  8E.... 

Sec.  1,  T.  6N.,  R.  6E 

Sec.  1,  T.  6  N.,  R.  6  E.,  near 

Belmore  beach. 
Sec.  1,  T.  6  N.,  R.  6  E.,  near 

Belmore  beach. 

Sec.  2,  T.  6N.,  R.  6E 

Sec.  2,  T.  6N.,  R.  6E 

Sec.  5,  T.  6N.,  R.  6E 

Sec.  6,  T.  6  N.,  R.  6  E.,  near 

crest  of  moraine. 

Sec.  7,  T.  6N.,  R.  6E 

Sec.  7,  T.  6N.,  R.  6E 


Feet. 
160 
133 
147 
150 
135 

97 
137 
170 

168 
160 
165 
126 
116 
167 

80 

95 

78 

85 

103 

82 

87 

92 

72 

60 

140 

142 


175 
142 
182 
180 

175 
135 


(?) 


(?) 


Feet. 
-25 
-20 
-16 
-22 
-15 


-14 
0 

-10 
-18 
-30 

(?) 

-  4 

-  5 

-18 
-12 
-12 
—12 
-16 
-12 

-  6 

(?) 
-18 

-  9 

(?) 
—32 


4 

(?) 

10 

-32 

0 

Dry. 

0 

—42 

40 

-22 

0 

-18 

Water  from  the  rock. 
Water  from  the  rock. 
Water  from  the  rock. 
Water  from  the  rock. 
Water  from  the  rock. 

Rock  at  bottom. 

Water  from  the  rock. 

Water    flowed  when    first    struck    from 

gravel  at  top  of  rock. 
Water  from  the  rock. 
AVater  from  the  rock. 
Water  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 
Water  from  the  rock. 
Water  from  the  rock. 
Well  overflowed  when  first  made;  water 

from  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 
Water  from  the  rock. 
AVater  from  the  rock. 
Water  from  the  rock. 
AVater  from  the  rock. 
AVater  from  the  rock. 
AVater  from  the  rock. 
AVater  from  the  rock. 
AVater  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 
Water  from  the  rock. 
AVater  from  tho  rock. 
AVater  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 
Water  from  the  rock. 

AVater  from  gravel  above  tlie  rock. 

AVater  from  gravel  above  the  rock. 

AVater  from  the  rock. 

Four  holes  were  bored;  all  dry. 

Water  found  in  gravel;  rock  not  reached. 

AVater  from  the  rock. 

Three  wells,  132  to  135  feet  deep,  obtain 

water  at  top  of  rock  in  gravel,  head  17 

to  22  feet  from  surface. 


BLANCHARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE. 

Deep  loells  in  Fulton  County,  Ohio — Continued. 


603 


Location  of  well. 


Total 
depth. 

Depth  Id 
roci. 

Head  from 
surface. 

Feel. 

Feet. 

Feel. 

142 

0 

-24 

122 

2 

-  7 

181 

41 

(?) 

89 

5 

-  5 

100 

0 

-  8 

97 

0 

(?) 

61 

3 

-11 

90 

22 

-10 

82 

12 

-14 

Sec.  8,  T.  6N.,  E.  6E 


Sec.  10,  T.  6  N.,  R.  6  E.,  near 
Belmore  beach. 

Sec.  12,  T.  6N.,  E.  6E 

Sec.  4,  T.  6N.,  E.  7E 

Sec.  5,  T.  6N.,  E.  7E 

Sec.  8,  T.  6N.,  E.  7E , 

Sec.  9,  T.  6ISr.,  E.  7E , 

Sec.  10,  T.  6N.,  E.  7E 

North  part  of  T.  6  N.,  E.  8  E.., 


Water  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock.  Three 
others,  126  to  137  feet,  from  same  bed 
of  gravel. 

Water  from  the  rock. 

Water  from  the  rock. 

Water  from  the  rock. 

Water  found  in  gravel. 

Water  in  gravel  at  top  of  rock. 

Water  found  in  rock;  a  neighboring  well 

82  feet. 
Water  found  in  rock. 
Several  wells  in  rock  at  65  to  82  feet. 


A  buried  channel  shown  in  the  above  table  in  a  boring  near  Pettisville 
in  sec.  31,  T.  7  N.,  R.  6  E.  appears  to  lead  eastward,  passing  about  1^  miles 
south  of  Wauseon,  where  it  is  filled  with  225  feet  of  drift,  and  thence  north 
of  east.  Its  course  was  roughly  determined  by  Orton  for  a  distance  of 
about  9  miles  b}^  means  of  well  borings,  there  being  no  surface  indications 
of  its  position.'  Orton  in  the  paper  just  cited  also  made  the  following  state- 
ment concerning-  the  drift  deposits  near  Wauseon: 

The  uppermost  10  to  15  feet  consists  of  yellow  clay,  oxidized.  Below  comes 
blue  cla}',  often  so  charged  with  slate  fragments  and  waste  as  to  be  almost  black. 
Thin  seams  of  sand  are  irregularly  distributed  through  the  mass.  Large  bowlders, 
though  rare,  are  not  unknown.  The  boundary  between  the  j'ellow  and  blue  clays  is 
not  sharp  or  well  deiined.  The  change  in  color  simply  marks  the  line  to  which  the 
surface  water  is  able  to  descend.  The  blue  clay  reaches  a  general  thickness  of  130  to 
150  feet.  Below  it  about  5  feet  of  hardpan  is  found.  This  is  here  described  as 
cemented  gravel.  Under  it  a  few  inches  of  sand  are  usuallj'  found,  and  then  the  Ohio 
shale  is  reached. 

Many  of  the  Fulton  County  wells  contain  a  small  amount  of  inflam- 
mable gas  which  is  usually  struck  at  the  base  of  the  drift.  It  is  probably 
derived  from  the  underlying  shale  rather  than  from  decomposition  of  organic 
matter  in  the  drift.     The  salinity  of  the  Avater  obtained  in  the  Ohio  shale  is 


'Eock  waters  of  Ohio,  by  Edward  Orton:  Nineteenth  Ann.  Eept.  U.S.  Geol.  Survey.     Part  IV, 
1899,  p.  708. 


604  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

quite  general,  though  seldom  so  strong  as  to  render  the  water  unfit  for  use. 
The  drift  deposits  also  yield  a  slightly  saline  water,  the  salt  being  obtained 
probably  from  the  shale  fragments  in  the  drift. 

SILT    DEPOSITS    BENEATH    MORAINIC    DEPOSITS. 

Along  several  valleys  in  northern  Ohio  there  are  heavy  deposits  of  silt 
beneath  the  till,  which  are  of  considerable  interest,  not  only  because  of 
their  great  amount,  the  depth  being  in  places  fully  200  feet,  but  also  because 
of  their  position  beneath  deposits  of  till  and  coarse  assorted  material. 
E.  W.  Claypole  some  years  ago  called  attention  to  the  silts  in  the  Cuyahoga 
Valley  in  a  paper  entitled  "  The  Lake  age  in  Ohio,"  read  before  the 
Edinburg  Geological  Society,^  and  outlined  the  probable  extent,  in  this  and 
other  valleys  tributary  to  the  Lake  Erie  Basin,  of  lakes  in  which  it  is 
supposed  the  silts  were  deposited.  This  outline  was  based  largely  upon  a 
hypothetical  conception  as  to  the  position  of  the  ice  margin,  the  lakes  being 
considered  glacial  foot  lakes,  held  between  the  retreating  ice  sheet  on  the 
north  and  the  Great  Lakes-Ohio  divide  on  the  south,  with  outlets  across  the 
divide  into  the  Ohio  drainage  system.  The  history  of  the  deposition  of 
these  silts  proves  to  be  more  complex  than  the  paper  leaves  the  reader  to 
suppose,  since  the  occurrence  of  morainic  deposits  upon  their  surface  shows 
clearly  that  they  are  of  earlier  date  than  these  moraines.  Furthermore,  the 
actual  outline  of  the  ice  margin  (as  shown  by  its  moraines)  is  so  different 
from  Claypole's  theoretical  outline  that  his  mapping  of  glacial  foot  lakes 
needs  revision,  there  being  bulky  moraines  in  the  midst  of  the  districts 
where  he  supposed  lakes  to  have  been,  and  in  which  no  evidence  has  yet 
been  recognized  of  deposition  in  lake  water.  The  Fort  Wayne  and  Wabash 
moraines,  in  their  distinct  portions  in  northern  and  western  Ohio,  carry 
little  silt  on  their  surfaces  and  are  not  underlain  by  heavy  deposits  of  silt, 
such  as  underlie  the  moraines  of  this  series  in  the  Cuyahoga  Valley  and 
other  valleys  in  the  hilly  district,  though  they  cross  the  districts  where  the 
supposed  lakes  were  located.  The  geographic  distribution  of  these  silts 
is,  therefore,  much  more  restricted  than  Claypole's  maps  indicate.  On  the 
Cuyahoga  Valley  and  in  the  Grand  River  Basin  the  deposits  are  rather 
extensive,  being  1  to  3  miles  in  width  and  100  to  200  feet  or  more  in  depth, 
but  in  Chagrin,   Rocky,   Black,  Vermilion,   Huron,   and  Sandusky  River 

'  Trans.  Edinburg  Geol.  Society,  1887. 


BLANCHARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE.  605 

valleys  their  amount  is  very  slight,  the  greater  part  of  the  sections  exposed 
in  their  bluffs  being  ordinary  till  with  little  or  no  surface  capping  of  silt, 
and  with  only  occasional  exposures  of  silt  beneath  the  till.  The  slight 
exposures  which  occur  may  indicate  that  there  were  extensive  deposits 
of  silt  in  these  valleys  previous  to  the  last  ice  invasion,  the  greater  part  of 
which  was  removed  by  the  advancing  ice  sheet.  In  the  Cuyahoga  Valley 
the  amount  was  too  great  for  the  ice  sheet  to  remove 

The  silts  exposed  along  the  Cuyahoga  are  not  so  fine  (at  least  in  the 
southern  portion  of  the  valley)  as  those  in  certain  other  valleys,  being 
sufficiently  coarse  for  the  detection  of  indiAadual  grains  by  the  naked  eye; 
they  are  called  quicksand  when  penetrated  in  wells.  So  far  as  examined 
by  the  writer  they  are  entirely  free  from  pebbles,  but  Claypole  reports  the 
occurrence  of  an  occasional  pebble  and  very  rarely  a  large  stone.  They 
are  horizontally  bedded,  or  nearly  so,  the  thin  layers  or  laminae  being  dis- 
tinctly traceable,  since  they  are  in  places  separated  by  thin  partings  of 
sand.  The  color  is  generally  blue,  though  in  the  upper  poi'tion  it  is  yellow 
to  a  depth  ranging  from  10  up  to  50  feet  or  more.  The  silt  is  notably 
siliceous,  but  contains  also  considerable  lime  and  iron.  The  amount  of  lime 
increases  perceptibly  in  passing  from  south  to  north  along  the  valley,  there 
being  in  the  southern  portion  scarcely  any  nodules  of  lime  and  but  a  faint 
response  upon  application  of  hydrochloric  acid,  while  in  silts  from  the 
northern  portion,  from  the  vicinity  of  Peninsula  northward,  lime  nodules 
abound.  The  silt  is  also  more  compact  in  the  northern  than  in  the  southern 
portions  of  the  valley.  In  exposures  east  of  Everett,  crystals  of  sulphate 
of  lime  occur  in  the  blue  silt.  The  silt  here  rises  in  a  solid  bank  to  a 
height  of  225  feet  (barometric)  above  the  river  or  about  360  feet  above 
Lake  Erie,  and  is  capped  by  15  to  20  feet  of  till  in  which  large  bowlders 
are  embedded.  The  yellow  silt  here  has  a  thickness  of  about  50  feet,  the 
greatest  thickness  observed  in  any  exposure  along  the  valley.  The  highest 
observed  altitude  of  the  silt  is  in  the  lowland  tract  west  of  Akron  (which 
leads  from  the  Cuyahoga  through  Copley  Marsh  to  the  Tuscarawas  River), 
where  it  reaches  an  altitude  375  to  400  feet  above  Lake  Erie.  It  staiids 
higher  here  than  in  the  valley  that  leads  through  Akron  along  the  line  of 
the  Ohio  Canal.  In  each  valley  there  are  heavy  deposits  of  gravel  or  other 
coarse  material  above  the  silt.  In  the  western  valley  there  is  till  as  well  as 
sand  and  gravel;  in  the  eastern,  sand  and  gravel  alone  are  reported.     The 


606  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

summit  in  the  valley  west  of  Akron,  as  shown  by  the  survey  of  the  Northern 
Ohio  Railroad,  stands  425  to  435  feet  above  Lake  Erie,  while  the  summit 
along  the  Ohio  Canal  is  396  feet.  In  the  northern  portion  of  the  Cuyahoga 
Valley  the  upper  liniit  of  the  silt  decreases  to  200  feet  or  less  at  the  borders 
of  the  old  lake  terraces. 

In  the  other  valleys  tributary  to  Lake  Erie  the  silt  deposits  which 
have  been  observed  beneath  the  till  have  the  compact  texture  and  nearly 
entire  freedom  from  pebbles  of  those  in  the  northern  portion  of  the  Cuya- 
hoga Valley,  and,  like  them,  contain  a  large  amount  of  lime,  as  shown  by 
nodules  and  by  effervescence  with  hydrochloric  acid.  In  the  valley  of 
Chippewa  Creek  and  River  Styx,  which  lead  southward  into  the  Tusca- 
rawas, the  silt  deposits  are  known  only  by  records  of  wells  bored  in  them, 
and  the  writer  had  no  opportunity  to  see  specimens  from  these  wells.  The 
streams  which  lead  northward  from  the  continental  divide  are  more  rapid 
than  those  leading  southward,  and  consequently  have  deepened  their  valleys 
sufficiently  to  expose  nearly  the  whole  section  down  to  the  rock  floor. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  silt  deposits  similar  to  those  exposed  along 
these  northward-flowing  streams  occur  also  beneath  considerable  portions  of 
the  low  interfluvial  districts  of  northern  Ohio,  whose  altitude  is  but  little 
above  the  streams,  as  is  the  case  between  the  tributaries  of  Black  River  and 
between  Black  and  Rocky  rivers,  but  no  exposures  were  observed  in  that 
district  which  reached  the  bottom  of  the  till.  In  the  hilly  districts  from 
Rocky  River  eastward  the  silts  are  apparently  confined  to  the  valleys. 

The  age  of  these  silts  and  the  conditions  under  which  they  were 
deposited  afford  material  for  much  study  and  speculation.  The  silts  may 
represent  several  distinct  depositions  at  intervals  widely  separated,  though . 
no  evidence  was  found  to  support  this  conception,  the  heavy  deposits  on 
the  Cuyahoga  presenting,  so  far  as  examined,  no  unconformable  beds  and 
no  alternations  of  oxidized  and  unoxidized  silts.  The  silts  were  probably 
deposited,  as  suggested  by  Claypole,  in  bodies  of  water  outside  the  ice 
sheet,  the  ice  sheet  acting  as  a  barrier  to  prevent  northward  drainage  of  the 
water,  though  it  is  possible  that  in  some  cases  they  are  the  deposits  of  sub- 
glacial  waters.  The  scarcity  of  coarse  material  in  these  deposits,  however, 
seems  to  strongly  oppose  the  hypothesis  of  subglacial  deposition.  The 
fringing  lake  may  have  been  formed  either  during  an  advance  or  a  retreat, 
or  have  embraced  both  an  advance  and  retreat  in  cases  where  the  ice  failed 


BLANCHARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE.  607 

to  reacli  to  the  divide,  the  size  of  the  lakes  varying"  with  the  position  of  the 
ice  margin. 

The  greater  altitude  of  the  silts  at  the  southern  end  of  the  Cuyahoga 
Valley  than  at  the  northern  presents  an  interesting  problem.  The  silt  may 
have  reached,  at  one  time,  as  great  altitudes  along  the  sides  of  the  northern 
portion  of  the  valley  as  it  presents  on  the  southern,  and  have  been  removed 
afterward  by  the  advancing  ice  sheet  or  concealed  by  its  morainic  deposits ; 
or  it  may  never  have  had  as  great  altitude  in  the  northern  as  in  the  south- 
ern portion  of  the  district,  the  northern  portion  being  a  deep-water  and  the 
southern  a  shallow-water  deposit.  Since  it  is  a  partially  concealed  deposit 
its  limitations,  both  geographic  and  hypsographic,  are  difficult  to  determine. 

The  extreme  rarity  of  pebbles  seems  difficult  to  explain,  for  if  the  silt 
were  deposited  in  narrow  lakes  outside  the  ice  sheet  it  is  to  be  expected 
that  tributaries  would  discharge  large  amounts  of  coarse  material  with  the 
fine  into  the  valleys  occupied  by  these  lakes,  which  would  make  a  percep- 
tible increment  to  their  deposits.  This  coarse  material  might,  however, 
have  been  dropped  at  the  borders  and  only  the  fine  material  have  passed 
out  into  the  midst  of  the  lake.  A  more  careful  examination  of  the  gorges 
tributary  to  the  valleys  may  throw  light  upon  this  matter. 


The  striae  of  this  district,  so  far  as  observed  by  the  writer  or  reported 
by  previous  observers,  are  represented  on  the  glacial  maps  (Pis.  II,  XI, 
XIII,  and  XV),  and  their  bearings  are  given  in  the  table  of  striae  below. 
In  general,  the  striae  bear  directly  toward  the  moraines ;  thus,  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  lower  course  of  the  Cuyahoga,  they  bear  southeastward;  in  the 
Sandusky-Scioto  Basin,  southward;  in  the  Maumee  Basin,  west  of  the  San- 
dusky River,  south  westward  to  westward,  while  in  southeastern  Michigan 
the  bearing  is  north  of  west.  There  are,  however,  slight  changes  of  course 
in  the  ice  currents,  shown  by  cross  striation  or  by  lack  of  harmony  in  the 
bearing  of  sti'ise  in  neighboring  districts,  which  may  be  better  comprehended 
by  reference  to  the  maps  than  by  a  description. 

The  greatest  variation  on  any  single  surface  which  the  writer  has 
noted  is  that  east  of  Vermilion  River,  near  the  line  of  Erie  and  Huron 
counties,  where  the  striae  appear  at  nearly  all  angles,  from  S.  19°  W.  to 
S.  77°  W.,  their  prevailing  bearing  being  S.  35°  W.     They  all  consist  of 


608         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

short  lines,  none  of  them  exceeding  a  yard  in  length,  while  many  are  out 
6  to  12  inches.  A  few  of  them  are  curved,  with  their  convex  side  toward 
the  south.  The  best-defined  curved  strise  are  about  2  feet  in  length,  and 
their  departure  from  a  straight  line  within  that  distance  is  fully  2  inches. 

Gilbert  reports  an  observation  on  West  Sister  Island,  in  Lake  Erie, 
showing  still  greater  difference  in  bearing,  there  being  a  general  glaciation 
S.  80°  W.,  and  a  single  observation  of  striation  in  a  north-south  direction 
which  he  designates  the  "intersecting  series."^  He  considers  the  southward 
striation  merely  a  local  feature  formed  by  the  retning  glacier  at  a  time 
subsequent  to  the  heavy  glaciation,  the  strise  being  parallel  to  a  steep  bluff 
over  which  the  older  grooves  rise  obliquely. 

Still  greater  divergencies  were  noted  by  W  H.  Sherzer  in  southeastern 
Michigan,-  the  range  being  from  about  S.  6°  W.  to  N.  20°  W.,  or  154°.  In 
that  region  a  southwestward  movement  was  followed  by  a  northwestward  one. 

Wincliell  has  reported  cross  strife  in  Seneca  Township,  Seneca  County, 
Ohio,  in  which  the  older  set  bear  S.  5°  E.  and  the  later  and  intersecting 
series  S.  23°  W. 

Chamberlin  has  called  attention  to  the  disruptive  crescentic  gougts 
displayed  in  the  surface  of  the  quarries  at  West  Amherst,^  whose  concave 
side  is  turned  toward  the  point  of  origin  of  the  ice  movement.  Crescentic 
cracks  of  this  class  he  considers  the  natural  result  of  a  movement  in 
which  the  gouging  agent  is  master  of  the  situation.  The  "chatter  marks" 
displayed  in  many  striated  ledges  in  other  districts  resemble  these  crescentic 
cracks  in  frequently  having  the  form  of  a  crescent,  but  they  have  their 
convex  side  toward  the  origin  of  the  ice  movement.  These  Chamberlin 
regards  as  the  result  of  a  movement  in  which  the  gouging  agent  is  not  the 
master  of  the  situation,  but  is  dragged  across  the  rock  ledges. 

The  remarkable  phases  of  glacial  action  on  the  islands  of  the  western 
end  of  Lake  Erie  and  in  MarLlehead  Peninsula  have  been  so  well  described 
by  Gilbert,  Chamberlin,  Wright,  and  olliers  that  further  remarks  concerning 
them  seem  unnecessary.  Plate  XVII  furnishes  two  illustrations  of  heavy 
glaciation.  The  movement  across  these  islands  which  produced  the  grooves 
and  strise  was  perhaps  a  late  one,  when  the  ice  had  only  the  Maumee 
Basin  in  which  to  deploy.     There  are  several  striated  exposures  in  northern 

'  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  pp;  538,  .539. 

^Geol.  Survey  Michigan,  Vol.  VII,  1900,  pp.  128-132. 

'  Seventh  Ann.  Kept.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey,  pp.  219,  220. 


A.     GLACIATED   SURFACE   ON    MIDDLE    BASS    ISLAND,    IN    LAKE    ERIE. 


S.      LARGE   GLACIAL  GROOVE   ON    MARBLEHEAD    PENINSULA,    NEAR    LAKESIDE,    OHIO. 


BLANCHARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE. 


609 


Ohio  which  apparent!)^  belong-  in  this  late  series.  For  example,  at  South 
Euclid  and  near  Berea,  and  in  the  Sandusky  Valley  north  of  Tiffin,  the 
movement  was  southwestward,  corresponding  well  with  that  on  the  islands 
of  Lake  Erie,  but  somewhat  out  of  harmony  with  the  moraines  and  with 
the  movements  a  few  miles  to  the  south.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that 
in  the  closing  stages  of  glaciation,  after  the  Scioto  and  Miami  lobes  were 
absorbed,  the  ice  movement  assumed  more  nearly  the  direction  of  the 
longer  axis  of  the  Lake  Erie  Basin  than  it  had  at  the  time  these  lobes  were 
in  existence. 

List  of  strlce  hetween  the  Defiance  moraine  and  the  loest  end  of  Lake  Erie. 


Bearing. 


Newberry  Township,  Geauga  County.. 

Chester  Township,  Geauga  County 

Russell  Township,  Geauga  County 

Russell  Center,  1  mile  southeast  of 

Bainbridge  Township,  Geauga  County. 
Solon  Township,  Cuyahoga  County  . . . 

Solon  Center,  1  mile  north  of 

Twinsburg,  Summit  County 

Hudson  Township,  Summit  County  . . . 

Boston  Ledges,  Summit  County 

Boston  Ledges,  Summit  County 

Peninsula,  Summit  County 

Independence,  Cuyahoga  County 

Brighton,  \\  miles  south  of 

North  Linndale,  2  miles  southeast  of  . . 

Berea,  2  miles  east  of 

County  line  north  of  Brunswick 

West  Amherst,  Lorain  County 

Henrietta,  Lorain  County 

Birmingham,  2  miles  south  of 

Townsend  Township,  Huron  County  . . 

Sandusky  (8  observations) 

Put-in-Bay  Island,  Lake  Erie 

Put-in-Bay  Island,  Lake  Erie 

South  Bass  Island,  Lake  Erie , 

Kelleys  Island,  Lake  Erie 

West  Sister  Island,  Lake  Erie 

West  Sister  Island,  Lake  Erie 

Bellevue 

Republic,  4  miles  east  of 

Genoa,  Ottawa  County 

MON   XLI 39 


S.  50°  E 

S.  70°  E 

S.  50°  to  70°  E. 
S.  35°  to  55°  ]E. 

S.  49°  E 

S.  45°  E 

S.  20°  E 

S.  30°  to  45°  E. 
S.  35°  to  90°  E. 
S.  30°  to  45°  E. 

W.  toE 

S.  10°  to  20°  E. 

S.  20°  E 

S.  to  S.  10°  E  . . 
S.  5°  to  10°  W  . , 
S.  22°  to  34°  W  . 
S.  to  S.  30°  E  . . . 

S.  30°  W 

S.  20°  to  35°  W  . 
S.  19°  to  77°  W  . 

S.  45°  W 

S.  75°  to  81°  W  . 

S.  80°  W  

S.  15°  W 

S.  80°  W 

S.  60°  to  80°  W  . 

S.  80°  W 

N.  toS 

S.  65°  W 

S.  25°  W 

S.  65°  W 


Read. 

Read. 

Read. 

Leverett. 

AVhittlesey. 

Whittlesey. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Read. 

Read. 

Read. 

Leverett. 

Whittlesey. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Leverett. 

Read. 

Newberry. 

Newberry. 

Newberry. 

Gilbert. 

Newberry.. 

Gilbert. 

Gilbert. 

Gilbert. 

Leverett.. 

Gilbert. 


610  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Listof  strice  hetween  the  Defiance  moraine  and  the  'loeM  end  of  Lake  Erie — Continued. 


Location. 

Bearing. 

Ob.server. 

S. 

s. 
s. 
s. 
s. 
s. 
s. 
s. 
s. 
s. 
s. 
s. 

60°  W 

Section  18,  Harris  Township,  Ottawa  County 

Portage  River,  west  line  of  Sandusky  County 

Section  35,  Jackson  Township,  Sandusky  County 

Section  7,  Portage  Township,  AVood  County 

Section  12,  Freedom  Township,  Wood  County 

Section  9,  Freedom  Township,  Wood  County 

18°  W 

Winchell. 

53°  W 

Winchell. 

55°  W 

AVinchell. 

50°  W 

50°  W 

AVinchell. 
Winchell. 

50°  W 

65°  to  68°  W 

Winchell. 

50°  W 

Gilbert. 

62°  W 

Gilbert. 

55°  W      

.  Gilbert. 

50°  W 

Gilbert. 

OUTER   BORDER    PHENOMENA. 


SMALL   GL.\CIAL   LAKES. 


The  position  of  the  Defiance  moraine  being  in  large  part  on  the  slope 
toward  Lake  Erie,  the  facilities  for  discharge  of  glacial  waters  during*  its 
production  are  not  likel}  to  have  been  so  good  as  in  the  preceding  moraines. 
It  is  probable  that  small  lakes  were  formed  along  the  south  border  of  the 
ice  which  found  discharge  either  southward  across  low  places  on  the  divide 
or  westward  along  the  front  of  the  ice  sheet. 

One  of  these  small  lakes  would  be  tlie  slightly  expanded  Lake  Cuy- 
ahoga, which  had  its  discharge  southward  past  Akron,  as  indicated  on  page 
578.  Another  lake  was  apparently  held  in  the  south  part  of  the  Black 
River  drainage  basin  and  found  its  discharge  along  a  channel  leading  south- 
ward from  Lodi  through  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine  to  Killbuck  Creek  at  an 
altitude  a  little  more  than  900  feet  above  tide. 

From  the  Vermilion  River  westward  there  was  drainage  along  the  ice 
margin  to  Lake  Maumee,  but  the  water  leading  westward  from  the 
Vermilion  drainage  basin  was  apparently  gathered  into  a  narrow  lake  in 
the  Huron  River  Basin  near  New  Haven  that  discharged  past  Attica  to 
another  narrow  lake  in  the  Sandusky  Basin.  The  latter  discharged  west- 
ward from  near  Carey  to  Lake  Maumee  at  Findlay.  The  line  of  discharge 
past  Carey  is  marked  by  a  definite  channel  brought  to  notice  by  Winchell.^ 


'Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  1873,  pp.  626-628;  with  map  of  channel. 


BLANCHARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE.  6ll 

The  chain  of  lakes  and  connecting  channels  just  outlined  show  a 
decrease  in  altitude  in  passing  from  east  to  west.  The  channel  in  the 
Vermilion  drainage  basin  is  estimated  to  have  an  altitude  about  950  feet 
above  tide  and  descends  about  25  feet  to  reach  New  Haven  in  the  Huron 
River  Basin.  The  extensive  New  Haven  Marsh,  which  extends  westward 
from  the  Huron  Basin  near  New  Haven  to  the  head  of  Honey  Creek  (an 
eastern  tributary  of  the  Sandusky),  near  Attica,  stands  about  925  feet 
above  tide,  and  probably  represents  nearly  the  level  of  the  lake  in  the 
Huron  Basin.  There  was  a  descent  of  about  100  feet  along  Honey  Creek 
from  this  lake  to  the  one  in  the  Sandusky  Basin,  for  the  outlet  of  the 
latter  near  Carey  is  only  815  to  820  feet  above  tide.  The  descent  along 
this  outlet  from  Sandusky  Lake  to  Lake  Maumee  at  Findlay  was  about 
40  feet  in  a  distance  of  15  miles. 

The  head  of  the  outlet  of  Sandusky  Lake  is  reported  by  Winchell  to 
carry  a  deposit  of  black  muck  ranging  in  depth  from  4  or  5  feet  up  to  8  feet 
or  more,  which  is  underlain  by  a  marly  or  calcareous  blue  clay.  These 
deposits  have  probably  accumulated  since  the  channel  was   abandoned 

RELATION   OF  THE   DEFIANCE   MORAINE  TO    LAKE   MAUMEE. 

Several  references  have  already  been  made  to  the  beaches  and  outlet 
of  the  glacial  Lake  Maumee,  but  its  relation  to  the  Defiance  moraine  has  not 
been  clearly  stated.  As  the  beaches  and  outlet  are  discussed  in  some  detail 
farther  on,  only  the  general  relations  to  the  Defiance  moraine  will  now  be 
considered. 

When  the  Defiance  moraine  was  traced  by  Grilbert,  some  thirty  years 
ago,  it  had  not  been  determined  whether  the  lake  which  discharged  through 
the  Fort  Wayne  outlet  into  the  Wabash  was  held  at  its  high  level  by  the 
ice  sheet  or  by  a  land  barrier.  Gilbert  seems  at  that  time  to  have  favored 
the  land-barrier  hypothesis  and  considered  the  lake  entirely  postglacial, 
while  Newberry  considered  the  ice  dam  formed  by  the  retreating  ice  sheet 
an  adequate  cause,  and  referred  it  to  the  closing  part  of  the  Glacial  epoch.^ 
It  soon  became  evident  that  the  land-barrier  hypothesis  had  no  foundation 
in  the  topography  of  the  region,  and  attention  was  directed  to  the  question 
of  the  relation  of  the  beaches  to  the  moraines  of  the  great  ice  sheet.  Gilbert 
took  the  lead  in  this  investigation  and  discovered  that  the  beaches  do  not 

'Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  pp.  549-552;  Vol.  II,  pp.  8,  51,  52. 


612  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

completely  encircle  the  basin,  but  terminate  in  a  successive  series  from  higher 
to  lower  in  passing  from  northern  Ohio  eastward  into  southwestern  New 
York.  He  did  not,  however,  attempt  to  map  the  moraines  which  were 
formed  subsequent  to  the  Defiance  moraine  and  work  out  the  full  correlation. 
A  part  of  this  work  has  fallen  to  the  present  writer,  and  it  is  now  possible  to 
speak  with  some  assurance  concerning  the  correlations  on  the  south  shore  of 
Lake  Erie.  The  correlations  on  the  north  are  not  full}-  worked  out,  though 
studies  by  Taylor  have  thrown  much  light  upon  them. 

In  an  early  stage  of  the  investig-ation  the  writer  supposed  that  the 
Defiance  moraine  was  nearh'  the  full  coiTclative  of  the  upper  beach  of 
Lake  Maumee,  and  that  with  the  retreat  of  the  ice  sheet  from  that  moraine 
the  lake  level  soon  fell  a  few  feet  to  the  Leipsic  or  second  Maumee  beach. 
This  interpretation,  which  was  published  in  1892,^  was  erroneous  in  that  it 
limited  the  upper  beach  to  the  district  outside  of  the  Defiance  moraine.  It 
is  now  known  to  be  developed  as  far  east  as  Cleveland,  and  to  be  identical, 
from  Leipsic  eastward  to  Cleveland,  with  the  beach  which  in  1892  was  sup- 
posed to  be  the  second  Maumee  or  Leipsic  beach;  it  has  not  been  found  east 
of  Cleveland.  It  has  also  been  traced  northward  in  Michigan  to  the  Imlay 
outlet,  near  Imlay  City,  and  may  be  traced  still  farther  north.  The  course 
and  known  extent  of  the  beach  may  be  seen  in  PI.  II. 

These  later  developments,  while  indicating  that  the  lake  held  its  highest 
level  long  after  the  Defiance  moraine  had  been  formed,  do  not  in  the  least 
antagonize  the  hypothesis  that  the  ice  sheet  constituted  the  limiting  barrier 
on  the  northeast  border  of  the  lake.  The  fading  out  of  the  beach  near 
Cleveland  and  the  connection  there  with  a  moraine  later  than  the  Defiance 
brings  the  strongest  possible  support  to  that  hypothesis,  as  will  be  shown 
farther  on.  The  lowering  of  the  lake  level  obviously  depends  upon  a 
change  in  the  lake  outlet,  and,  as  in  this  case,  it  may  have  no  relation  to 
the  withdrawal  of  the  ice  sheet  from  a  given  moraine. 

It  having  been  ascertained  that  the  Defiance  moraine  is  not  the  full 
equivalent  of  the  upper  beach  of  Lake  Maumee,  the  question  to  be  deter- 
mined is  what  fraction  of  the  upper  lake  stage  the  moraine  equals.  As 
Lake  Maumee  occupied  the  district  outside  of  the  Defiance  moraine  while 
the  moraine  was  forming,  it  inay  be  thought  that  a  comparison  of  the 
strength  of  that  part  of  the  beach  with  the  part  formed  inside  the  moraine 

'Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series,  Vol.  XLlll,  pp.  284-290. 


BLANCHARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE.  613 

will  furnish  a  ready  answer  to  this  question.  The  solution  is,  however,  not 
so  easy  as  might  be  expected,  for  the  beach  varies  greatly  in  strength  in 
both  districts.  It  is  weak  where  the  descent  on  the  lakeward  side  is  very 
gradual,  and  comparatively  strong  where  the  descent  is  rapid.  It  so  happens 
that  in  much  of  the  shore  outside  of  the  Defiance  moraine  the  lake  plain 
has  exceptionally  slight  descent,  often  but  5  to  10  feet  per  mile,  while  in 
the  part  of  the  shore  inside  the  moraine  it  is,  on  the  whole,  rather  rapid. 

In  so  far  as  favorable  conditions  in  one  district  exceed  those  in  the 
other  a  false  impression  of  relative  strength  is  likely  to  be  gained.  The 
impression  which,  the  writer  has  obtained  by  comparing  the  portion  of  the 
south  shore  of  Lake  Maumee  outside  the  Defiance  moraine  with  that  inside 
is  that  the  latter  is  fully  as  strong  as  the  former.  But  upon  comparing  the 
northwest  shore  outside  the  moraine  with  that  inside  there  was  found  to  be 
a  decidedly  stronger  beach  outside  the  moraine  and  that,  too,  where  slopes 
appear  to  be  similar.  The  portion  outside  seems  to  have  at  least  double 
the  strength  of  that  inside.  The  study  has  not,  however,  been  sufficiently 
thorough  to  justify  a  more  precise  statement  of  the  relative  length  of  the 
part  of  the  tipper  lake  stage  involved  in  the  deposition  of  the  Defiance 
moraine.  It  can  only  be  stated  that  on  the  northwest  shore  it  is  sufficient 
to  cause  a  marked  contrast  between  the  part  of  the  beach  outside  and  that 
inside  of  the  moraine.  Possibly  the  part  outside  required  twice  the  time  of 
that  inside,  but  this  seems  a  rather  high  estimate.  The  estimates  of  relative 
lengths  should  be  supported  by  more  data  than  have  thus  far  been 
collected. 

INNER   BOEDER   PHENOMENA. 

The  distinct  covered  by  this  description  includes,  on  the  east  side  of 
the  Cuyahoga,  only  a  narrow  strip  lying  between  the  Defiance  and  the 
Cleveland  moraine,  and  on  the  west  side  of  that  river  a  strip  lying  between 
the  Defiance  moraine  and  the  upper  beach  of  the  glacial  Lake  Maumee. 
The  width  of  this  strip  is  variable,  being  4  to  8  miles  from  the  meridian 
of  Findlay  eastward  to  the  Sandusky  River,  12  miles  on  the  meridian 
of  Bellevue,  a  very  narrow  strip  near  the  meridian  of  Norwalk,  and  15 
to  20  miles  from  the  meridian  of  New  London  eastward  to  Berea,  beyond 
which  it  decreases  to  a  breadth  of  about  10  miles  at  the  Cuyahoga  River 
and  2  to  3  miles  at  Chagrin  River,  east  of  which  it  remains  narrow. 


614         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


TOPOGRAPHY. 


From  Findlay  eastward  to  the  west  fork  of  Rocky  River  this  is  a  nearly 
plane  tract  with  a  decided  northward  slant,  the  only  prominent  exceptions 
being  a  small  area  in  northwestern  Lorain  and  eastern  Erie  counties,  cover- 
ing two  to  three  townships,  where  occasional  sandstone  hills  rise  above  the 
getieral  level.  From  Rocky  River  eastward  it  embraces  a  hilly  district 
with  only  a  narrow  fringe  of  plane  country  next  to  the  beach  line  along  its 
north  border. 

In  the  district  lying  west  of  Rocky  River  there  is  some  variety  in  the 
surface  contours,  although  no  part  is  decidedly  morainic.  The  district 
between  Rocky  and  Black  rivers  is  exceedingly  flat,  and  so  is  the  narrow 
tract  east  of  Rocky  River  between  the  beach  Hne  and  the  hilly  districts, 
there  being  scarcel)^  any  knolls  so  much  as  5  feet  in  height.  From  Black 
River  westward  there  are  many  low  swells  3  to  5  feet,  and  a  few  10  feet, 
in  height.  They  are  somewhat  irregularly  distributed,  some  sections  being 
thickly  dotted  with  them,  while  others  carry  scarcely  any.  The  most 
conspicuous  drift  features  noted  in  this  district  are  an  esker  in  Hartland 
Township,  Huron  County  (described  below),  and  a  knoll  in  the  southwest 
part  of  the  same  township,  which  rises  abruptly  about  30  feet  above  the 
bordering  country.  There  is  also  a  small  district  south  of  the  Lake  Shore 
and  Michigan  Southern  Railway,  in  eastern  Huron  County,  where  the 
surface  is  somewhat  uneven,  there  being  valley-like  depressions  surround- 
ing island-like  knolls  whose  height  is  but  little  above  that  of  the  bordering 
plain.  The  valleys  widen  and  contract  after  the  fashion  of  those  included 
among  the  knolls  of  the  moraine.  In  the  hilly  districts  the  drift  is  seldom 
aggregated  in  knolls,  there  being  only  an  occasional  knoll  so  much  as  10 
feet  in  height. 


THICKNESS   OF   THE   DRIFT. 


The  thickness  of  the  drift,  aside  from  buried  valleys,  probably  averages 
no  more  than  30  feet  and  may  possibly  average  but  20  feet.  In  the  buried 
valleys  its  thickness  is  much  greater,  as  the  rock  floor  of  the  larger  valle)-s 
was  probably  cut  down  below  the  level  of  Lake  Erie,  if  we  may  judge 
from  data  at  Cleveland  cited  above  (p.  595).  Remarkably  few  borings  were 
found  which  penetrate  deeply  into  the  old  valleys.  Attention  has  already 
been  called  to  a  line  leading  from  New  London  northeastward  through 


BLANCH ARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE.  615 

Wellington,  where  nnmerons  wells  have  penetrated  75  to  110  feet  of  drift. 
Aside  from  this  there  were  but  few  places  found  where  the  drift  exceeds 
50  feet.  One  is  at  W.  H.  Todd's,  2  miles  north  of  Florence,  in  Erie  County, 
where  rock  is  struck  at  a  depth  of  77  feet.  A  mile  south  of  this  well  is 
a  sandstone  hill  which  rises  to  a  height  of  40  to  50  feet  above  the  well 
mouth.  Another  is  in  Hartland  Township,  Huron  County,  at  a  school- 
house  and  at  the  base  of  the  Hartland  esker.  This  well  has  a  depth  of  75 
feet  and  does  not  reach  the  rock.  Around  the  northern  end,  of  the  esker 
the  drift  has  a  thickness  of  only  10  to  20  feet.  A  gas  well  in  Rocky  River 
valley,  at  Columbia  Center,  Lorain  County,  passed  through  40  feet  of 
drift.  The  well  mouth  is  20  to  25  feet  below  the  level  of  the  bordering  till 
plain.  At  Brunswick  Center,  Medina  County,  Gr.  B.  Babcock  has  a  well 
50  feet  deep  which  did  not  reach  rock,  but  rock  comes  to  the  surface  just 
north  of  the  village  at  a  higher  level  than  the  well  mouth. 

STRUCTURE   OF   THE   DRIFT. 

The  drift  is  mainly  till,  though  the  valleys,  as  already  indicated, 
contain  considerable  silt  beneath  the  till,  and  there  are  thin  sheets  of  sand 
and  gravel  on  the  uplands  interbedded  with  the  till.  It  is  from  these  sheets 
of  sand  and  gravel  that  the  wells  are  usually  obtained,  the  abundance  or 
scarcity  of  good  water  depending  upon  their  thickness  and  extent.  The  till 
ordinarily  contains  a  large  amount  of  clay,  but  in  the  midst  of  the  sandstone 
hills  of  northwestern  Lorain  and  eastern  Erie  counties  it  is  of  a  sandy 
nature,  furnishing  a  good  illustration  of  the  effect  of  the  local  rocks  upon 
the  structure. 

BOWLDERS. 

The  number  of  bowlders  on  this  inner  border  tract  is  not  great,  though 
in  certain  limited  districts  they  abound.  One  such  district  is  crossed  on  the 
road  from  Strongsville  to  Columbia  Center.  Another  is  in  eastern  Seneca 
County,  along  the  east-west  center  road  in  Thompson  Township  west  of 
the  center.  Perhaps  other  similar  places  occur  within  the  limits  of  this 
district,  but  they  have  not  been  noted. 

THE   HARILAND   ESKEK. 

Aside  from  the  beds  of  assorted  material  which  are  interbedded  with 
the  till,  there  are  occasional  surface  deposits  of  gravel  or  sand  in  the  form 
of  knolls  and  ridges,  and  also  in  plane  tracts. 


616  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  only  conspicuous  gravel  ridge  observed  is  the  Hartland  esker. 
This  ridge  lies  on  a  very  level  till  plain  in  the  northeast  part  of  Hartland 
Township,  Huron  County,  its  southern  end  being  near  the  east-to-west 
center  road,  and  IJ  miles  east  of  Hartland  Center,  and  its  length  about  2 
miles.  The  trend  is  nearly  due  north  ,to  south,  but  the  ridge  winds 
slightly,  varying  20°  or  more  from  a  due  north-south  line.  The  general 
height  is  10  to  12  feet,  but  in  places  a  height  of  20  feet  is  attained. 
The  width,  including  slopes,  is  only  75  to  125  yards.  It  is  a  continuous 
ridge,  except  for  a  gap  near  the  middle  a  few  yards  in  width.  Two  basins 
were  observed  on  the  crest  of  the  ridge,  one  of  which  is  fully  10  feet  in 
depth  and  contains  a  small  pond.  The  northern  half  of  the  ridge  is  sharper 
and  higher  and  contains  coarser  material  than  the  southern  half 

The  largest  exposure  noted  in  the  esker  is  at  a  gravel  pit  in  the 
northern  half  near  the  schoolhouse  referred  to  above.  It  is  opened  at  a 
place  whei'e  the  ridge  makes  a  sharp  curve  from  a  south-southeast  course 
to  one  west  of  south.  It  has  been  worked  back  from  the  outer  side  of  the 
curve  to  the  inner,  the  best  exposures  being  at  points  which  show  the 
structure  of  the  inner  curve.  There  is  a  confused  mass  of  cobble,  gravel, 
and  sand,  with  slight  clay  admixture,  and  only  indistinct  lines  of  bedding. 
These,  so  far  as  made  out,  are  nearly  horizontal.  On  the  outer  curve  of 
the  ridge  the  bedding  appears  to  be  more  distinct  than  on  the  inner. 
Several  slight  exposures  occur  between  this  large  pit  and  the  southern  end 
of  the  ridge.  They  usually  show  a  thin  bed  of  sandy  clay  at  the  surface, 
which  is  sparingly  interspersed  with  pebbles,  beneath  which  is  gravel  of 
medium  coarseness.  Residents  state  that  the  wells  along  this  portion  of 
the  ridge  frequently  strike  a  bed  of  sand  which  yields  some  water,  after 
which  they,  enter  till  near  the  level  of  the  bordering  plain. 

There  is  no  fan  or  gravel  plain  at  the  south  end  of  this  esker,  but  on 
the  contrary,  it  terminates  abruptly  in  the  till  plain.  About  2  miles  south, 
however,  is  found  the  northern  end  of  the  spur  of  the  Defiance  moraine 
described  above,  which  lies  along  the  east  side  of  Vermilion  River,  and 
since  this'  spur  is  composed  mainly  of  gravelly  knolls  and  is  so  nearly, in 
line  with  the  esker,  it  is  thought  that  it  may  have  been  formed  by  the  same 
glacial  stream  which  formed  the  esker,  the  interval  of  2  miles  between  the 
esker  and  the  spur  having  been  unfavorable  for  the  production  either  of  an 
esker  or  of  gravelly  knolls.     Just  how  the  glacial  waters  deposited  such 


BLANCHARD  OR  DEFIANCE  MORAINE.  617 

ridges  and  knolls  and  why  the  gaps  exist  are  interesting  questions  which 
afford  room  for  speculative  inquiry  but  which  are  not  well  enough  under- 
stood at  present  to  warrant  the  rendering  of  an  opinion. 

THE   OLD   VALLEY   OF   ROCKY    RIVER. 

The  changes  of  drainage  in  this  region,  especiallj^  in  the  plane 
portion  of  it,  have  been  sucli  that  several  of  the  streams  are  in  channels 
entirely  postglacial,  draining  territory  whose  preglacial  drainage  lines  are 
completely  filled  with  drift.  In  one  conspicuous  instance,  however,  the 
preglacial  course  has  been  abandoned,  but  not  concealed,  viz.,  that  of  the 
East  Fork  of  Rocky  River.  The  fact  was  announced  by  Newberry^  that 
the  present  mouth  of  Rocky  Eiver  does  not  coincide  with  its  ancient  mouth, 
but  comes  to  the  lake  shore  2  miles  east  of  it.  The  river,  however,  touches 
its  old  channel  2  miles  above  its  mouth,  one  bluff  being  composed  of  rock 
while  the  other  is  composed  of  till.  A  few  years  after  Newberry's  reports 
were  published.  Dr.  D.  T.  Gould,  of  Berea,  Ohio,  discovered  that  the  old 
course  of  the  East  Fork  of  Rocky  River  may  be  traced  from  the  point 
where  Newberry  left  it  (2  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Rocky  River),  south- 
ward into  Strongsville  Township,  Cuyahoga  County,  where  it  becomes 
coincident  with  the  present  course  and  continues  so  to  the  head  of  the 
stream.  The  present  course  of  the  stream  is  nearly  parallel  with  the 
ancient  one  throughout  this  distance  (about  15  miles),  lying  1  to  1^  miles 
west  of  it.  The  old  course  is  indicated  superficially  by  a  shallow,  trough- 
like depression,  about  one-half  mile  wide  and  10  to  40  feet  deep,  and  its 
existence  is  confirmed  by  borings  which  show  that  no  rock  lies  near  the 
surface  of  this  depression.  The  deepest  boring  (one  near  the  Big  Four 
Railroad)  is  reported  by  Grould  to  have  penetrated  about  200  feet  of  drift 
before  reaching  rock,  showing  the#i-ock  floor  to  be  nearly  as  low  as  the 
surface  of  Lake  Erie. 

Along  the  ancient  course,  from  the  vicinity  of  Berea  southward  for 
nearly  15  miles,  the  Berea  grit  is  wanting  for  a  space  of  1  to  1^  miles  or 
more,  while  along  the  present  stream  throughout  that  distance  the  bed  and 
bluffs  are  composed  of  this  formation.  The  present  valley  is  a  narrow 
gorge  but  a  few  rods  in  width,  while  the  ancient  one  has  a  width  of  a  mile 
or  more. 

1  See  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  1, 1873,  pp.  171-172;  Vol.  II,  1875,  p.  16. 


618  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Gould  has  published  the  resuhs  of  his  studies  in  a  Berea  newspaper,^ 
showing  in  some  detail  the  nature  of  the  evidence  bearing  upon  the 
question  of  change  of  drainage  and  the  manner  in  which  the  evidence  was 
brought  to  his  notice.  Some  of  the  interesting  features  along  the  hne  of 
the  ancient  valley  he  desci'ibes  as  follows: 

Extending  along  the  whole  eastern  border  of  this  village  [Berea],  and  distant 
from  it  about  a  mile,  is  a  chain  of  what  were  at  one  time  swamps  and  small,  shallow 
ponds.  These  have  within  a  few  years  been  drained,  cleared,  and  brought  under 
cultivation,  and  to-day  are  the  somewhat  famous  onion  fields  of  Berea.  There  ai'e 
seven  of  these  swamps,  each  distinct  from  the  other,  the  divisions  in  each  case  being 
ridges  of  clay  loam  of  different  heights,  some  being-  not  more  than  10  feet  and 
others  20,  30,  and  in  one  case  nearly  40  feet.  The  general  direction  of  this  chain  of 
swamps  is  nearly  north  and  south;  the  direction  of  the  dividing  ridges  is  northeast 
to  southwest.  The  soil  along  the  crest  of  these  ridges  is  very  noticeably  sandy, 
while  the  general  country  everywhere  east  and  west  of  them  has  a  stiff  clay  soil. 
With  the  exception  of  one  swamp  the  di-ainage  is  from  one  to  the  other  through 
gaps  in  these  ridges,  which  have  been  broken  through  by  the  contained  water  in 
each,  into  a  general  reservoir  near  the  center  of  a  swamp  much  laiger  than  all  the 
others  combined.  This  reservoir  or  pond  is  Lake  Abram,  and  the  reclaimed  marsh 
around  this  pond  and  also  the  detached  marshes  constitute  the  Berea  onion  district. 
This  chain  of  marshes  is  2J  miles  in  length. 

The  cross  ridges  mentioned  by  Gould,  which  separate  the  basins,  are 
composed  in  the  main  of  ordinary  till,  though  there  are  places  where 
gravel  may  be  obtained  from  them.  They  are  evidently  glacial  deposits, 
and  the  basins  also  date  from  the  glacial  period.  One  basin  was  observed 
about  one-half  mile  south  of  Lake  Abram,  which  is  situated  on  the  slope 
neai-ly  up  to  the  top  of  the  bluff-like  border  of  the  trough.  At  the  southern 
end  of  the  chain  of  swamps  this  old  channel  is  completely  filled,  so  that  its 
altitude  is  fully  as  high  as  the  bordering  plain  and  slightly  above  the  level 
of  die  bluff's  of  the  present  stream.  The  stream,  no  doubt  has  taken  its 
present  course  because  of  lower  altitude,  or  at  least  of  less  obstruction  to 
its  course  there  than,  along  its  old  route.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the 
peculiar  features  which  this  old  valley  displays  were  present  in  other  deeply 
filled  valleys  of  the  drift-covered  region,  especially  those  in  hilly  districts, 
and  may  represent  the  form  of  channel  in  which  many  of  the  post- 
glacial streams  began  their  work.  It  is  certain  that  many  of  the  channels 
occupied  by  postglacial  streams,  when  following  their  preglacial  courses, 

'The  Berea  Advertiser,  April  16  and  30,  1S86. 


CLEVELAND  MORAINE.  619 

vary  remarkably  in  width.  The  amount  of  postglacial  erosion  may  there- 
fore be  much  less  than  the  size  would  indicate,  a  portion  of  the  channel 
having-  never  been  filled. 

SECTION   IV.     MORAI^TES   OF   THE  ERIE   liOBE. 

CLEVELAND   MORAINE. 

The  Cleveland  moraine  is  the  next  one  later  than  the  Defiance.  As  a 
land-laid  moraine  it  appears  to  be  developed  no  farther  west  in  Ohio  than 
the  southwestern  part  of  the  city  of  Cleveland,  but  its  continuation  as  a 
water-laid  moraine  may  be  traced  at  points  west  from  Cleveland.  Possi- 
bly it  will  be  found  near  a  line  recently  suggested  by  Taylor,  a  short 
distance  back  from  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie  from  Cleveland  to  Toledo,  and 
thence  northward  into  Michigan;  it  would  then  perhaps  be  more  appropri- 
ately termed  the  Toledo  moraine,  a  name  suggested  by  Taylor.^  Neither 
Taylor  nor  the  writer  has,  however,  found  conclusive  evidence  of  a  moraine 
along  the  portion  of  the  line  between  Cleveland  and  Toledo,  nor  for  some 
distance  north  from  Toledo.  This  being  the  case,  it  seems  preferable  to 
withhold  the  name  Toledo  and  apply  the  name  Cleveland,  the  latter  being 
a  prominent  city  at  the  southwestern  end  of  the  well-defined  land-laid  por- 
tion. This  land-laid  portion  has  occasionally  been  called  the  Newburg 
moraine,  from  the  part  of  Cleveland  in  which  it  is  found,  but  it  seems  pref- 
erable to  substitute  the  name  of  the  well-known  city  rather  than  to  adopt  the 
name  of  one  of  its  suburbs. 

DISTRIBUTION. 

The  westernmost  point  at  which  this  moraine  has  been  recognized  is 
on  the  west  blufi^  of  Big  Creek,  opposite  North  Linndale,  near  the  south- 
western limits  of  the  city  of  Cleveland.  To  the  south,  west,  and  north 
of  this  place  there  is  a  very  level  surface,  on  which  no  morainic  features 
were  detected.  From  North  Linndale  the  course  of  the  moraine  is  nearly 
due  east  along  the  south  side  of  Big  Creek  to  its  junction  with  the  Cuya- 
hoga in  the  southeast  part  of  Cleveland.  Upon  crossing  the  Cuj^ahoga 
into  the  part  of  the  city  known  as  Newburg,  the  moraine,  as  indicated  in 
PI.  XIII,  continues  eastward  through  Randall  to  the  valley  of  Chagrin 
River  below  Chagrin  Falls.     From  this  valley  the  moraine  swings  abruptly 

1  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  VIII,  1897,  pp.  34,  39;  Jour.  Geol.,  Vol.  V,  1897,  p.  454;  Am.  Geologist, 
Vol.  XXIV,  1899,  p.  15. 


620         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

northward,  passing  through  Chester  Crossroads  to  the  East  Chagrin  River 
in  the  southwest  part  of  Chardon  Township.  It  tliere  swings  eastward  and 
passes  just  north  of  the  village  of  Chardon  to  Hampden  Center,  and  thence 
to  the  headwaters  of  the  Cuyahoga  River  in  northeastern  Geauga  County, 
Ohio. 

The  moraine  then  makes  a  detour  to  the  south  in  crossing  the  Grand 
River  Basin.  For  about  10  miles  fi'om  the  head  of  the  Cuyahoga  the 
course  is  southward  along  the  divide  between  the  Cuyahoga  and  Grand 
rivers.  It  then  swings  to  the  southeast  and  constitutes  a  portion  of  the 
divide  between  the  Grand  and  Mahoning  rivers,  passing  through  Southing- 
ton  and  Champion  townships,  Trumbull  County,  and  coming  to  Mosquito 
Creek  2  or  3  miles  south  of  Cortland.  It  there  turns  abruptly  northward 
and  crosses  over  the  divide  between  Mosquito  and  Pymatuning  creeks.  It 
first  touches  the  Pymatuning  Valley  near  the  line  of  Trumbull  and  Ashta- 
liula  counties,  and  follows  the  western  slope  of  that  valley  to  the  Ohio- 
Erie  divide,  about  4  miles  northwest  of  Andover,  Ohio.  The  small  glacial 
tongue  encircled  by  this  loop  extended  but  little  outside  the  drainage  basin 
of  Grand  River.  It  has  a  width  of  about  15  miles  at  the  south  end,  and 
perhaps  25  miles  at  the  north,  where  it  became  confluent  with  the  main 
body  of  the  ice  sheet. 

From  the  Grand  River  Basin  eastward  there  is  a  much  more  complex 
morainic  belt  than  to  the  west,  and  possibl}^  more  time  was  occupied  in  its 
formation  than  in  that  of  the  Cleveland  moraine.  Between  Pymatuning 
Creek  and  the  Ohio-Pennsylvania  line  there  are  three  somewhat  distinct 
ridges  or  members,  each  from  1  to  2  miles  wide.  The  southernmost 
passes  in  an  eastward  course  through  West  Williamsfield  and  Williamsfield 
Center,  and  after  crossing  the  State  line  enters  the  Shenango  Valle}"  near 
the  north  edge  of  Jamestown,  Pa.  The  middle  member  leaves  Pymatuning 
Creek  3  or  4  miles  farther  north  than  the  southern  one,  and,  bearing  south  of 
east  across  southwestern  Andover  and  northeastern  Williamsfield  townships, 
becomes  merged  with  the  southern  member  just  east  of  the  State  line. 
The  northern  member  passes  from  the  head  of  Pymatuning'  Creek  north  of 
east  across  Leon  Township,  entering  Pennsylvania  near  Pennline,  at  the 
northwest  end  of  Pymatuning  Swamp. 

No  well-defined  continuation  of  the  southern  and  middle  members  was 
found    on   the  uplands  east  of  the  Shenango,   between  that  stream    and 


CLEVELAND  MORAINE.  621 

Crooked  Creek,  and  nowhere  east  from  it  are  more  than  two  members 
developed. 

Drift  knolls  abound  opposite  Hartstown,  on  the  east  side  of  Crooked 
Creek,  near  the  head  of  the  stream.  They  apparently  correspond  in  age  to 
those  in  the  Shenango  Valley  at  Jamestown.  There  is  a  nearly  continuous 
line  of  knolls  from  Hartstown  northwest  to  Pennline,  along  the  east  side  of 
Pymatuning  Swamp,  at  a  right  angle  to  the  general  trend  of  the  moraine 
and  in  about  the  same  direction  that  the  ice  moved.  It  is  probably  a  con- 
necting link  between  the  southern  and  northern  meinbers  of  the  morainic 
system.  At  the  time  the  earliest  member  of  this  sei'ies  was  forming  the  ice 
sheet  apparently  stood  at  Hartstown,  on  the  valley  of  Crooked  Creek;  at 
Jamestown,  on  the  Shenango,  and  near  the  line  of  Ashtabula  and  Trumbull 
counties,  Ohio,  on  the  Pymatuning.  These  points  mark  the  southern  border 
of  the  features  in  these  valleys.  At  the  time  the  latest  member  was  forming 
the  ice  sheet  apparently  stood  at  the  head  of  Pymatuning  Creek,  in  eastern 
Ohio,  and  at  the  northwest  end  of  Pymatuning  Swamp,  in  western  Penn- 
sylvania, and  the  knolls  along  this  swamp  appear  to  have  been  formed  in 
connection  with  the  retreat  of  the  ice  sheet  from  Hartstown  to  Pennline, 
i.  e.,  from  the  southeast  to  the  northwest  end  of  the  swamp. 

The  upland  between  the  Pymatuning  Swamp  and  the  valley  in  which 
Conneaut  Creek  and  Conneaut  Lake  are  situated  has  scarcely  any  drift 
knolls  worthy  of  note,  but  along  the  Conneaut  Valley  there  is  a  line  of 
drift  knolls  shout  as  long  as  that  on  the  Pymatuning  Swamp,  10  to  12  miles. 
The  southern  end  is  east  of  Conneaut  Lake,  and  the  northern  end  near 
Conneautville,  Pa.  The  formation  of  this  line  apparently  occupied  an 
interval  of  time  similar  to  that  between  the  formation  of  the  southern  and 
northern  members  of  the  moraine  in  the  valleys  west  from  here,  the  south- 
ern end  having  been  deposited  when  the  ice  stood  at  Hartstown  and  James- 
town, Pa.,  and  the  northern  when  it  stood  at  Pemiline,  Pa. 

On  the  uplands  between  the  Conneaut  Valley  and  the  Cussewago,  two 
feeble  moraines  were  observed,  one  passing  from  the  southern  end  of 
Conneaut  Lake  north  of  east  into  the  Cussewago  Valley,  at  the  bend  3  or 
4  miles  west  of  Meaddlle,  the  other  passing  from  near  Conneautville  to  the 
Cussewago  Valley  at  Crossingville.  The  Cussewago  Valley  has  drift  knolls 
along  its  eastern  side  throughout  the  interval  between  Crossingville  and  the 
bend  of  the  creek,  while  the  western  slope  is  nearly  free  from  drift  knolls. 


622  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Between  Ciissewag-o  and  French  Creek  valleys  drift  knolls  occur,  both 
isolated  and  in  groups,  but  not  forming  well-defined  belts.  In  French 
Creek  Valley  drift  knolls  set  in  near  Saegerstown  and  occupy  it  as  far  as  the 
bend  west  of  Cambridge,  a  distance  of  7  or  8  miles.  These  )3robably 
represent  only  the  outer  member,  for  French  Creek  has  here  a  northeast-to- 
southwest  course  corresponding  with  the  general  direction  of  the  ice  margin- 
The  inner  member  is  apparently  represented  on  Conneautee  Creek,  a  few 
miles  north  of  Cambridge,  near  McLane,  and  on  Le  Boeuf  Creek  at  Water- 
ford,  there  being  strongly  morainic  topography  in  the  valleys  at  these 
villages,  and  a  well-defined  moraine-headed  terrace  at  Waterford.  The  two 
members  of  this  morainic  belt  are  more  distinctly  outlined  east  from  here 
than  they  are  to  the  west,  and  are  accordingly  traced  separately. 

The  outer  member  follows  the.  southeast  side  of  French  Creek  from 
Cambridge  to  Le  Boeuf  and  then  passes  up  East  French  Creek  and  rises 
to  the  uplands.  It  passes  2  or  3  miles  north  of  Beaver  Dam,  and  enters 
New  York  at  the  extreme  southwest  corner  of  the  State.  In  New  York  it 
has  a  northeastward  course  for  several  miles,  crossing  the  Western  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania  Railway  north  of  Panama  station,  and  rising  onto  the 
uplands  between  the  head  of  French  Creek  and  Lake  Chautauqua,  where 
it  attains  an  altitude  about  1,800  feet  above  tide.  The  moraine  is  not  well 
developed  on  the  slope  toward  Lake  Chautauqua,  but  seems  to  find  its 
continuation  in  a  sharp  cluster  of  knolls  at  Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  at  the  south- 
east end  of  the  lake. 

The  inner  member  passes  from  Waterford,  Pa.,  northeast  into  New 
York,  crossing  the  valley  of  Lake  Pleasant  at  and  above  the  lake,  and  the 
north  branch  of  French  Creek  north  of  Lowville,  Pa.,  and  in  western  New 
York  it  again  crosses  this  creek  near  its  head  at  Findley  Lake.  From  the 
north  end  of  Findley  Lake  its  course  is  slightly  north  of  east  past  Sherman, 
N.  Y.,  to  the  narrows  of  Lake  Chautauqua. 

There  are  occasional  developments  of  morainic  topography  between 
these  two  belts,  so  that  in  some  of  the  valleys  of  Erie  County,  Pa.,  and 
Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y.,  they  are  nearly  connected,  but  on  the  uplands 
they  are  distinctly  separate  moraines. 

Some  uncertainty  is  felt  concerning  the  position  of  the  ice  margin  for 
a  distance  30  miles  east  from  Lake  Chautauqua  at  the  time  the  Cleveland 
morainic  belt  was  forming.     It  is  a  much  more  broken  region  than  that 


CLEVELAND  MORAINE.  623 

west  of  Lake  Chautauqua,  there  being  a  diflference  of  more  than  700  feet 
in  the  altitude  of  ridges  and  valleys.  The  altitude  of  the  high  points  on  a 
dividing  ridge  between  Cassadaga  and  Conewango  creeks,  in  northwestern 
Gerr}',  eastern  Charlotte,  and  western  Cherry  Creek  townships,  in  Chau- 
tauqiia  County,  is  2,040  to  2,100  feet,- as  shown  by  the  Cherry  Creek 
topographic  sheet,  while  the  broad  valleys  of  Cassadaga  Creek  on  the  west 
and  of  Conewango  Creek  on  the  east  of  this  elevated  strip  are  below  the 
1,300-foot  contour.  As  both  of  these  valleys  are  open  to  the  north,  the  ice 
sheet  was  free  to  extend  into  them  from  the  Lake  Erie  Basin.  There  is  a 
strong  probability  that  it  extended  down  Cassadaga  Valley  to  the  mouth  of 
the  creek  and  down  Conewango  Valley  to  the  vicinity  of  Kennedy;  but 
it  probably  fell  short  several  miles  of  reaching  as  far  south  on  the  inter- 
vening uplands  and  also  on  the  high  uplands  between  Cassadaga  Valley 
and  Lake  Chautauqua. 

The  entire  valley  of  Cassadaga  Creek  and  the  part  of  Conewango 
Creek  above  Kennedy  have  broad  bottoms  standing  only  a  few  feet  above 
the  creek  beds,  portions  of  which  are  still  subject  to  overflow.  Along  the 
borders  of  each  of  these  valleys,  and  also  on  the  borders  of  the  valley  in 
which  Lake  Chautauqua  lies,  there  are  accumulations  of  gravelly,  partially 
assorted  drift  which  rise  40  to  75  feet  above  the  broad  bottoms.  They  are 
sliglitly  undulatory  and  in  places  carry  shallow  basins.  The  topography, 
structure,  and  position  of  these  deposits  seem  best  explained  on  the  hypo- 
thesis that  the  valleys  were  filled  by  tongues  of  ice  at  the  time  they  were 
accumulating.  The  hypothesis  that  these  benches  are  remnants  of  a  filling 
which  once  extended  entirely  across  the  valleys  was  considered  and  found 
to  be  untenable,  for  such  an  erosion  as  it  would  call  for  is  greatly  out  of 
proportion  to  the  erosion  fai-ther  down  these  drainage  lines.  The  hypothesis 
that  the  benches  represent  the  borders  of  a  lake  was  also  considered  and 
found  to  be  unsatisfactory.  The  deposits  are  evidently  to  a  large  extent 
glacial.  The  water  action  which  they  display  seems  to  be  such  as  might 
occur  in  connection  with  drainage  along  the  border  of  ice  tongues,  and 
not  such  as  would  occur  on  the  shore  of  a  narrow  lake.  The  basins  and 
the  low  swells  on  these  benches  give  them  a  striking  resemblance  to  the 
head  of  glacial  terraces.  An  examination  of  the  part  of  the  Conewango 
below  Kennedy  shows  the  valley  to  be  occupied  by  a  pitted  gravel  plain 
which  stands  at  about  the  same  lieight  as  these  benches.     This  pitted  gravel 


624  GLACIAL  EORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

plain  leads  past  the  southern  end  of  Cassadaga  Valley  and  connects  with  a 
valley  that  leads  down  the  Lake  Chautauqua  outlet  from  the  moraine  at 
Jamestown. 

Concerning  tli^  position  of  the  ice  margin  on  the  intervening  uplands, 
but  little  has  been  ascertained.  On  the  divide  between  Lake  Chautauqua 
and  Cassadaga  Creek  the  drift  surface  is  generally  free  from  knolls.  East 
of  Cassadaga  Creek  there  are  notable  drift  accumulations  in  Mill  Creek 
Valley,  from  its  mouth  near  Sinclairville  up  nearly  to  its  source,  a  distance 
of  5  or  6  miles.  This  constitutes  apparently  a  natural  line  of  continuation 
for  the  inner  member,  which  was  traced  to  the  narrows  of  Lake  Chautauqua. 
There  seems  to  be  no  moraine  on  the  high  divide  to  the  east  of  Mill 
Creek,  but  east  of  the  divide  along  Farrington  Hollow  for  about  3  miles 
northwest  from  Cherry  Creek  village,  there  are  conspicuoiis  drift  knolls. 
The  lower  course  of  West  Conewango  Creek,  near  Hamlet,  is  also  choked 
by  drift  knolls.  Those  in  Farrington  Hollow  may  constitute  the  line  of 
continuation  of  the  inner  member.  On  the  east  side  of  the  main  Cone- 
wango Valley,  drift  knolls  are  conspicuous  on  the  lower  course  of  Dry 
Brook,  near  Rutledge.  They  are  also  numerous  north  of  Leon,  where  they 
have  filled  an  old  valley  which  may  have  been  the  former  line  of  discharge 
for  Mad  Creek.  But  aside  from  these  two  places  there  are  few  knolls  along 
this  side  of  the  Conewango  Valley.  At  the  head  of  the  Conewango  Valley 
there  is  a  well-defined  moraine,  but  it  belongs  to  a  later  morainic  system 
than  that  under  discussion. 

Between  Conewango  Creek  and  the  South  Fork  of  Cattaraugus  Creek 
there  is  a  high  upland,  with  an  altitude  1,900  to  2,000  feet  or  more,  and  on 
this  upland  drift  knolls  are  comparatively  rare.  But  a  well-defined  moraine 
sets  in  near  Maples  post-office,  about  6  miles  east  of  Cattaraugus  village, 
which  seems  likely  to  be  the  continuation  of  the  Cleveland  morainic  belt, 
for  it  lies  a  short  distance  outside  the  morainic  system  which  farther  west 
is  known  to  be  the  next  one  younger  than  the  Cleveland  belt.  Its  general 
course  is  indicated  on  the  glacial  map,  PI.  II,  but  a  more  definite  outline 
will  be  here  presented. 

From  Maples  northeastward  to  the  meridian  of  Machias,  a  distance  of 
nearly  20  miles,  this  moraine  lies  near  to  and  in  places  constitutes  the  divide 
between  southern  tributaries  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  and  the  headwaters  of 
Great  Valley  and  Ischua  creeks,  which  discharge  to  the  Allegheny  River. 


CLEVELAND  MORAINE.  625 

It  passes  about  3  miles  south  of  the  village  of  Ashford  Hollow,  1  to  2  miles 
south  of  the  village  of  West  Valley,  and  2  to  3  miles  north  of  Machias. 

From  near  the  liead  of  Ischua  Creek,  about  4  miles  -southwest  of 
Machias,  another  moraine  leads  eastward,  passing  just  south  of  Machias, 
and  continuing  about  3  miles  beyond  that  village.  It  there  becomes  obscure, 
but  seems  to  be  continued  in  a  belt  that  sets  in  4  or  5  miles  farther  east, 
near  Fairview,  and  leads  soatheastwai'd  past  Rushford  to  the  Genesee  Valley 
at  Caneadea.  Whether  this  moraine  is  a  member  of  the  same  system  as 
that  to  which  the  Cleveland  belongs  is  not  determined.  It  may  be  a 
correlative  of  an  earlier  moraine,  but  its  close  association  with  the  supposed 
Cleveland  moraine  in  the  few  miles  in  which  it  is  well  developed  seems  to 
justif}"  its  consideration  in  connection  with  that  moraine.  From  Machias 
eastward  to  the  Genesee  the  two  moraines  are  separated  by  a  space  of  but 
4  to  8  miles. 

Returning  to  the  meridian  of  Machias,  we  find  that  the  northern  or 
supposed  Cleveland  moraine  takes  an  eastward  course  to  Clear  Creek  (a 
southern  ti-ibutary  of  Cattaraugus  Creek)  at  Sandusky.  It  there  swings 
northeastward  and  rises  to  the  elevated  divide  between  the  head  of  Catta- 
raugus Creek  and  Wiscoy  Creek,  a  western  tributary  of  Genesee  River. 
On  this  divide  it  tui'ns  southeastward,  but  extends  a  spur  northward  along 
the  divide  to  the  next  morainic  system.  The  village  of  Eagle  stands  near 
the  outer  border  of  the  moraine  at  the  j^lace  where  it  turns  to  the  southeast. 

The  moraine  is  strong  for  about  3  miles  east  of  Eagle.  It  is  then 
poorly  defined  for  a  couple  of  miles.  It  becomes  strong  again  in  Cold 
Creek  Valley,  in  northeastern  Centerville  Township,  and  leads  down  the 
south  side  of  that  valley  to  the  Genesee,  coming  to  that  river  between  the 
villages  of  Houghton  and  Fillmore. 

RANGE    IN   ALTITUDE. 

The  course  of  the  Cleveland  morainic  belt  being  across  a  hilly  region, 
there  are  frequent  fluctuations  in  altitude.  In  many  cases  the  moraine 
makes  a  rise  of  200  to  300  feet  within  a  space  of  1  to  2  miles,  and  occasionally 
an  even  greater  rise  in  an  equally  short  distance.  The  following  table 
presents  the  principal  fluctuations. 

MON  XLI 40 


626  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Tahle  sJunoing  range  in  altitude  of  the  Cleveland  moraine. 

Feet  above  tide. 

Western  terminus,  near  North  Linndale 800-825 

Near  Randall,  Ohio 1,  000-1,  050 

Chagrin  Valley 900-950 

Near  Chardon 1, 100-1,  200 

Highlands  west  of  Grand  River 1, 200-1, 325 

Grand  River  Valley 915-940 

Divide  between  Mosquito  and  Pymatuning  creeks 1, 100-1, 150 

Pymatuning  Valley 940-1, 000 

Ridge  between  Pymatuning  and  Shenango 1,  075-1, 191 

Andover  geodetic  station 1, 191 

Shenango  Valley  from  Jamestown  to  State  Line - 972-1, 020 

Pymatuning  Swamp 1, 020-1, 050 

Divide  between  Pymatuning  Swamp  and  Conneaut  Valley 1, 100-1,  225 

Conneaut  Lake 1, 082 

Divide  north  of  lake 1, 100 

Dicksonburg 995 

Conneautville 920 

Highlands  between  Conneaut  and  Cussewago  valleys 1, 175-1,  450 

Cussewago  Valley 1, 075-1, 150 

Creek  bed  opposite  Hayfield  (White) 1,  095 

Highlands  between  Cussewago  and  French  creeks 1,  300-1, 500 

Moraine  at  Conneautee  Valley : 1,  275 

Ridge  between  Conneautee  and  Le  Boeuf  valleys 1, 400 

Moraine  at  Le  Boeuf  Valley  (Waterford  station) 1, 193 

Highlands  near  southwest  corner  of  New  York 1,  700 

Valley  near  Panama  station 1, 550 

Highlands  west  of  Lake  Chautauqua 1, 800 

Lake  Chautauqua 1, 300 

Highlands  east  of  Lake  Chautauqua 1, 800 

Cassadaga  Valley 1. 300 

Divide  east  of  Cassadaga  Valley 2, 100 

Conewango  Valley li  300 

Divide  between  Conewango  and  South  Cattaraugus  valleys 2, 000 

Uplands  west  of  Machias li  900 

Valley  north  of  Machias 1, 650 

Divide  near  Eagle 2, 000 

Genesee  Valley  near  Houghton ^ 1, 360 

The  uplands  in  eastern  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y.,  as  ah-eady  noted, 
rise  in  a  few  places  to  an  altitude  of  2,100  feet,  but  are  generally  1,600 
to  1,800  feet.  Probably  the  ice  slieet  extended  to  the  highest  points  at  the 
time  it  was  forming  the  Cleveland  inorainic  belt,  for  the  uplands  are  10  to 
15  miles  farther  north  than  the  southern  end  of  Lake  Chautauqua  and  the 
supposed  limits  of  the  ice  tongues  in  Cassadaga  and  Conewango  valleys; 
but,  as  above  noted,  there  seems  to  be  no  definite  moraine  on  these  uplands. 
The  altitude  in  Cassadaga  and  the  Conewango  valleys,  as  indicated  above, 
is  scarcely  1,300  feet.  East  of  Conewango  it  rises  within  a  few  miles  to 
nearly  2,000  feet.     From  there  eastward  to  the  reentrant  angle  on  the  divide 


CLEVELAND  MORAINE.  627 

west  of  the  Grenesee  drainage  basin  it  is  1,600  to  2,000  feet,  being  about 
1,600  feet  in  the  valleys  and  1,800  to  2,000  feet  on  the  uplands.  On  the 
border  of  the  Genesee  the  uplands  are  about  1,600  feet,  but  di-ift  knolls 
extend  down  to  a  terrace  about  200  feet  above  the  river  level,  or  1,360 
feet  above  tide. 

RELIEF. 

On  the  uplands  west  of  the  Orand  River  Basin  in  Ohio,  and  also  within 
this  basin,  the  relief  of  the  Cleveland  moraine  ranges  from  about  15  feet 
up  to  60  feet  or  more.  In  the  valleys  of  northwestern  Pennsylvania  it  in 
places  reaches  100  feet,  though  it  is  usually  much  less.  On  the  uplands 
bordering  these  valleys  the  relief  seldom  exceeds  30  feet.  In  southwestern 
New  York  the  relief  in  the  valleys  is  20  to  50  feet  or  more,  but  on  the 
uplands  it  is  only  15  to  30  feet. 

TOPOGEAPHT. 

Aside  from  occasional  sharp  knolls  which  appear  at  intervals  through- 
out the  entire  length  of  the  moraine,  there  is  usually  a  swell-and-sag  topog- 
raphy, somewhat  similar  to  tliat  displayed  by  the  Defiance  and  other 
moraines  outside  the  Cleveland  morainic  belt.  In  the  portion  between 
Cleveland  and  the  Grand  River  Basin  the  knolls  are  usually  but  10  to  15 
feet  in  height,  though  a  cluster  of  sharp  knolls  35  or  40  feet  in  height  was 
noted  on  the  border  of  East  Chagrin  River,  4  to  6  miles  west  of  Chardon. 

On  the  uplands  west  of  Chagrin  Falls  a  short  esker  i-idge  appears  in 
the  moraine.  It  is  15  to  25  feet  high,  10  to  15  rods  wide,  including  slopes, 
and  is  practically  continuous  for  about  a  half  mile.  Its  trend  is  N.  50°  W. 
to  S.  50°  E.,  or  about  in  harmony  with  the  striae  in  that  locality.  Associated 
with  it  and  following  its  southwest  side  are  occasional  drift  knolls  which  are 
elongated  in  line  with  the  trend  of  the  esker.  The  easternmost  one  has 
a  length  of  about  1,000  feet  and  width  of  about  300  feet.  Its  trend  is, 
however,  different  from  that  of  the  esker,  being  N.  15°  W.  to  S.  15°  E. 
As  this  knoll  lies  southeast  of  the  esker  proper,  it  may  mark  the  line  of 
continuation  of  the  stream  which  formed  the  esker. 

On  the  high  uplands  west  of  the  Grand  River  Valley  the  moraine 
consists  of  a  nearly  continuous  undulatory  ridge  on  which  there  are  basins 
as  well  as  swells.  The  highest  points  on  the  ridge  stand  35  to  50  feet 
above  the  outer  border  tract,  though  the  general  elevation  is  less  than  30 


628  GLACIAL  FOEMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

feet  The  swells  are  10  to  20  feet  or  more  in  height,  closely  aggregated  in 
places,  and  everywhere  so  associated  as  to  give  a  decidedly  morainic  aspect 
to  the  belt.  An  especially  prominent  cluster  of  knolls  appears  on  the  line 
of  Hampden  and  Montville  townships,  about  a  mile  from  their  southern 
boundary,  where,  over  an  area  of  about  one-fourth  of  a  square  mile,  the 
knolls  are  closely  agg-regated  and  rise  sharply  to  heights  of  1 0  to  40  feet. 

Upon  entering  Trumbull  County  the  moraine  descends  into  Grand 
■River  Valley  and  is  well  defined  on  the  slopes,  though  its  knolls  are  low, 
seldom  exceeding  15  feet  in  height.  In  the  Grand  River  Valley,  in 
Southingtou  and  Champion  townships,  its  surface  is  uneven,  with  changes 
of  level  as  great  as  25  or  30  feet  within  a  half  mile,  but  there  are  few  if 
any  sharp  knolls.  This  unevemiess  is  due  to  irregularity  of  drift  deposi- 
tion rather  than  to  postglacial  erosion,  and  the  well  sections  show  it  to  be 
entirely  independent  of  the  rock  floor  under  the  valley.  The  moraine 
presents  here  a  nearly  continuous  ridge,  which  rises  gradually  on  the  inner 
border,  but  rather  abruptly  on  the  outer.  Two  notable  gaps  occur  in  it, 
each  about  a  half  mile  in  width.  One,  near  the  southeastern  corner  of 
Champion  Township,  affords  an  easy  passage  for  the  Pittsburg,  Youngs- 
town  and  Ashtabula  Railroad;  the  other  is  utilized  by  the  Painesville  and 
Youngstown  Railroad.  Neither  of  these  railroads  has  made  cuttings  in 
crossing  the  moraine,  but  if  they  had  been  built  across  the  stronger  portion 
either  a  steep  grade  or  a  cutting  of  20  feet  would  have  been  required. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Mosquito  Creek  only  scattering  knolls  occur,  the 
moraine  being  weaker  there  than  at  any  other  part  of  the  loop  that 
surrounds  the  Grand  River  Valley.  On  the  uplands  east  of  Mosquito 
Creek,  in  Mecca,  Johnson,  and  Gustavus  townships,  it  is  well  defined, 
having  closely  associated  knolls  10  to  15  feet  high,  with  shallow  basins 
among  them. 

Two  miles  north  of  Kinsman,  in  the  valley  of  Pymatuning  Creek,  is 
one  of  the  most  prominent  hills  in  the  moraine.  It  rises  abruptly  to  a 
height  of  80  feet,  is  about  one-fourth  mile  in  length  and  one-eighth  mile 
in  breadth.  Its  trend  is  nearly  at  a  right  angle  to  that  of  the  moraine, 
being  northwest  to  southeast.  It  is  highest  and  most  abrupt  at  the 
northwestern  end,  its  slope  having  there  an  angle  of  35°  or  40°.  At  the 
southeastern  end  it  drops  down  gradually  and  merges  into  a  pitted  gravel 
plain  which  leads  down  Pymatuning  Creek.  The  peculiar  sti'ucture  of 
this  hill  is  discussed  on  page  641. 


CLEVELAND  MORAINE.  629 

On  the  slope  west  of  Pymatuning  Creek  the  drift  assumes  the  form  of 
low  swells,  seldom  higher  than  10  feet,  but  so  numerous  as  to  give  it  a 
decidedly  raorainic  aspect.  Along  Pynmtuning  Creek,  above  the  large 
knoll  just  described,  drift  knolls  are  rare  for  a  couple  of  miles.  Several 
drift  ridges,  occupying  altogether  a  width  of  a  mile  or  so,  here  cross 
the  valley  in  an  east-to-west  direction,  filling  it  so  completely  that  the 
stream  is  compelled  to  wind  about  to  find  a  passage  through  the  belt. 
The  ridges  rise  abruptly  to  a  height  of  20  to  30  feet,  and  among  them  are 
sags  and  basins  10  to  20  feet  in  depth,  neariy  surrounded  by  ridges  and 
knolls.  These  ridges,  continuing  eastward,  constitute  the  outer  of  the 
three  lines  which  pass  from  Pymatuning  Creek  to  Shenango  River. 

On  the  uplands,  between  the  Pymatuning  and  Shenango,  there  are 
usually  low  knolls,  10  to  15  feet  in  height,  some  of  which  are  rather  sharp, 
and  among  them  are  a  few  basins. 

There  are  several  gravel  knolls  on  the  slope  east  of  the  Shenango 
River,  about  a  half  mile  east  of  Jamestown,  Pa.  The  largest  one  is  30  to 
35  feet  high  and  is  surrounded  by  several  smaller  ones.  Above  Jamestown 
the  knolls  are  10  to  20  feet  in  height  and  of  varying  degrees  of  sharpness, 
from  very  abrupt  to  those  of  gradual  slope.  A  few  peculiar  ridges 
were  noted  near  Jamestown  which  merit  individual  description.  One  east 
of  Kiuneys  Corners,  in  the  southwest  corner  of  Crawford  County,  Pa., 
bears  some  resemblance  to  an  esker.  For  about  a  fourth  mile  from  its 
western  end  it  is  only  5  or  6  feet  in  height  and  100  feet  in  breadth.  It 
here  enlarges  to  a  knoll  15  feet  or  more  hi  height  and  perhaps  200  feet  in 
diameter  at  the  base.  From  this  knoll  a  low  ridge  continues  southeastward 
a  short  distance  and  then  disappears.  There  are,  however,  for  a  half  mile 
farther,  in  line  with  the  ridge,  occasional  low,  short  ridges  which  were 
probably  formed  in  comiection  with  it.  This  ridge  stands  on  a  slope 
that  descends  eastward.  A  similar  esker-like  ridge  was  found  near  the  Lake 
Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  Railroad,  ea^st  of  Jamestown.  It  is  about 
one-fourth  mile  long,  20  feet  high,  100  to  150  feet  in  width,  and  trends 
nearly  west  to  east.  A  short,  gravelly  ridge,  less  like  an  esker  than  those 
just  mentioned,  was  observed  on  John  Patterson's  land,  1^  miles  southeast 
of  Westford,  Pa.  It  is  less  than  an  eighth  mile  in  length,  about  15  rods  in 
breadth,  and  20  feet  in  height.  It  is  the  only  conspicuous  drift  feature  in 
that  vicinity.     All  these  ridges  contain  mucli  assorted  material. 


630  GLACIAL  FOKMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Returning  to  the  head  of  Pymatuning  Valley  in  Ohio  and  taking  up  the 
inner  member,  we  find  a  belt  of  low  knolls  10  to  20  feet  in  height  leading 
across  the  uplands  to  the  northwestern  end  of  Pymatuning  Swamp  near 
Pennline,  Pa.  Among  these  knolls  is  a  very  prominent  one  which  was 
utilized  by  the  United  States  Lake  Survey  as  a  geodetic  station.  It  stands 
about  a  half  mile  north  of  West  Andover,  on  the  east  slope  of  Pymatuning 
Valley,  its  base  being  slightly  below  the  level  of  the  uplands.  It  rises 
abruptly  about  90  feet  above  its  western  and  70  feet  above  its  eastern  base. 
Its  longest  diameter  is  about  one-fourth  mile  and  it  trends  north  to  south 
On  the  knoll  two  basins  occur  near  its  highest  point.  This  knoll  commands 
a  view  of  Lake  Erie,  though  distant  fully  20  miles.  Its  highest  point  is 
1,191  feet  above  tide,  or  about  620  feet  above  Lake  Erie. 

Near  Pennline,  Pa.,  are  several  knolls  40  to  50  feet  in  height,  which 
are  nearly  conical  in  form  and  very  abrupt.  About  a  mile  south  of  Penn- 
line two  large  knolls  stand  end  to  end,  with  a  trend  northwest  to  southeast, 
or  about  in  line  witli  the  ice  movement.  They  are  fully  40  feet  in  height. 
Another  knoll  of  similar  height  appears  about  a  half  mile  southeast  of 
them,  while  among  these  large  knolls  are  numerous  small  ones,  so  that  the 
moraine  is  especially  well  defined  here.  South  of  these  knolls  is  a  gravel 
plain,  formed  probably  as  an  outwash  from  the  moraine,  which  leads  down 
the  Shenango  Valley.  It  contains  shallow  basins  near  the  moraine,  but  is 
smooth  farther  south. 

The  most  prominent  knolls  in  the  line  which  follows  the  northeast  side 
of  Pymatuning  Swamp  are  found  on  the  farm  of  Jacob  Frey,  2  miles  west 
of  Linesville  '  Two  were  noted  which  have  a  height  of  45  to  50  feet  above 
the  swamp  in  which  they  stand.  At  the  southeastern  end  of  the  swamp, 
near  Hartstown,  there  is  a  cluster  of  large  drift  knolls  standing  on  the  eastern 
slope,  which  covers  about  a  half  of  a  square  mile  and  includes  several  which 
are  75  to  100  feet  in  height.  East  of  this  group,  near  the  residence  of 
D.  M.  Calvin,  there  is  an  isolated  knoll  about  90  feet  in  height,  which  rises 
very  abruptly,  its  base  covering  scarcely  5  acres.  It  has  been  opened 
extensively  for  gravel  by  the  Erie  Railway  Company.  It  is  to  this  knoll 
that  White  makes  reference  in  his  report  on  Crawford  County.^  A  few  low 
knolls  occur  along  the  east  side  of  Crooked  Creek  Valley  for  a  mile  or  more 


'Second  Geol.  Surv.  Pennsylvania,  Rapt.  Q*,  p.  148. 


CLEVELAND  MORAINE.  631 

south  of  these  large  ones.  The  divide  between  Crooked  Creek  and  Pyma- 
tuning  Swamp  presents  a  series  of  basins  inclosing  lakelets,  but  well-defined 
knolls  do  not  appear.  South  of  these  lakelets  there  is  a  smooth  gravel 
plain  leading  down  the  valley  of  Crooked  Creek.  Being  opposite  the  large 
knolls,  the  head  of  this  gravel  plain  combines  with  them  to  reveal  the 
position  of  the  ice  margin. 

The  line  of  di-ift  knolls  in  Conneaut  Valley  terminates  on  the  south 
in  a  large  knoll  or  ridge  called  Faust  Hill,  about  2  miles  northeast  of 
Evansburg.  This  hill  is  situated  on  the  brow  of  the  bluff  east  of  Conneaut 
Lake,  its  base  being  about  150  feet  above  the  lake.  It  is  60  to  125  feet  in 
height,  the  highest  point  being  near  the  northern  end.  The  trend  of  the 
ridge  is  nearly  north  to  south,  and  its  length  is  about  three-eighths  of  a 
mile.  It  appears  to  be  composed  largely  of  gravel  and  cobble  and  is  prob- 
ably a  short,  massive  esker.  Between  this  high  ridge  and  the  Harmonsburg 
and  Meadville  road  there  are  several  low  gravel  ridges  which  vary  consider- 
ably in  trend.  North  of  Conneaut  Lake  the  valley  is  occupied  by  a  series 
of  knolls  and  basins.  The  knolls  in  the  midst  of  the  valley  are  15  to  30 
feet  in  height,  but  a  few  on  the  slopes  are  larger,  a  group  southeast  of 
Conneautville  being  50  to  75  feet  in  height  and  very  abrupt.  Northwest 
of  Dicksonburg  a  few  knolls  reach  a  height  of  about  50  feet,  but  have 
gentle  slopes.  In  Conneaut  Valley  the  sharpest  knolls  and  ridges  are  on 
the  eastern  slope,  but  the  western  slope  carries  low  swells,  thus  differing 
from  the  valleys  of  Pymatuning  Swamp  and  Cussev/ago  Creek,  whose 
western  slopes  are  nearl}^  free  from  drift  knolls. 

The  southern  member  of  this  morainic  belt,  which  leads  across  from  Con- 
neaut Lake  to  Cussewago  Creek,  has  low  drift  swells  10  or  15  feet  in  height, 
which,  though  feeble,  present  a  contrast  with  bordering  tracts  on  the  north 
and  south,  which  have  scarcely  any  such  knolls.  The  northern  member  is 
indicated  by  a  gently  undulating  surface,  the  highest  swells  on  the  uplands 
being  10  to  15  feet  high.  They  are  conical  and  cover  from  1  to  3  acres  each. 
In  this  northern  member,  about  2  miles  nearly  due  west  from  Crossingville, 
is  a  conical  drift  hill  40  to  50  feet  high,  covering  8  or  10  acres,  and  oppo- 
site this  village  on  the  west  side  of  Cussewago  Creek  are  two  equally 
prominent  knolls  connected  by  a  low  ridge;  the  northern  one  rises  very 
abruptly  to  a  height  of  40  to  50  feet,  and  covers  only  about  1^  acres;  the 
southern  one  is  as  high,  but  covers  3  or  4  acres.     These  are  well  shown  on 


632         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  Girard  topographic  sheet.  South  from  Crossiugville  the  east  side  of 
Cussewago  Creek  is  characterized  by  numerous  drift  knolls,  but  the  western 
slope  and  part  of  the  valley  bottom  is  destitute  of  them.  The  majority  fall 
between  1 0  and  25  feet  in  height,  but  at  Mosiertown  there  is  a  knoll  fully 
50  feet  in  height. 

Between  Cussewago  and  French  creeks  there  are  no  clearly  defined 
morainic  tracts,  though  drift  knolls  10  feet  or  more  in  height  are  not  rare. 
On  the  borders  of  French  Creek  Valley  above  Saegerstown,  where  the  stream 
crosses  an  old  divide,  there  are  a  few  low  drift  knolls  among  the  rock  hills, 
the  majority  being  less  than  20  feet  in  height.  East  from  Cambridge  there 
is  an  open  valley  to  the  mouth  of  Muddy  Creek,  but  along  its  southeastern 
slope  sandy  knolls  occur  and  there  are  numerous  knolls  and  ridges  along  the 
east  side  of  French  Creek,  above  the  mouth  of  Muddy  Ci'eek;  the  largest 
of  these  are  25  to  30  feet  in  height.  As  a  rule,  the  knolls  are  conical  or 
slightly  elliptical,  and  the  ridges  short,  one-fourth  mile  or  less  in  length. 
One  ridge,  however,  was  observed,  about  a  mile  southeast  of  Millers 
station,  which  is  sharp  and  iiarrow  hke  an  esker,  has  a  northwest-soutlieast 
trend,  and  is  nearly  one-half  mile  long.  It  rises  to  the  uplands  from  near 
the  base  of  the  eastern  slope  of  French  Creek  Valley.  Its  height  is  30 
feet,  more  or  less,  and  its  breadth  is  50  to  100  yards. 

Scattering  knolls  10  to  20  feet  high  occur  on  the  northwest  side  of 
French  Creek  in  northern  Crawford  County  and  along  Conneautee  Creek, 
between  Cambridge  and  Edinboro.  Above  EdinV)oro,  in  the  -sacinity  of 
McLane  post-office,  the  valley  is  nearly  filled  with  sharp  drift  knolls,  the 
largest  of  which  are  30  to  40  feet  in  height.  Among  them  basins  are 
inclosed.  The  ridges  trend  in  various  directions.  Near  the  northern  border 
one  trends  north-northwest  to  south-southeast,  or  about  in  the  direction  of 
the  ice  movement,  but  farther  south,  just  west  of  McLane,  are  ridges  which 
trend  nearly  at  right  angles  with  it  and  lie  directly  across  the  course  of  the 
creek. 

On  the  uplands  east  of  Conneautee  Creek  drift  knolls  are  very  rare, 
but  east  of  these  uplands,  just  above  Waterfoi'd,  in  the  valley  of  Le  Boeuf 
Creek,  the  moraine  is  finely  developed.  It  consists  principally  of  a  ridge 
that  crosses  the  valley  from  west-southwest  to  east-northeast  (the  valley 
having  a  north-south  direction).  Its  highest  points  are  75  to  100  feet 
above  the  flood  plain  of  the  creek.     Its  length  is  nearly  a  mile,  and  it  so 


CLEVELAND  MOflAINE.  633 

nearly  fills  the  valley  that  only  a  narrow  passage  along  the  east  side  is  left 
for  the  creek.  The  breadth  of  this  ridge  is  about  one-half  mile.  On  its 
outer  slope  an  modulatory  tract  leads  down  to  a  pitted  gravel  plain,  from 
which  a  terrace  passes  down  the  creek.  The  altitude  of  the  northern  end 
of  the  terrace  is  20  feet,  more  or  less,  above  the  present  flood  plain.  The 
bluffs  on  each  side  of  Le  Boeuf  Creek  in  this  vicinity  have  numerous 
knolls  up  to  a  level  150  feet  above  the  creek.  They  are  less  numerous  at 
higher  altitudes,  but  are  not  rare  on  the  uplands  northeast  of  Waterford, 
between  Le  Boeuf  Creek  and  Lake  Pleasant.  Below  Waterford  but  few 
occur,  either  on  the  iiplands  or  along  Le  Boeuf  Creek. 

Turning  now  to  the  outer  member,  we  find  along  the  south  side 
of  French  Creek,  from  Mill  Village  eastward,  a  rather  low  tract,  a  mile  or 
more  in  width,  on  which  drift  knolls  10  to  30  feet  in  height  abound,  and 
which  inclose  basins  an  acre  or  more  in  extent,  depressed  slighth'  below  the 
base  of  the  knolls.  Near  Union  City  larger  knolls  appear,  some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  a  cluster  a  mile  or  so  northwest  of  the  town  being  60  to  75feet  in  height. 
East  of  Union  City  there  are  knolls  30  to  50  feet  or  more  in  height,  with 
intervening  sags  and  sloughs.  The  knolls  here  occur  both  in  the  A'allev  of 
East  French  Creek  and  on  the  uplands  to  the  north.  About  2  miles  north- 
east of  Union  City,  near  the  Beaver  Dam  road,  there  is  a  knoll  about  76  feet 
high  which  covers  8  or  1 0  acres.  A  sliort  distance  northeast  from  this  knoll 
the  moraine  crosses  a  high  ridge,  upon  which  its  undulations  range  from  10 
to  40  feet.  North  of  Beaver  Dam  it  crosses,  in  a  southwest  to  northeast 
direction,  the  valley  of  a  small  stream,  j^resenting  on  its  outer  slope  a  bold 
front,  with  knolls  about  50  feet  in  height.  On  eithei-  side  of  the  valley  the 
knolls  are  lower,  but  the  moraine  is  well  defined.  This  valley  connects  the 
main  French  Creek  with  East  French  Creek,  and  the  moraine  determines 
the  water  parting  in  it,  the  drainage  north  of  the  moraine  being  into  French 
Creek  near  Wattsburg,  while  that  south  is  into  East  French  Creek  below 
Beaver  Dam. 

Fiom  this  valley  northeastward  into  New  York  the  moraine  carries 
many  sharp  nummocks,  10  to  25  feet  in  height,  among  which  are  small  basins. 
At  the  southwest  corner  of  New  York  its  altitude  is  fully  1,700  feet,  but  the 
knolls  are  as  numerous  and  shai'p  here  as  on  lower  lands  in  this  vicinity. 

West  of  Clymers,  N.  Y.,  the  moraine  crosses  an  old  valley  that  connects 
French  Creek  with  Big  Brokenstraw,  and  here  it  determines  the  position  of 


634  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  divide.  On  the  uplands  northeast  of  this  valley  the  moraine  is  poorly 
defined,  there  being  only  scattering  patches  of  hummocky  drift,  but  in  the 
valley  east  of  these  uj^lands,  at  and  north  of  Panama  station,  it  is  well 
defined  and  has  many  sharp  hummocks.  The  valley  which  the  Western 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania  Railway  follows  from  Clymers  to  Sherman, 
N.  Y.,  connects  French  Creek  with  Big  Brokenstraw,  and  in  this  vallev,  also, 
the  moraine  determines  the  position  of  the  divide. 

On  the  uplands  northeast  of  Panama  the  moraine  is  finely  developed  on 
ridges  standing  1,800  feet  above  tide.  It  consists  hei'e  of  sharp  hummocks 
16  to  20  feet  high  and  winding  ridges  of  similar  height,  the  general  trend  of 
which  is  northeast  to  southwest,  but  which  wind  and  interlock.  Among  the 
large  knolls  are  lower  ones  6  to  8  feet  high,  and  an  occasional  sag  or  basin. 
This  topog'raphy  continues  eastward  to  the  border  of  Lake  Chautauqua. 

In  the  city  of  Jamestown,  and  for  a  mile  or  so  north,  there  are  sharp 
knolls,  filling  up  the  valley  at  the  southeast  end  of  Lake  Chautauqua  to  a 
height  of  125  to  150  feet  above  the  lake,  and  throwing  the  outlet  across  the 
rocky  points  on  the  south  slope  of  the  old  valley. 

Returning  to  the  inner  member,  which  has  been  described  as  far  east 
as  Watei-ford,  in  Erie  County,  Pa.,  we  find  a  subdued  morainic  topography 
on  the  uplands  between  Le  Boeuf  Creek  and  Lake  Pleasant,  with  swells 
10  to  16  feet  high,  either  isolated  or  in  groups,  constituting  a  nearly  con- 
tinuous belt. 

On  the  lowland  tract  that  passes  from  the  headwaters  of  Le  Boeuf 
Creek  and  Sixmile  Creek  through  Lake  Pleasant  to  French  Creek  there  is 
strongly  morainic  topography,  consisting  of  sharp,  gravelly  knolls  10  to  25 
feet  high,  among  which  are  basins  and  sags.  A  continuous,  well-defined 
belt  exists  between  this  tract  and  Lake  Chautauqua,  the  uplands  having 
swells  10  to  20  feet  high  and  the  valleys  larger  swells  or  knolls,  among  which 
basins  are  inclosed.  On  the  North  Fork  of  French  Creek,  above  Lowville, 
a  moraine-headed  terrace  occurs,  which  near  the  moraine  has  numerous  pits 
or  basins  10  to  16  feet  deep,  but  becomes  smooth  and  free  from  such 
depressions  farther  south. 

Fiudley  Lake,  in  western  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y.,  lies  in  a  valley 
a  mile  or  more  in  width.  North  of  the  lake  the  moraine  crosses  tlie  valley, 
and  contains  knolls  40  to  60  feet  high,  among  which  there  are  basins  10  to 
20  feet  in  depth,  with  very  abrupt  borders.     There  is  an  open  valley  from 


CLEVELAND  MORAINE.  635 

the  south  end  of  the  lake  to  French  Creek,  and  it  is  reported  that  in  times 
of  high  water  the  lake  discharges  southward  as  well  as  northward,  but  the 
main  outlet  is  to  the  north,  through  North  French  Creek. 

For  several  miles  northeast  from  Findley  Lake  the  moraine  is  on 
elevated  upland,  and  consists  of  scattering  knolls  10  to  20  feet  high,  but 
from  the  valley  east  of  Mina  Corners  to  Lake  Chautauqua  knolls  20  to  40 
feet  in  height  abound.  Some  of  these  are  abrupt,  but  the  majority  have 
gentle  slopes. 

On  the  east  side  of  Lake  Chautauqua  the  drift  bench  above  referred 
to  may  be  traced  from  near  Point  Whitesides  down  to  the  southeast  end  of 
the  lake,  but  is  not  well  developed  farther  up  the  lake  shore.  The  surface 
of  the  di-ift  bench  is  gently  undulatory,  with  swells  5  to  10  feet  high,  and 
ranges  in  height  from  40  feet  or  less  up  to  about  80  feet  above  the  lake 
In  a  few  places  shallow  basins  are  present,  the  deepest  being  about  5  feet 

The  eastern  tributaries  of  Lake  Chautauqua  have,  as  a  rule,  smooth 
slopes,  and  the  uplands  between  the  valleys  of  Lake  Chautauqua  and  Cas- 
sadaga  Creek  carry  remarkably  few  drift  knolls. 

In  Cassadaga  Valley  a  drift  bench  standing  40  to  50  feet  above  the 
broad  bottom  is  conspicuous  from  near  South  Stockton  down  the  valley  3 
or  4  miles  on  each  side  of  the  stream,  but  is  not  well  developed  farther 
south.  There  is,  however,  a  similar  bench  near  the  junction  of  the  creek 
with  the  Chautauqua  outlet,  which  forms  a  southern  limit  for  the  broad 
bottom.  The  bench  at  the  mouth  carries  numerous  basins,  but  that  farther 
up  the  valley  is  characterized  by  low  swells  rather  than  basins. 

The  drift  deposits  in  Mill  Creek  Valley  are  irregular  aggregations,  in 
places  nearly  filling  the  valley  to  a  height  of  60  to  80  feet  above  the  stream, 
in  other  places  merely  dotting  its  slopes  with  knolls.  Occasionally  the 
knolls  occur  at  a  height  of  150  to  '200  feet  above  the  valley  bottom. 

The  drift  deposits- in  "Farrington  Hollow"  rise  50  to  75  feet  above  the 
stream,  and  vary  from  sharp  knolls  to  nearly  plane-surfaced  deposits.  The 
deposits  in  West  Conewango  Valley  at  Hamlet  are  sharp,  gravelly  knolls 
"60  to  75  feet  in  height,  but  east  of  Hamlet  the  surface  is  nearly  level. 

The  bench  on  the  borders  of  Conewango  Valley  is  conspicuous  from 
Cherry  Creek  southward  on  each  side  of  the  valley  as  far  as  Kennedy.  It 
generally  stands  40  to  50  feet  above  the  broad  bottom,  is  gently  undulating, 
and  carries  a  few  basins. 


636         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  knolls  along  Dry  Brook  near  Rutledge  are  sometimes  in  groups, 
btit  quite  as  often  are  isolated.  There  are  also  drift  ridges,  a  notable 
example  being  found  just  east  of  Rutledge,  which  leads  north  to  south 
directly  across  the  valley  of  Dry  Brook.  It  is  fully  one-half  mile  long  and 
30  to  40  feet  in  height. 

The  knolls  are  less  conspicuous  north  from  Dry  Brook  on  the  east 
tributaries  of  Conewango  Creek,  though,  as  above  noted,  the  drift  is  heavy 
in  the  vicinity  of  Leon,  and  has  a  gently  undulating  surface. 

The  uplands  between  Conewango  and  South  Cattaraugus  creeks  carry 
only  a  few  knolls,  and  there  are  but  few  in  South  Cattaraugus  Valley  below 
Maples  post-office.  But  on  the  meridian  of  Maples  morainic  features  appear 
quite  abruptly  on  both  sides  and  in  the  bottom  of  South  Cattaraugus 
Valley.  The  knolls  are  large  enough  to  be  distinctly  visible  on  hills  a  mile 
distant  to  the  south,  and  are  equally  large  to  the  north,  being  in  some 
instances  15  to  25  feet  in  height.  They  are  larger  in  the  valley  bottom 
than  on  the  slopes. 

The  moraine  is  well  developed  toward  the  east  from  Maples  as  far  as 
the  present  head  of  an  eastern  branch  of  South  Cattaraugus  Creek.  It 
there  blocks  the  valley  so  greatly  that  the  former  headwater  part  has 
been  turned  south  into  a  tributary  of  Great  Valley,  which  it  enters  at 
Ellicottville.  There  is  a  gravel  outwash  from  the  n:ioraine  forming  a  plain 
that  covers  perhaps  60  acres  at  the  present  water  parting,  and  reaches  to 
the  point  where  the  stream  to  the  east  cuts  across  the  old  col.  The  moraine 
presents  a  ridge  or  chain  of  knolls  only  10  to  20  feet  high  at  the  west 
border  of  this  gravel  tract. 

The  moraine  does  not  rise  to  the  high  ridge  on  which  Plato  post-office 
stands,  which  is  fully  2,100  feet  above  tide,  but  sweeps  around  its  north 
slope,  passing  within  a  half  mile  of  the  post-office.  It  carries  a  large 
number  of  bowlders  as  well  as  hummocks  and  low  ridges  of  drift. 

Eastward  to  the  head  of  Ashford  Hollow  the  moraine  presents  numer- 
ous low  hummocks  5  to  10  feet  high.  These  dot  the  slopes  and  bottom  of 
the  hollow  for  over  a  mile  from  its  head.  In  the  interval  between  Ashford 
Hollow  and  West  Valley  the  knolls  are  less  sharp,  but  the  drift  is  heavy 
and  fills  up  depressions  among  the  rock  ridges  sufficiently  to  cause  some 
changes  of  drainage. 

In  West  Valley  the  moraine  forms  a  water  parting  which  is  apparently 


CLEVELAND  MORAINE.  637 

farther  north  than  the  old  divide.  Immediately  south  of  the  moraine  there 
is  a  valley  with  broad  bottoms,  known  as  the  Beaver  Meadow,  which 
received  an  outwash  from  the  moraine  and  now  has  southward  discharge 
through  a  narrow  gap  into  Great  Valley  Creek  at  Ashford  Jiinction.  The 
moraine  in  the  valley  north  from  Beaver  Meadow  carries  only  low  hum- 
mocks seldom  more  than  10  feet  in  height. 

The  moraine  is  well  defined  on  the  ridge  east  of  West  Valley,  but  its 
knolls,  like  those  in  the  vallej'-,  are  small  and  rather  sharp.  The  knolls 
become  larger  upon  passing  eastward  to  the  Lime  Lake  outlet,  but  are  not 
so  closely  aggregated.  There  was  a  line  of  discharge  for  glacial  waters 
along  a  gravel  plain  leading  from  Lime  Lake  southward  past  Machias  into 
Ischua  Creek  and  thence  to  the  Allegheny.  At  the  head  of  this  gravel 
plain  there  are  small  basins  15  to  20  feet  deep,  and  also  the  large  basin 
occupied  by  Lime  Lake. 

About  1^  miles  northeast  of  Lime  Lake  a  group  of  sharp  drift  knolls 
appears  on  the  crest  and  slopes  of  a  hill  of  shale.  There  is  another  shale 
hill  south  of  this  one  whose  surface  is  smooth  and  contrasts  strongly  with 
that  of  the  moraine-crowned  hill.  Basins  and  low  swells  abound  between 
this  group  of  hills  and  Sandusky,  occupying  a  strip  2  or  3  miles  wide,  the 
south  border  being  abotit  1^  miles  south  of  Sandusky.  It  is  not  uncommon 
to  find  basins  on  the  slopes  and  tops  of  the  swells  as  well  as  among  them. 

Between  Sandusky  and  Eagle  village  the  moraine,  for  2  or  3  miles, 
carries  many  small  knolls  10  feet  or  less  in  height,  among  which  are  shallow 
basins.  A  sharper  morainic  topography  then  sets  in  with  knolls  which  have 
slopes  of  20°  to  30°,  among  which  are  many  basins.  This  sharp  morainic 
topography  occupies  the  reentrant  angle  west  of  Eagle  and  extends  as 
a  spur  northward  5  or  6  miles  through  eastern  Arcade  Township  into 
southeastern  Java.  Some  of  the  most  prominent  knolls  are  60  to  75  feet 
high.  A  group  of  such  knolls  appears  west  of  Eagle  at  an  altitude  of 
over  2,000  feet.  From  the  reentrant  angle  near  Eagle  there  is  a  strong 
moraine  for  about  3  miles  eastward  to  an  esker  in  southern  Eagle  Township. 

There  seems  to  have  been  a  slight  outwash  from  the  moraine  south  of 
Eagle  into  the  headwaters  of  Clear  Creek.  There  is  a  gravelly  plain  at 
the  south  border  of  the  moraine  which  grades  up  into  the  moraine  through 
a  series  of  low  swells  among  which  are  shallow  saucer-like  depressions. 
The  head    of   the   gravel    plain  stands  about    1,940   feet  above   tide,    as 


638  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

determined  by  barometer  from  Eagle  station.  It  is  one  of  the  highest 
moraine-headed  terraces  in  the  eastern  United  States. 

The  esker  in  southern  Eagle  Township  stands  on  still  higher  ground, 
its  altitude  being  about  2,000  feet.  It  has  a  length  of  IJ  miles,  a  width  of 
200  feet  or  less,  and  a  height  of  8  to  10  feet.  The  southern  terminus  is 
just  north  of  the  line  of  Wyoming  and  Allegany  counties.  The  esker  hes 
near  the  north-to-south  center  road  of  Eagle  Township,  and  for  about  a  half 
mile  the  road  follows  it.  At  the  north  end  it  consists  of  two  converging 
ridges,  each  of  which  starts  in  the  plain  north  of  the  moraine.  East  of  this 
esker  there  is  nearly  plane-surfaced  di-ift,  while  west  of  it,  as  above  noted, 
there  is  a  strong  moraine. 

It  is  nearly  2  miles  from  the  south  end  of  the  esker  to  the  point  where 
the  moraine  sets  in  again  in  strength.  In  this  interval  many  bowlders  and 
an  occasional  knoll  appear.  In  eastern  Centerville  and  western  Hume 
townships,  Allegany  County,  the  moraine  consists  of  sharp  gravelly  knolls 
10  to  30  feet  in  heig-ht,  among  which  small,  deep  basins  are  inclosed.  The 
slopes  of  the  largest  knolls  are  indented  and  carry  basins.  The  moraine  is 
finely  developed  between  Town  and  Cold  creeks,  and  thence  down  Cold 
Creek  Valley  to  the  Genesee.  It  comes  out  to  the  Genesee  on  a  drift  bench 
standing  nearly  200  feet  above  the  river.  This  is  somewhat  below  the 
bench  farther  south  which  Fairchild  has  interpreted  to  mark  deposition  in 
a  glacial  lake,^  but  it  may  be  a  reduction  of  that  bench.  The  drift  bench 
.  immediately  west  of  Houghton  station  is  by  aneroid  1.360  feet  above  tide, 
and  is  dotted  with  drift  knolls  10  to  25  feet  in  height. 

The  moraine  which  leads  from  near  Machias  eastward  past  Fairview 
to  the  Genesee  River  at  Caneadea  is  not,  on  the  whole,  so  strong  as  the 
moraine  just  described,  and  is  more  irregular  in  topography. 

West  of  Machias  and  also  south  of  that  ^dllage,  along  Ischua  Creek, 
the  moraine  carries  many  basins  among  the  knolls.  The  knolls  are  gener- 
allv  15  to  20  feet  in  height,  though  many  are  only  5  to  10  feet.  There  is 
south  of  the  moraine  along  Ischua  Creek  a  well-defined  terrace  standing 
about  60  feet  above  the  stream,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  this  terrace  is  a 
correlative  of  the  moraine,  for  the  morainic  knolls  extend  down  below  its 
level,  as  if  the  terrace  had  been  eroded  before  the  moraine  was  formed. 
This  being  true,  the  moraine  seems  to  mark  a  readvance  of  the  ice  sheet; 

1  Glacial  Genesee  lakes,  by  H.  L.  Fairchild:  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  VII,  1896,  pp.  423^52, 
especially  pp.  436-438. 


CLEVELAND 'MORAINE.  639 

and  as  it  diops  down  in  Ischua  Valle}^  about  to  the  level  of  the  terrace 
which  has  its  head  in  the  Cleveland  moraine,  it  seems  to  be  not  greatly 
different  in  age  from  that  moraine. 

The  east  bluff  of  Isclnia  Creek  presents  an  interesting  contrast  between 
the  moraine-covered  and  the  nonmorainic  parts  near  Machias  Junction. 
For  several  miles  south  from  the  moi'aine  the  face  of  the  bluff  is  very 
regular,  but  where  the  moraine  crosses  it  is  wavy  and  indented  by  basins. 
The  thickness  of  the  drift  in  this  part  of  the  moraine  seems  to  be  but  10  to 
25  feet,  varying  with  the  height  of  the  knolls,  but  it  is  sufficient  to  greatly 
modify  the  appearance  of  the  face  of  the  bluff. 

From  Ischua  Creek  eastward  2  or  3  miles,  the  moraine  carries  numer- 
oas  sharp  hummocks  and  basins;  knolls  covering  but  one-half  acre  being 
sometimes  15  to  20  feet  high.  It  is  much  of  the  way  on  a  slope  descending 
northward,  and  the  outer  or  southern  part  sometimes  stands  75  to  100  feet 
above  the  inner  or  northern  part.  South  of  Elton  it  reaches  an  altitude  of 
about  1,900  feet  above  tide. 

The  moraine  is  very  weak  from  the  meridian  of  Elton  eastward  to 
Farmersville  station,  biit  from  that  point  to  Fairview,  along  a  tributary  of 
Cattaraugus  Creek,  there  are  heavy  drift  accumulations  greatly  choking 
the  valley.  There  are  also  a  large  number  of  bowlders.  The  knolls  are 
not  so  sharp,  however,  as  in  the  vicinity  of  Machias.  North  and  northeast 
of  Fairview  on  an  elevated  upland  (2,000  feet  or  more)  there  are  sharp 
knolls  20  to  30  feet  high,  and  among  them  are  large  numbers  of  bowlders. 
This  bowldery  belt  with  its  occasional  sharp  knolls  leads  southeast  toward 
Rushford  into  the  valley  of  Caneadea  Creek.  Upon  entering  this  valley 
it  becomes  more  prominent  and  fills  it  to  a  height  of  nearly  200  feet  above 
the  portion  of  the  valley  to  the  west,  the  crest  of  the  moraine  being  about 
1,600  feet  above  tide.  The  surface  of  this  great  drift  accumulation  is  strongly 
in  contrast  with  that  on  the  bordering  uplands,  there  being  no  well-defined 
knolls  on  its  crest,  but  instead  gentle  undulations.  It  is  probable,  as 
stiggested  by  Fairchild,^  that  this  moraine  held  a  lake  in  the  part  of  the 
Caneadea  Valley  west  of  it  for  some  time  after  the  ice  withdrew.  The 
outlet  is  across  the  rock  points  along  the  south  side  of  the  old  valley. 
The  moraine  was  probably  laid  down  in  water,  and  this  may  account  for 
the  absence  of  sharp  knolls. 

1  Glacial  Genesee  lakes,  by  H.  L.  Fairchild:  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  VII,  1896,  p.  451. 


640         GLACIAL  FOKMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


THICKNESS   OF   THE    DRIFT. 


The  thickness  of  the  drift  varies  greatly  along  the  line  of  the  Cleve- 
land raoraiuic  belt,  possibly  more  than  in  any  of  the  moraines  yet  described. 
The  moraine  crosses  tributaries  of  the  Lake  Erie  Basin,  which  have  received 
a  filling  of  several  hundred  feet,  while  on  the  high  ridges  between  these 
valleys  there  is  usually  a  very  thin  coating  of  drift.  Well  sections  in 
Cleveland  along  the  old  line  of  the  Cuyahoga  show  drift  extending  about 
500  feet  below  the  level  of  Lake  Erie,  while  the  di-ift  filling  near  the  south 
border  of  the  city  reaches  a  level  more  than  200  feet  above  the  lake. 
There  is  thus  possibly  more  than  700  feet  of  drift  in  places  where  the 
deepest  part  of  the  old  channel  lies  beneath  uneroded  parts  of  the  valley 
filling,  and  probably  an  even  greater  amount  in  the  Conewango  Valley, 
which  constituted  the  old  northward  line  of  discharge  for  the  upper  Alle- 
gheny. This  valley  is  filled  to  a  level  about  7U0  feet  above  the  surface 
of  Lake  Erie,  yet  its  floor  at  the  place  where  the  moraine  crosses  was 
probably  but  little,  if  any,  above  the  lake  level.  The  borings  are  not, 
however,  sufficiently  deep  to  test  this  matter.  The  borings  in  Cattaraugus 
Valley,  about  5  miles  north  of  Maples,  show  a  rock  floor  more  than  700 
feet  below  the  level  of  the  South  Cattai-augus  Creek  bottom  at  the  place 
occupied  by  this  moraine.  Aside  from  the  valleys  just  noted,  a  di'ift  filling 
of  300  to  500  feet  or  more  may  be  expected  in  the  valleys  of  Chagrin 
River,  Grand  River,  Pymatuning  Creek,  Pymatuning  Swamp,  Conneaut 
Creek,  Cussewago  Creek,  French  Creek,  Lake  Chautauqua,  Cassadaga 
Creek,. and  Genesee  River. 

Of  this  large  amount  of  drift  in  the  valleys  the  greater  part  was 
deposited  at  an  earlier  date  than  the  Cleveland  morainic  belt.  The  amount 
deposited  in  connection  with  the  moraine  probably  exceeds  by  only  a  small 
amount  the  relief  of  the  moraine  above  the  portions  of  the  valleys  outside. 
Where  outwash  occurred  in  notable  amount  there  may  have  been  consider- 
able filling  in  the  part  of  the  valley  outside  the  moraine.  But  in  general, 
it  may  be  stated  that  the  morainic  filling  in  the  valleys  does  not  exceed 
100  feet,  and  is,  therefore,  but  a  small  fraction  of  the  total  filling. 

The  amount  of  drift  deposited  on  the  uplands  in  connection  with  this 
moraine  may  usually  be  estimated  from  the  relief  of  the  moraine,  and  this, 
as  indicated  above,  ranges  from  10  feet  or  less  up  to  about  50  feet. 


CLEVELAND  MORAINE.  -  641 

STRUCTURE    OF   THE    DRIFT. 

The  upland  portion  of  this  morainic  belt  consists  largely  of  a  very 
stony  till  from  which  much  of  the  clay  seems  to  have  been  removed. 
Small  stones,  3  inches  or  less  in  diameter,  are  often  so  numerous  as  to  give 
the  drift  a  gravelly  appearance,  yet  there  seems  to  be  little  stratification  or 
definite  bedding,  and,  as  a  rule,  the  stones  are  not  much  rounded  by  water 
action. 

In  the  Ohio  part  of  this  morainic  belt  the  upland  drift  is,  on  the  whole, 
more  clayey  than  in  the  Pennsylvania  and  New  York  portions,  and  often 
presents  the  appearance  of  the  typical  till  of  the  plains  to  the  west. 

As  indicated  in  the  descriptions  already  given,  there  are  many  gravel 
knolls  and  ridges  on  the  uplands,  but  they  do  not  form  so  conspicuous  a 
feature  there  as  in  the  valleys. 

In  the  valleys  there  is  usually  at  the  surface  a  partially  assorted  sandy 
and  gravelly  drift  extending  down  at  least  to  the  level  of  the  base  of  this 
moraine.  In  the  knolls  there  is  often  a  much  disturbed  and  irregular  bed- 
ding. This  may  be  due  in  part  to  settling  of  the  beds  since  their  deposi- 
tion, but  in  some  places  it  appears  to  have  been  produced  by  the  movement 
of  the  ice  sheet.  The  outwash  from  the  moraine  is  generally  a  fine  gravel 
or  sand,  showing  a  moderate  current. 

Below  the  level  of  the  base  of  the  moraine  the  valleys  have  been  filled 
with  silt  and  fine  sand,  some  of  which  is  so  compact  that  it  is  found  difficult 
to  obtain  a  well.  This  silt  is  apparently  in  large  part  a  water  deposit,  made 
in  lakes  that  were  held  between  the  ice  front  and  divides  to  the  south. 

Bowlders  of  granite  and  other  crystallines  abound  all  along  the  moraine, 
and  are,  on  the  whole,  much  more  numerous  than  on  the  bordering  non- 
morainic  tracts. 

The  largest  and  most  interesting  exposure  found  in  this  moraine  is  the 
gravel  pit  opened  by  the  Youngstown  branch  of  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michi- 
gan Southern  Railway,  2  miles  north  of  Kinsman,  Ohio,  in  a  large  knoll 
previously  mentioned.  This  knoll  is  opened  from  end  to  end  along  its 
western  side,  and  its  excavation  extends  nearly  to  the  central  portion. 
Talus  obscures  portions  of  the  slope,  so  that  contact  lines  between  beds  are 
not  readily  distinguishable.  A  mass  of  cobble  and  gravel  constitutes  the 
body  of  the  highest  part  of  the  hill,  whose  strata  sag  beneath  the  high  part 

MON  XLI 41 


642         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

and  outcrop  on  the  noi'tliern  slope.  Beneath  this  gravel-cobble  mass,  both 
north  and  soutli  of  the  highest  part  of  the  hill,  there  is  fine  sand.  The 
strata  on  the  north  dip  southward,  while  those-  south  of  the  cobble  are 
crumpled  or  arching.  South  of  this  sand  is  a  mass  of  horizontall}'  bedded 
cobble-gravel,  succeeded  on  the  south  b}"  fine  sand,  also  horizontally  bedded, 
which  grades  into  a  clay  at  bottom.  The  extreme  southern  end  of  the 
hill  is  cobble-gravel,  which  connects  with  a  pitted  plain  underlain  by  coarse 
gravel.  Such  a  complete  section  as  this  will  probably  be  of  value  in  work- 
ing out  the  precise  method  of  origin  of  knolls  of  this  class,  but  as  yet  its 
significance  is  not  clearly  understood. 

In  the  south  part  of  Bemis  Point,  on  the  east  side  of  Lake  Chautauqua, 
there  is  a  railway  gravel  pit  in  a  bench  standing  about  50  feet  above  the 
lake  that  exposes  beds  which  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  foreset  and 
topset  beds  of  a  delta,  and  it  seems  probable  that  they  were  formed  Ijy 
water  escaping  from  the  ice  sheet  into  a  lake.  The  pit  is  about  20  feet  in 
depth  and  more  than  100  feet  in  length.  The  lower  12  or  14  feet  presents 
beds  of  gravel,  having  a  sharp  southward  dip,  while  the  surface  portion,  6  or 
8  feet  in  depth,  shows  horizontal  bedding  that  cuts  across  the  truncated 
ends  of  the  underlying  inclined  beds.  Well  sections  at  the  village  of  Bemis 
Point  show  the  drift  structure  at  lower  levels  than  at  the  gravel  pit.  George 
Scofield  has  a  well  on  ground  about  40  feet  above  Lake  Chautauqua  which 
penetrated  sand  and  gravel  for  perhaps  60  feet.  Below  this  to  a  depth  of 
190  feet  the  well  is  in  a  blue  clay,  free  from  pebbles,  and  was  abandoned 
without  reaching  the  bottom  of  the  clay  A  still  deeper  boring  at  the 
Cottage  Hotel  is  reported  by  the  di-iller  to  have  passed  through  about  8 
feet  of  surface  gravel  and  then  40  feet  of  sandy  material,  when  a  blue  clay 
was  struck,  which  he  penetrated  to  a  depth  of  310  feet  from  the  surface 
without  reaching  its  bottom.  This  boring  was  on  ground  scarcely  20  feet 
above  Lake  Chautauqua. 

There  is  a  large  gravel  pit  in  a  knoll  at  Sandusky,  New  York,  60  feet 
or  more  in  depth  at  the  highest  part  of  the  knoll  and  about  one-eighth  mile 
in  length.  It  extends  from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the  knoll,  but  at  the 
time  of  the  writer's  visit  the  talus  obscured  niuch  of  the  face.  It  shows  an 
intricate  series  of  gravel,  sand,  and  finer  material,  some  beds  being  of  very 
fine  silt.  The  bedding  is  wavy,  with  variations  in  level  amounting  to  several 
feet  in  a  distance  of  only  a  few  yards.     Many  smaller  excavations  were 


CLEVELAND  MORAINE.  643 

noted,  but  they  do  not  present  features  much  difiPerent  from  those  ah-eady 
mentioned.  Commonly,  they  show  horizontal  bedding,  though  it  is  often 
slightly  wavy.  Near  the  border  of  a  knoll  the  well-defined  beds  usually 
give  place  to  poorly  assorted  material  with  ill-defined  bedding  planes. 

The  well  sections  have  thrown  considerable  lig-ht  upon  the  depth  and 
structure  of  the  drift  both  on  the  uplands  and  in  the  valleys.  A  few  of 
these  will  be  next  considered. 

On  the  portion  of  the  moraine  lying  west  of  the  Cuyahoga  the  wells 
usually  penetrate  a  typical  till,  such  as  appears  in  plains  to  the  west.  They 
have  in  some  cases  reached  rock  at  20  to  25  feet,  but  in  other  cases  have 
penetrated  to  a  much  greater  depth  without  reaching  the  bottom  of  the 
drift,  the  suppl)-  of  water  being  from  thin  beds  of  sand  associated  with 
the  till. 

At  Randall,  east  of  the  Cuyahoga,  a  well  96  feet  deep,  on  Chris. 
Emery's  farm,  struck  stone  at  bottom  thought  to  be  bed  rock.  It  was 
through  ordinary  blue  till  nearly  the  whole  depth.  A  prospect  boring  for 
coal  was  attempted  near  Randall  some  years  ago  by  Otis  Forer,  which 
penetrated  fully  100  feet  of  drift. 

Gas  borings  in  the  Chagrin  Valley,  near  Gates  Mills,  Orange,  and 
Wilsons  Mills,  pass  through  from  120  to  over  200  feet  of  drift.  The  lower 
portion  of  the  drift  is  a  fine  silt  or  blue  clay,  but  the  upper  portion  is 
rather  stony. 

In  the  valley  of  East  Chagrin  River,  near  the  Chardon  and  Cleveland 
road,  a  farmhouse  well  penetrated  161  feet  of  drift.  For  100  feet  the  drift 
is  mainly  till,  below  which  it  is  a  fine  sand. 

At  Wallace  Weaver's,  2  miles  west  of  Chardon,  there  is  a  flowing  well 
which  obtains  its  water  from  the  sandstone,  but  it  penetrated  30  feet  of 
drift  before  entering  rock. 

In  Hampden  Center  the  drift  is  mainly  till,  and  several  wells  strike 
rock  as  follows:  William  Cutt's,  at  35  feet;  E.  Thayer's,  at  36  feet;  0.  R. 
Chamberlin's,  at  35  feet;  post-office  well,  at  about  60  feet. 

In  Grand  River  Basin  the  wells  usually  penetrate  a  large  amount  of 
blue  clay  which  is  reported  to  carry  but  few  pebbles.  Much  of  it  may  be 
water-laid  silt,  deposited  in  a  lake  outside  the  ice  sheet,  but  the  surface 
portion  as  deep  down  as  the  base  of  the  moraine  seems  to  be  ordinary  till. 
The  wells,  as  shown  in  the  table  below,  have  in  some  cases  peneti-ated 


644  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

more  than  200  feet  of  drift,  and  in  one  case  reached  a  depth  of  222  feet 
without  entering  rock.  There  are  places  in  the  basin  where  rock  is  near 
the  surface,  the  deep  jjart  of  the  valley  being  much  narrower  than  the 
basin. 

No  well  records  showing  a  large  amount  of  drift  were  obtained  along 
the  line  of  this  moraine  in  northwestern  Pennsylvania.  Ordinarily  water  is 
found  at  shallow  depths  in  the  valleys,  so  that  there  has  been  little  need 
for  deep  boring  in  them,  while  on  the  uplands  wells  usually  strike  rock  at 
moderate  depth.  The  wells  at  Bemis  Point,  in  the  valley  of  Lake  Chau- 
tauqua, referred  to  above,  and  a  few  in  Conewango  Valley  constitute  the 
only  recoi'ds  of  deep  wells  which  have  been  collected  along  this  moraine  in 
western  New  York.  Of  those  in  Conewango  Valley  one  near  Randolph 
reached  a  depth  of  280  feet,  one  near  Rutledge  314  feet,  and  one  near 
Dayton  330  feet  without  entering  rock.  They  penetrated  blue  clay  nearly 
the  whole  depth.  Deep  wells  in  Cattaraugus  Valley,  north  of  the  Cleveland 
moraine,  are  discussed  on  a  later  page. 

The  deepest  well  records  obtained  near  Cassadaga  Valley  are  in  Mill 
Creek  Valley  at  Sinclairville,  about  2  miles  from  the  junction  with  Cas- 
sadaga Creek.  Two  wells  on  a  drift  bench  standing  60  feet  above  the 
creek  reach  depths  of  105  and  125  feet  without  entering  rock.  They  are 
mainly  through  blue  clay. 

The  following  table  shows  the  thickness  and  to  some  extent  the  stiaicture 
of  the  drift  in  many  other  wells  on  or  near  the  moraine.  It  includes  wells 
in  the  Grand  River  Basin  that  are  at  some  distance  north  of  the  moi'aine. 
Where  the  plus  sign  is  affixed  rock  was  not  reached.  The  minus  sign  is 
used  where  precise  depth  to  rock  is  not  known.  Where  owners'  names  are 
not  given  there  are  usually  several  wells  at  about  the  same  depth  which 
gave  similar  results. 


CLEVELAND  MORAINE. 

Toible  of  well  sections. 


645 


Owner  and  location. 


W.  J.  Johnson,  east  of  North  Linndale,  Ohio  . 
D.  Gilmer,  near  Wilson  Mills 


C.  Sheldon,  at  Orange 

Mr.  Robinson,  north  of  Chardon... 

H.  Gardner,  west  of  Hampden 

L.  Foedler,  northwest  of  Hampden. 
M.  M.  Ballard,  east  of  Hampden... 


Feet. 
34 
200 

120 
72 
33 
40 
41 


S.  S.  Tucker,  Huntsburg '  35 

Julius  KnoefHes,  West  Farmington 70 

H.  A.  Houghton,  south  of  Farmington 210 

J.  M.  Harwood,  near  Farmington 222+ 

Thomas  Crocker,  near  Farmington 80 

H.  W.  Schaffer,  near  Farmington 160 

Charles  Pierce,  near  Farmington 145 

J.  Hanna,  north  of  Farmington 70 

Mr.  Griffith,  north  of  Farmington 70— 

H.  Reynolds,  north  of  Farmington 100+ 

Cheese  factory,  Mesopotamia  Center 130+ 

Name  not  learned,  Mesopotamia  Center 208 

Fred  Beckwith,  Windsor  Corners 54+ 

Vinton  Way,  near  Grand   River,  in   southern  170+ 
Ashtabula  County.                                 L 

C.  Haines,  Bloomfield  Center 85 

G.  E.  Haines,  Bloomfield  Center 75+ 

Several  wells,  Bristolville - 13-40 

Several  wells,  Champion  Center 30+ 

Edward  Baldwin,  east  of  Mecca 21  J 

Eugene  Root,  northeast  of  Mecca 38 

C.  J.  Bryant,  northeast  of  Mecca 62+ 

R.  P.  Gilmore,  southwest  of  Gustavus 90+ 

J.  B.  Scott,  southwest  of  Gustavus 90+ 

M.  D.  Cowdens,  southwest  of  Gustavus 62+ 

Dwight  Moore,  northwest  of  Gustavus 40 

Near  Evans's  store,  Barclay  post-office 70  — 

Cheese  factory,  Barclay  post-office 50— 

G.  W.  Burrill,  Kinsman 99+ 

Fair  grounds,  Kinsman 137+ 

Henry  Burnham,  Kinsman 15 

Mr.  Muir,  Wayne  Center 30 


On  north  slope  of  moraine;  mainly  till. 
Gas  well  enters  I'ock  at  about  200  feet; 

others  near  by  at  120. 
Gas  well  enters  rock  at  120  feet. 
Near  Big  Creek;  no  rock  struck. 
Strikes  rock  at  33  feet. 
Strikes  rock  at  40  feet. 
Strikes  rock  at  41  feet.   ■ 
Till  20  feet;  sand  8  feet. 
Mainly  blue  till. 
In  Grand  River  Valley. 
In  Grand  River  Valley. 
In  Grand  River  Valley. 
Mainly  blue  till,  few  pebbles. 
In  Grand  River  Valley. 
In  Grand  River  Valley. 
Less  than  70  feet  to  rock. 
Rock  not  struck. 
Mainly  blue  clay. 
Reported  by  driller,  Mr.  Dayton. 
Rock  not  struck. 
Mainly  blue  clay,  pebbleless. 

East  slope  of  Grand  River  Valley. 

Mainly  till. 

East  slope  of  Grand  River  Valley. 

In  Grand  River  Valley. 

Mainly  till. 

Mainly  till. 

Till  and  sand. 

On  upland. 

On  upland. 

On  upland. 

On  upland. 

Rock  at  less  than  70  feet. 

Rock  at  less  than  50  feet. 

In  valley. 

In  valley. 

In  valley. 

On  upland. 


646         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Tahle  of  well  sections — Continued. 


Owner  and  location. 


Mr.  Babcock,  north  of  Wayne  Center 

Mr.  Bartholomew,  north  of  Wayne  Center 

Mr.  Andrews,  north  of  Wayne  Center 

Mr.  Watts,  south  of  Cherry  Valley 

H.  W.  Holcomb,  southwest  of  Andover  Center. . 

Aaron  Tuttle,  southwest  of  Andover  Center 

Aaron  Tuttle,  southwest  of  Andover  Center 

Williamsfleld  Center,  several  wells 

H.  Waters,  north  of  Williamsfleld  Center 

James  Marvin,  north-northeast  of  Williamsfleld 

Center. 
James  Martin,  northeast  of  Williamsfleld  Center. 

Moses  McArthur,  south  of  Westford,  Pa 

Linesville,  oil  boring 

Mr.  Williams,  north  of  Linesville 

Cheese  factory,  ICvansburg 

C.  J.  McDill,  Evansburg 

Southwest  part  of  Evansburg 

Mr.  Davenport,  west  side  of  Conneaut  Lake 

Dr.  Bean,  Harmonsburg 

Mr.  McDowell,  near  Dicksonburg 

A.  A.  Gallup,  near  Dicksonburg 

Mr.  Schofield,  Conneaut ville 

J.  W.  Rice,  east  of  Harmonsburg 

D.  W.  Dean,  east  of  Harmonsburg 

Levi  Putnam,  east  of  Harmonsburg 

Cheese  factory  west  of  Mead  ville 

Mr.  S.  Sheldon,  northeast  o-f  Springboro 

Eureka  Hotel,  Saegerstown 

J.  W.  Lang,  Venango 

Isaac  Pifer,  Venango 

Mr.  Nye,  at  McLane 

Mrs.  M.  Oaks,  at  Waterford 

Union  City,  several  wells  -  - 

V.  Bently,  northeast  of  Union  Cit)- - . 

S.  Phelps,  north  of  Wattsburg 

Peter  Montague,  Mina  Corners,  N.  Y 

Henry  Ottaways,  east  of  Mina  Corners,  N.  Y 

North  Clymer,  N.  Y. ,  several  wells 


Feet. 
20 
42+ 
23 

46+ 
20 
80+ 
45+ 
25-30 
40 
40+ 

57+ 

50 

31 

20 

90+ 
.  85+ 

60+ 

30 

45+ 

71+ 

64+ 
187 

20 

30+ 
6-18 

18 

40+ 

35 

65 

60 

40+ 
115+ 

20 

53 

37+ 

55 
100+ 

35+ 


On  upland. 

Mainly  till. 

On  upland. 

On  upland. 

On  upland  (1,160  feet  above  tide). 

In  Pymatuning  Valley. 

Gravel,  blue  till,  sand. 

Gas  and  oil  from  rock  at  50-100  feet. 

On  uplands. 

On  uplands. 

Mainly  till. 

On  slope. 

On  slope. 

On  uplands. 

In  Conneaut  outlet. 

Near  Conneaut  outlet. 

Several  wells. 

Between  lake  and  west  bluff  of  valley. 

In  valley. 

On  slope. 

On  slope. 

Penn.  Sec.  Geol.  Surv.,  Q*,  p.  32. 

On  slope. 

On  slope. 

On  uplands. 

Altitude  about  1,350  feet  above  tide. 

On  uplands. 

In  French  Creek  Valley ;  mainly  gravel. 

In  French  Creek  Valley;  mainly  sand. 

In  French  Creek  Valley;  mainly  sand. 

On  a  knoll. 

On  the  terrace. 

In  valley. 

On  slope. 

In  North  French  Creek  Valley. 

On  uplands. 

On  lowlands. 

In  valley. 


CLEVELAND  MORAINE.  647 


OUTER    BORDER    PHENOMENA. 


The  terraces  and  gravel  })lains  associated  with  this  morainic  system  are 
all  that  will  here  be  treated,  the  other  drift  features  having  already  been 
considered.     The  discussion  begins  at  the  west  and  proceeds  eastward. 

On  the  Cuyahoga  no  well-defined  terraces  were  observed.  There  was 
no  doubt  a  discharge  from  this  valley  westward  into  Lake  Maumee,  near 
the  south  border  of  the  moraine. 

In  the  Grrand  River  Valley  the  plain  south  of  the  moraine  has  some 
silt  and  some  assorted  material  at  surface,  but  the  slight  exposures  which 
occur  show  the  drift  to  be  principally  till,  probably  a  ground  moraine  of 
the  same  age  as  moraines  farther  south. 

On  Pymatuning  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Shenango,  there  is  a  well- 
defined  moraine-headed  terrace,  consisting  of  a  pitted  gravel  plain  extending 
from  the  moraine  southward  to  Kinsman,  a  distance  of  2  miles,  below  which 
it  is  nearly  free  from  pits.  These  small  basins  occupy  an  acre,  more  or  less, 
each,  and  have  very  abrupt,  wall-like  borders.  The  majority  of  them  appear 
to  be  filled  up  considerably  with  peal,  but  are  still  depressed  from  5  to  10 
feet,  or  even  more,  below  the  bordering  gravel  jjlain. 

On  Shenango  River  no  moraine-headed  terrace  was  discovered,  but 
much  assorted  material  lies  along  it  below  the  moraine,  and  the  stream  in 
this  vicinity  may  now  be  occupying-  its  glacial  flood  plain. 

On  Crooked  Creek,  near  Hartstown,  are  pits  and  small  lakes  bordered 
by  nearly  level  topped  gravel  deposits,  which  lead  southward  into  a  smooth- 
surfaced  plain.  This  stream  seems  to  be  flowing  near  the  level  of  the 
glacial  flood  plain  for  several  miles  below  its  source. 

In  the  Conneaut  Valley  there  is  an  extensive  marsh,  leading  from 
Conneaut  Lake  along  its  outlet  nearly  to  French  Creek.  This  is,  perhaps,  a 
glacial  flood  plain,  for  the  moraine,  crossing  the  valley  at  the  north  end  of 
the  lake,  rises  but  little  above  the  marsh.  The  lake  bottom  itself  is  a  great 
pit  in  this  marsh  at  the  point  of  connection  with  the  moraine.  On  the 
southeast  border  of  the  lake  there  is  a  bench  about  50  feet  high,  having  a 
few  feet  of  till  at  surface  and  gravel  below,  which  was  probably  formed 
before  the  ice  sheet  made  its  last  advance.  Remnants  of  a  terrace-like 
bench,  which  may  be  its  continuation,  occur  along  the  borders  of  the 
marsh  between  Conneaiit  Lake  and  French  Creek.  They  are,  in  some 
cases  at  least,  not  covered  with  till. 


648  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

On  French  Creek  there  is  an  extensive  plain  of  sandy  gravel,  leaclmg 
from  the  moraine  near  Saegerstown  southward,  and  extending  beyond 
Meadville.  It  is  onl}^  15  to  20  feet  above  the  level  of  the  creek,  and  conse- 
quently is  much  IdcIow  the  level  of  the  drift  deposits  of  the  outer  moraine, 
where  it  passes  through  them  near  Coclu-anton.  This  does  not  make  a 
clear  connection  with  the  moraine  at  Saegerstown,  and  may  simply  represent 
a  postglacial  flood  plain  of  French  Creek. 

On  Conneaut  Creek,  above  Edinboro,  there  is  an  extensive  plain  but 
little  above  the  level  of  the  stream,  which  heads  abruptly  at  the  inner 
member  of  this  moi-ainic  belt  near  McLane.  Being  low  and  swampy  it 
affords  no  exposures  showing  its  structure,  but  its  surface  is  gravelly. 

On  Le  Boeuf  Creek,  at  Waterford,  this  inner  member  connects  with  a 
terrace  which  leads  dowii  the  creek.  There  are  many  small  basins  in  the 
terrace  at  its  head,  and  Lake  Le  Boeuf  occupies  a  large  one,  nearly  a  square 
mile  in  extent. 

Lake  Pleasant  Valley  was  not  examined  below  the  lake  Whether  or 
not  the  inner  member  has  a  terrace  here  has  not  been  ascertained.  On 
North  French  Creek,  the  next  valley  to  the  east,  this  member  has  a  terrace 
which  heads  a  mile  or  more  north  of  Lowville  in  the  moraine,  and  has  there 
many  pits  or  small  basins,  some  of  which  have  abrupt,  wall-like  margins. 
This  terrace  follows  the  stream  southward  to  French  Creek,  at  Wattsburg, 
maintaining  a  height  of  20  feet  or  more  above  Its  present  flood  plain.  The 
outer  member,  which  passes  south  of  Wattsburg,  has  a  moraine-headed 
terrace  leading  south  through  Beaver  Dam.  It  stands  15  to  20  feet  above 
the  present  flood  plain  of  the  small  stream  that  traverses  this  valle}'. 

In  southwestern  New  York  the  outer  member  has  a  gravel  plain  in  a 
valley  southwest  of  Clymers,  which  connects  French  Creek  with  Big 
Brokenstraw,  and  one  heading  in  another  valley,  near  Panama  station,  also 
connects  French  Creek  with  Big  Brokenstraw.  In  neither  place  is  the 
gravel  plain  much  above  the  level  of  the  present  flood  plains  of  the  small 
streams  which  occupy  the  valleys.  The  inner  member  has  a  glacial  outlet 
into  Freucli  Creek  Valley  from  Findley  Lake,  the  lake  now  occupying  a 
portion  of  this  outlet. 

Along  the  outlet  of  Lake  Chautauqua  there  is  a  pitted  gravel  plain 
outside  the  moraine,  remnants  of  which  are  conspicuous  in  the  vicinit}'  of 
Falconer.     Its  height  is  only  50  to  60  feet  above  the  outlet,  or  scarcely 


CLEVELAND  MORAINE.  649 

half  that  of  the  moramic  filling'.  The  pits  are  in  some  cases  fully  20  feet  in 
depth,  though  usually  much  less.  Excavations  in  and  near  Falconer  show 
the  material  to  be  largely  gravel  and  fine  sand,  there  being  but  little  coarse 
gravel  and  cobble. 

This  gravel  plain  has  a  continuation  up  Conewango  Creek  Valley 
above  the  junction  with  the  Chautauqua  outlet,  occupying  the  valley  as  far 
up  as  Kennedy.  It  stands  about  60  feet  above  Conewango  Ci-eek  and 
carries  numerous  basins.  The  basins  are  usually  shallow,  3  to  5  feet  in 
depth,  but  occasionally  reach  10  feet.  This  pitted  gravel  plain  seems  to 
have  been  formed  by  waters  from  Cassadaga  Creek  as  well  as  from 
Conewango  Creek,  for  it  fits  about  the  southern  end  of  the  low  plain  in 
Cassadaga  Valley.  As  indicated  above,  neither  Cassadaga  Creek  nor 
Conewango  Creek  has  a  well-defined  moraine  at  the  head  of  the  gravel 
plain,  such  as  appears  in  the  Lake  Chautauqua  outlet  at  Jamestown. 

The  fines  of  outwash  farther  east,  on  a  tributary  of  Great  Valley 
Creek  near  Plato,  on  Big  Meadow,  on  Ischua  Creek  near  Machias,  and  at 
Eagle  have  already  been  discussed.  The  strongest  of  these  are  on  Big 
Meadow  and  on  Ischua  Creek,  each  being  fully  a  half  mile  in  width; 
the  others  were  apparently  weak  fines  of  discharge. 

In  the  Genesee  Valley  a  lake  was  formed,  which,  as  indicated  on 
p.  201  et  se'q.,  had  its  discharge  to  the  Allegheny  River  past  Cuba,  N.  Y. 

A  word  of  explanation  seeins  necessary  in  support  of  the  opiniou, 
already  several  times  expressed,  that  the  lakes  along  the  outer  margin  of 
the  moraine  occupy  basins  which  owe  their  origin  to  the  ice  sheet.  These 
lakes  have  considerable  depth  (portions  of  Conneaut  Lake  being  100  feet 
deep),  yet  they  are  so  situated  in  reference  to  the  moraine,  being  in  an 
open  valley  on  its  outer  border,  that  they  should  have  been  filled  with  an 
outwash  from  the  ice  sheet,  unless  some  obstacle  not  now  present  opposed 
this  filling.  No  other  obstacle  is  known  but  ice.  It  therefore  seems  proba- 
ble that  these  lakes,  and  others  of  similar  position,  owe  their  existence  to 
the  presence  of  large  masses  of  ice  in  the  vicinity  of  or  just  below  the  ice 
margin.  The  smaller  basins  of  pitted  outwash  aprons  and  moraine-headed 
terraces  are  also  supposed  to  owe  their  existence  to  the  presence  of  large 
masses  of  ice  in  the  flooded  outer  border  tract.  In  most  cases  there  was 
probably  no  transportation  and  grounding,  but  simply  a  persistence  of  the 
ice  there    after  it  had  melted    away  from    adjacent  parts   of  the   valley. 


650  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Basins  lying  within  the  moraine,  snch  as  that  of  Lake  Chautauqua,  seem 
also  to  mark  places  where  the  ice  remained  for  an  exceptionally  long-  time. 
Many  of  the  lake  basins  in  the  moraine  are,  however,  due  to  irregularities 
in  the  drift  surface  which  may  not  be  easily  explained. 

INNKR    BORDER    PHENOMENA. 

Between  the  Cleveland  morainic  belt  and  the  next  later  morainic  system 
there  is  a  tract  with  smooth  or  very  gently  undulating  drift  surface  and  with 
rarel)'-  a  knoll  worthy  of  note,  the  tendency  toward  aggregation  in  knolls 
being  much  less  than  in  the  district  outside  the  Cleveland  belt. 

No  striae,  have  been  observed  except  in  Wayne  Township,  Ashtabula 
County,  Ohio,  where  a  sandstone  is  glaciated.  Their  inconspicuousness  is 
due  probably  to  the  rapid  weathering  of  the  shale  which  underlies  the 
greater  part  of  the  district. 

The  thickness  of  the  drift  in  the  valleys  is  known  to  be  very  great, 
for  wells  seldom  reach  the  rock,  but  the  uplands  and  slopes  are  thinly  coated 
with  di'ift,  the  depth  seldom  exceeding  25  feet. 

POSTGLACIAL    RIDGES. 

A  network  of  recently  formed  ridges  in  Cuyahoga  shales  occurs  in 
western  Trumbull  County,  Ohio,  near  the  "Old  Brick  hotel,"  about  2  miles 
northwest  of  Braceville.  They  are  on  a  lowland  tract,  the  greater  part 
of  which  is  very  level,  but  at  the  northwestern  end  of  the  system  of  ridges 
there  is  an  ascending  slope  on  which  one  of  the  ridges  is  devehiped.  The 
area  over  which  they  were  observed  scarcely  exceeds  10  acres,  but  since  a 
complete  tracing  of  them  was  not  attempted  they  may  have  a  greater 
extent.  Their  usual  height  is  3  to  6  feet,  and  their  breadth  about  100  feet. 
In  form  they  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  low  eskers,  but  in  structure  they 
are  very  different,  being  composed  of  rock  instead  of  drift.  The  shales 
which  constitute  them  arch  with  the  surface  of  the  ridges,  and  become  hori- 
zontal on  each  side  within  a  few  feet  of  the  base  of  their  slopes.  The  cross 
section  of  one  of  them  is  well  shown  on  the  north  side  of  the  State  road, 
where  an  artificial  ditch  is  opened  through  it.  The  ridges  are  usually  joined 
together,  but  a  single  isolated  one  being  observed.  They  meet  at  various 
angles,  but  are  all  nearly  straight.  The  })revailing  trends  are  north  to  south 
and  east  to  west,  but  some  have  a  trend  N.  30°  W.  to  S.  30°  E.     The  one 


LAKE  ESCARPMENT  MORAINES.  651 

mentioned  above  as  lying  on  an  ascending  slope  lias  this  trend.  Read  de- 
scribes ridges  that  are  apparently  similar  to  these,  and  considers  them  due  to 
the  movement  of  the  ice  sheet  across  the  strata.^  Ridges  of  this  class  have 
also  been  observed  by  Gilbert  along  the  south  shores  of  Lake  Erie  and  Lake 
Ontario,  and  are  considered  by  him  postglacial,  the  result  of  expansion  of 
the  strata  after  the  withdrawal  of  the  ice  sheet  and  its  attendant  cold  water.^ 
The  Braceville  ridges,  like  those  observed  by  Gilbert,  are  thinly  covered  with 
drift,  and  were  plainly  formed  subsequent  to  its  deposition.  They  show  no 
dependence  upon  glaciation,  being  directed  toward  all  points  of  the  compass. 
The  phenomena  described  under  this  title  may  be  of  common  occurrence, 
but  have  been  rarely  observed.  It  is  thought  that  as  evidence  of  recent 
changes  in  the  rock  strata  their  importance  is  great. 

RELATION    OF   THE    CLEVELAND   MORAINE   TO    LAKE    JVIACMEE. 

This  morainic  belt  appears  to  have  been  completed  near  the  time  when 
the  glacial  Lake  Maumee  dropped  from  its  highest  level  to  the  level  of  the 
Second  or  Leipsic  beach,  and  is  therefore  contemporaneous  with  the  closing 
part  of  the  highest  lake  stage.  The  relations  are  considered  at  some  length 
in  the  discussion  of  the  Maumee  beaches  (Chapter  XIV). 

LAKE   ESCARPMENT  MORAINIC  SYSTEM. 

Under  this  name  is  discussed  a  system  of  moraines  which  covers  part 
of  the  brow  and  much  of  the  face  of  the  Lake  Erie  escarpment  from  near 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  eastward  into  New  York.  It  consists  of  overlapping 
moraines  or  drift  ridges  which  set  in  one  after  the  other  in  passing  from 
west  to  east.  In  cross  section  there  are  seldom  more  than  two  ridges,  and 
in  parts  of  its  course  but  a  single  ridge  is  found.  The  combined  belt  in 
western  New  York  has  been  refeiTcd  to  by  the  writer  as  the  Dayton 
moraine,^  but  it  seems  preferable  to  substitute  the  name  Lake  Escarpment 
system,  and  to  give  names  to  each  morainic  ridge. 

The  ridge  which  was  formed  first  and  which  extended  farthest  west  has 
been  known  for  some  years  as  the  Euclid  moraine,  its  western  terminus 
being  near  Euclid,  Ohio,  a  village  10  miles  east  of  Cleveland.  This  is 
overlapped  by  a  later  ridge  from  near  Painesville,  Ohio,  eastward,  which 


1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  1873,  pp.  490,  507. 
■^Proc.  Am.  Assoc.  Adv.  Sci.,  Buffalo  meeting,  1896. 
^Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series,  Vol.  L,  1895,  p.  8. 


652  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

will  be  termed  the  Painesville  moraine.  Near  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  a  third 
ridge  sets  in,  to  which  the  name  Ashtabula  moraine  may  be  applied.  A 
short  distance  west  of  Girard,  Pa.,  a  fourth  ridg-e  appears,  which  will  be 
known  as  the  Girard  moraine.  In  western  New  York  later  moraines  appear, 
but  as  none  of  them  are  coalesced  with  this  morainic  system  west  of  the 
interlobate  moraine  that  occupies  the  high  divide  west  of  the  Genesee 
they  can  scarcely  be  included  in  it,  and  are  accordingly  treated  separately. 
In  the  interlobate  belt  this  morainic  system  and  some  of  the  later  moraines 
become  blended  and  form  a  spur  northward  along  the  high  divide  to  its 
northern  limits  west  of  Attica.  They  seem  also  to  be  combined  into  a 
sino-le  broad  belt  from  this  interlobate  eastward  to  tlie  Genesee  Valley. 

The  position  and  relation  of  each  of  the  members  of  the  lake  escarp- 
ment system  may  perhaps  be  best  outlined  by  following  the  system  through 
from  west  to  east. 

DISTRIBUTION. 

The  westernmost  appearance  of  this  system  seems  to  be  in  a  weak  till 
ridge  which  lies  along  the  north  side  of  Euclid  Creek  east  of  the  village  of 
Euclid,  and  which  comes  to  Chagrin  River  about  2  miles  south  of  Wil- 
loughl)}'.  The  ridge  is  scarcely  strong  enough  to  admit  of  easy  tracing 
and  the  depth  of  drift  along  it  is  remarkably  slight,  the  rock  being  struck 
usually  at  only  15  to  20  feet;  yet  this  seems  to  be  the  natural  line  of 
continuation  of  a  better  defined  morainic  ridge  which  sets  in  east  of 
Chagrin  River.  From  Chagrin  River  eastward  to  Grand  River  there  is  a 
^Yell-defined  till  ridge  which  follows  the  north  bluff  of  the  west-flowing 
part  of  East  Chagrin  River  past  Kirtland  and  comes  to  the  south  bluff  of 
Grand  River  at  the  bend  south  of  Painesville. 

From  Painesville  eastward  two  moraines  are  found  in  the  place  of  the 
one  which  was  found  west  of  that  city.  The  outer,  or  Euclid,  lies  along 
the  face  of  the  escarpment  south  of  Grand  River,  while  the  inner,  or  Paines- 
ville, follows  the  north  side  of  the  river  and  holds  it  in  its  westward  course 
from  near  Austinburg  to  Painesville.  The  moraines  pass  the  north  end  of 
the  Grand  River  Basin  without  notable  deflection  from  a  direct  course. 
The  ice  sheet  seems  to  have  been  too  thin  or  too  weak  to  extend  a  lobe  into 
the  basin.  The  Euclid  moraine  passes  south  of  Austinburg  and  East  Ply- 
mouth, Ohio,  forming  the  north  bluff  and  determing  the  westward  course  of 
Mill  Creek,  while  the  Painesville  moraine  lies  parallel  with  it  and  about  2 


U.S.  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


MONOGRAPH  XLI    PL. XVIII 


LAKE  ESCAEPMENT  MORAINES.  653 

miles  distant  on  the  north.  From  the  bend  of  Ashtabula  Creek  at  East 
Plymouth  the  Painesville  moraine  follows  up  the  south  side  of  the  creek  to 
Kelloggsville,  where  it  crosses  to  the  north  side.  The  Euclid  moraine  lies 
a  short  distance  south,  near  the  base  of  the  rock  escarpment.  East  from 
Kelloggsville,  the  valley  of  Ashtabula  Creek  lies  between  the  two  moraines 
to  their  junction  at  the  head  of  the  creek. 

A  third  ridge  sets  in  at  Ashtabula,  causing  the  great  oxbow  bend  of 
Ashtabula  Creek,  and  leads  eastward  through  Kingsville,  where  it  crosses 
Conneaut  Creek,  and  continues  into  Pennsylvania  along  the  north  side  of 
that  stream.  It  is  separated  from  the  Painesville  moraine  only  by  the 
valley  of  Conneaut  Creek. 

The  course  of  each  of  the  moraines  of  this  system  in  western  Erie 
County,  Pa.,  is  shown  in  PI,  XVIII.  The  Euclid  and  Painesville  moraines 
become  united  at  the  head  of  Ashtabula  Creek,  about  6  miles  east  of  the 
State  line,  and  the  united  moraine  crosses  Conneaut  Creek  1  to  2  miles 
north  of  Albion,  just  south  of  the  great  bend  of  the  creek.  From 
Conneaut  Creek  it  follows  the  base  of  the  escarpment  northeastward  to 
Elk  Creek  at  Sterrettania,  crossing  Little  Elk  Creek  near  its  mouth.  Upon 
passing  to  the  north  side  of  Elk  Creek  near  Sterrettania  it  becomes  difficult 
in  places  to  separate  this  moraine  from  the  Ashtabula  moraine,  but  generally 
a  narrow  sag  or  valley  lies  between  the  two.  Mill  Creek  and  Walnut  Creek 
each  occupy  this  sag  for  a  few  miles. 

The  Ashtabula  moraine  follows  the  north  bluff  of  Connealit  Creek 
eastward  to  the  great  bend  at  Lexington.  It  there  turns  northeastward, 
passing  just  west  of  the  village  of  Lockport  (Platea  station),  and  crosses 
to  Elk  Creek  1  to  2  miles  above  Girard.  Upon  crossing  Elk  Creek  it  turns 
eastward  and,  as  above  noted,  is  separated  from  the  Painesville  moraine 
by  only  a  narrow  valley-like  depression.  This  depression  ap2Darently 
furnished  a  line  of  westward  escape  for  glacial  waters. 

The  fourth,  or  Girard,  moraine  is  well  defined  and  distinct  from 
moraines  outside  of  it  for  only  a  few  miles  in  western  Erie  County,  Pa. 
The  western  end  is  immediately  north  of  JGrirard;  but  it  may  perhaps 
continue  as  a  low  water-laid  moraine  westward  along  Elk  Creek  to  the 
shore  of  Lake  Erie.  The  contours  of  the  topographic  sheet  have  suggested 
such  a  continuation. 

Between    Cross    station    and    Girard    a   range   of    knolls    and   ridges 


654  GLACIAL  FOEMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

appears  which  is  somewhat  distinct  from  the  Ashtabula  moraine.  It  lies 
mainly  north  of  the  Girard  and  Lexington  wagon  road  and  occupies  a 
width  of  scarcely  one-half  mile.  On  the  outer  (south)  border  there  is  a 
narrow  gravel  plain  that  appears  to  be  an  outwash  from  the  moraine. 
This  was  at  first  thought  to  be  a  probable  continuation  of  the  Girard 
moraine,  but  an  inspection  of  PL  XVIII  will  make  clear  that  it  fits  in 
better  with  the  x\shtabula  moraine.  From  Girard  eastward  to  Swanville 
the  Girard  moraine  consists  of  a  narrow,  nearl}-  continuous  till  ridge, 
having  only  a  few  knolls  associated  with  it.  It  lies  north  of  the  Girard 
and  Erie  wagon  road  most  of  the  way  to  Fairview  and  south  of  that 
road  from  Fairview  to  Walnut  Creek  Valley,  opposite  Swanville.  Upon 
crossing  Walnut  Creek  it  becomes  much  stronger  and  remains  conspicuovis 
to  its  junction  with  the  morainic  belt  outside  of  It  near  West  Mill  Creek 
station. 

From  the  vicinity  of  Erie,  Pa.,  eastward  to  the  north  end  of  Lake  Chau- 
tauqua, in  New  York,  there  is  a  single  prominent  moraine  1  to  3  miles  in 
width.  It  follows  the  north  side  of  Walnut  Creek  about  to  the  meridian  of 
Erie,  and  there  crosses  Mill  Creek  and  follows  its  north  side  past  Belle 
Valley,  its  inner  border  extending  down  to  the  south  edge  of  the  city  of 
Erie.  It  crosses  Sixmile  Creek  south  of  the  village  of  Harbourcreek,  and 
Sixteenraile  Creek  just  below  (west  of)  Grahamville.  .  It  enters  New  York 
at  the  bend  of  Twentymile  Creek  and  follows  the  north  side  of  the  west- 
flowing  portion  of  that  creek  across  Ripley  Township  to  its  soiu'ce  in 
western  Westfield  Township,  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y.  It  comes  to 
Chautauqua  Creek  3  miles  south  of  Westfield,  and  nearly  opposite  the 
mouth  of  Little  Chautauqua  Creek.  Throughout  much  of  the  distance 
from  Erie  to  Westfield  its  inner  border  is  within  1  to  2  miles  south  of  the 
railwav  lines,  and  for  a  short  distance  between  Northeast,  Pa.,  and  the  New 
York  line  it  extends  slightly  north  of  the  railways.  The  inner  border  is 
on  the  whole  less  definite  and  regular  than  the  outer,  and  knolls  and  ridges 
occur  sparingly  for  a  mile  or  two  north  of  the  main  belt.  An  instance  is 
found  at  Northeast,  Pa.,  where  there  is  a  series  of  knolls  and  short  ridges  10 
to  20  feet  high,  standing  nearly  2  miles  north  of  the  main  moraine.  These 
and  other  similar  short  ridges  along  the  inner  border  of  the  main  belt  seem 
scarcely  prominent  enough  to  merit  separate  name  and  description. 

The  course  of  this   morainic  system  from  Lake  Chautauqua  to  Cat- 


m 


LAKE  ESCARPMENT  MORAINES.  655 

taraugus  Creek  is  shown  in  PI.  XIX.  In  the  valley-Kke  depression  at  the 
north  end  of  Lake  Chautauqua  twd  distinct  moraines  are  found.  An  outer 
weak  one  extends  from  Little  Chautauqua  Creek  southeastward  to  withhi  2 
miles  of  the  head  of  Lake  Chautauqua,  and  there  turns  abruptly  northward 
along  the  west'  side  of  Inlet  Creek  and  joins  the  main  belt  east  of  Prospect. 
The  main  belt  leads  northeastward  along  the  north  side  of  Little  Chautau- 
qua Creek  to  its  source,  and  there  becoming  united  with  the  outer  belt, 
continues  through  the  south  part  of  Portland  Township  to  the  valley-like 
depression  in  which  Bear  Lake  stands,  where  it  again  separates  from  the 
outer  belt.  The  outer  belt,  which  here  also  is  weak,  leads  eastward  to  Bear 
Lake,  and  then  returns  northward  to  join  the  inner  or  main  belt  on  the  high 
divide  between  Bear  Lake  Valley  and  Cassadaga  Creek.  The  inner  belt 
leads  directly  northeast  across  Bear  Lake  Valley,  passing  about  a  mile 
north  of  the  lake.  The  united  belt  swings  aroinid  the  north  end  of  the 
high  divide  between  Bear  Lake  and  Cassadaga  Creek,  and  takes  a  south- 
ward course  into  the  Cassadaga  Vallej^  at  Upper  Cassadaga  Lake. 

From  Cassadaga  Valley  two  moraines  lead  eastward.  A  weak  outer 
one  passes  from  Cassadaga  Village  northeastward  to  Arkwright,  while  a 
strong  inner  one  leads  from  Upper  Cassadaga  Lake  to  the  same  point,  a 
portion  of  its  course  being  along  the  north  side  of  the  westward-flowing 
part  of  Canadaway  Creek. 

The  combined  belt  leads  eastward  from  Arkwright  past  Arkwright 
Summit  to  the  valley  or  depression  in  which  West  Mud  Lake  lies,  and 
includes  that  lake  in  its  outer  border.  It  then  makes  an  abruj^t  northward 
turn  along  the  face  of  the  hills  east  of  West  Mud  Lake,  and  crosses  over 
to  the  valley-like  depression  in  which  East  Mud  Lake  lies.  In  this  depres- 
sion there  was  less  lobation  of  the  ice  margin  than  in  similar  valley's  to  the 
west,  the  course  of  the  moraine  being  eastward  across  the  valley  and  the 
uplands  eaL^  of  it  to  Slab  Creek,  a  headwater  tributary  of  the  Conewango, 
and  thence  over  another  ridge  south  of  Perry sburg  to  the  broad  valley  of 
the  Conewango,  which  afforded  the  old  line  of  discharge  for  the  Upper 
Allegheny. 

In  crossing  this  valley  the  moraine  takes  a  northeastward  course  through 
Dayton  to  South  Cattaraugus  Creek,  coming  to  that  stream  about  midwa^' 
between  Growanda  and  Cattaraugus.  It  is  very  ill  defined  east  of  this  creek 
for  3  or  4  miles,  but  seems  to  follow  the  east  bluflP  northward  nearh-  to  the 


656  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

main  Cattaraugus  Creek.  From  tliat  point  a  weak  outer  belt  makes  a 
detour  southward  in  crossing  the  old  valley  of  South  Cattaraugus  Creek 
and  returns  northward  along'  the  east  side  of  the  valley  to  the  main  Catta- 
raugus Creek. 

A  stronger  belt  sets  in  on  the  north  side  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  opposite 
the  old  valley  and  thence  leads  northeastward  along  the  divide  between 
northern  tributaries  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  and  streams  which  flow  directly 
toward  Lake  Erie.  Indeed  the  moraine  to  a  large  degree  constitutes  the 
divide  from  this  point  up  to  the  head  of  Cattaraugus  Creek,  in  western 
Wyoming  County. 

At  the  head  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  there  is  a  reentrant  between  the 
lobe  that  extended  westward  into  the  Lake  Erie  Basin  and  one  that  extended 
soutliward  up  the  Grenesee.  Between  these  lobes  an  interlobate  moraine 
was  formed  which  occupies  the  high  divide  west  of  the  Genesee  and  extends 
northward  from  Wethersfield  and  Java  townships  in  southwestern  Wyoming 
County  to  Bennington  Township  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the  countv,  a 
distance  of  about  15  miles. 

From  the  east  side  of  this  interlobate  moraine  a  strong  moraine  leads 
southeastward  to  the  Genesee  River,  having-  a  width  of  6  or  <S  miles  in 
Wethersfield,  Gainesville,  Pike,  Castile,  and  Genesee  Falls  townships, 
Wyoming  County,  and  coming  to  the  river  in  the  vicinity  of  Portage  Falls. 
The  writer  has  not  traced  its  course  beyond  the  Genesee,  but  it  is  supposed 
to  be  continued  around  the  southern  ends  of  the  Finger  lakes  of  western 
New  York. 

For  a  short  distance  outside  the  ridged  and  hummocky  part  of  this 
morainic  system  in  eastern  Erie  County,  Pa.,  and  in  Chautauqua  County, 
N.  Y.,  there  are  often  large  numbers  of  bowlders,  which  it  is  thought  mav 
have  been  deposited  by  the  ice  sheet  at  about  the  time  the  moraine  was 
forming,  the  moraine  being  a  submarginal  and  the  bowlders  a  strictly 
marginal  deposit.  The  bowlders  are  very  conspicuous  just  outside  some  of 
the  reentrants  in  the  moraine,  suggesting  that  the  ice  border  may  have 
passed  more  directly  over  the  ridges  which  stand  in  these  reentrants  than 
the  border  of  the  morainic  ridges  would  indicate,  and  also  have  reached  an 
altitude  somewhat  higher.  The  bowlders  are,  however,  conspicuous  onlv 
for  a  mile  or  so  beyond  the  morainic  ridges,  and  t(»  altitudes  100  to  150 
feet  above  them. 


LAKE  ESCARPMENT  MORAINES.  657 


RANGE    IN    ALTITUDE. 


The  outer  or  south  border  of  this  morainic  system  is,  throughout  much 
of  its  course,  mucli  higher  than  the  inner  border,  because  of  its  situation  on 
the  face  of  an  escarpment.  The  difference  is  only  about  100  feet  in  the 
Ohio  portion,  but  in  Erie  County,  Pa.,  it  reaches  400  feet,  and  in  Chautauqua 
County,  N.  Y.,  fully  600  feet. 

In  Ohio  the  altitude  of  the  entire  system  shows  scarcely  200  feet 
variation,  the  lowest  parts  being  about  775  feet  above  tide,  and  the  highest 
scarcely  950  feet.  Indeed,  it  lies  mainly  between  the  800-  and  900-foot 
contom's. 

There  is  but  little  rise  shown  in  crossing  the  Girard,  Pa.,  quadrangle, 
but  in  the  southwest  part  of  the  Erie  quadrangle,  north  of  Sterrettania,  an 
altitude  of  1,000  feet  is  reached,  and  1,000  to  1,100  feet  is  maintained  along 
the  crest  of  the  morainic  belt  in  the  central  and  eastern  parts  of  the  quad- 
rangle. Between  the  Erie  quadrangle  and  the  New  York  line  the  crest  of 
the  moraine  rises  to  about  1,200  feet,  and  near  the  Westfield  geodetic  station 
reaches  an  altitude  of  1,480  feet 

In  the  valley-like  depression  at  the  head  of  Lake  Chautauqua  the  outer 
border  of  the  moraine  stands  between  1,340  and  1,400  feet.  On  the  divide 
between  Chautauqua  and  Bear  lakes  it  rises  slightly  above  the  1,500-foot 
contour,  but  drops  in  the  Bear  Lake  depression  to  1,326  feet.  Northeast  of 
Bear  Lake  it  again  rises  to  about  1,500  feet,  and  then  drops  to  about  1,310 
feet  in  the  Cassadaga  Valley.  Near  Arkwright  it  makes  a  still  greater  rise, 
and  appears  on  a  hill  north  of  the  village  that  rises  to  the  1,740-foot  contour. 
In  the  valley  east  of  Arkwright,  near  West  Mud  Lake,  the  altitude  falls 
to  about  1,400  feet,  some  knolls  being  found  between  the  1,380-  and  1,400- 
foot  contours.  On  the  uplands  bet-w;een  East  and  West  Mud  lakes  an 
altitude  of  1,680  feet  is  reached.  Around  East  Mud  Lake  morainic  knolls 
appear  down  to  the  1,340-foot  contour,  but  the  crest  north  of  the  lake  is 
about  1,400  feet  in  its  lowest  part.  Between  East  Mud  Creek  and  Slab 
Creek  Valley  the  moraine  rises  to  the  1,560-foot  contour,  but  drops  200 
feet  in  Slab  Creek  Valley,  its  crest  being  just  above  the  1,360-foot  contour. 
On  the  uplands  between  Slab  Creek  and  the  Conewango  Valley  it  rises  to 
about  the  1,600-foot  contom-.  In  Conewango  Valley  the  crest  is  not  far 
from  the  1,400-foot  contour,  but  the  outer  face  extends  down  to  about 
1,340  feet.     It  rises  east  of  South  Cattaraugus  Creek  to  about  1,650  feet, 

MON   XLI 42 


658  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

but  drops  to  less  than  1,400  feet  on  the  borders  of  the  mam  Cattaraugvis 
Valley. 

In  the  portion  which  follows  the  divide  north  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  the 
altitude  ranges  between  1,400  and  1,800  feet  in  crossing  the  sags  and 
ridges,  there  being  a  variation  similar  to  that  in  the  portion  between  Lake 
Chautauqua  and  the  Conewango  Valley.  As  this  district  has  not  been 
covered  by  the  topographic  survey,  only  general  statements  can  be  made. 
Near  the  head  of  Cattaraugus  Creek,  in  the  interlobate  belt,  a  still  greater 
altitude  is  attained,  some  points  being  nearly  2,000  feet. 

Between  the  interlobate  belt  and  the  Genesee  the  moraine  descends 
several  hundred  feet,  the  altitude  in  the  vicinity  of  Portage  Falls  being 
between  1 ,150  and  1,350  feet.  The  original  level  of  the  crest  of  the  moraine 
in  the  Genesee  seems  to  have  been  fully  1,300  feet. 

From  the  data  just  given  it  seems  probable  that  the  ice  sheet  had 
greater  thickness  in  the  eastern  portion  of  the  Lake  Erie  Basin  at  the  time 
it  was  forming  this  morainic  system  than  in  the  central  or  western  portions. 
This  seems  due  to  its  having  had  at  that  time  an  axial  movement  westward 
into  the  Lake  Erie  Basin.  The  eastern  portion,  being  nearer  the  center 
of  dispersion,  would  naturally  carry  a  thicker  sheet  of  ice  than  the  more 
remote  western  portion. 

It  ma)^  not  be  possible  to  compute  the  thickness  definitely,  but  a  rude 
approximation  may  perhaps  be  reached  by  considering  the  altitude  and 
position  of  the  moraine.  The  moraine-covered  hill  near  Arkwright,  1,740 
feet  above  tide,  is  but  3  miles  distant  from  the  base  of  the  steep  escarpment, 
which  stands  900  feet  lower,  or  only  840  feet,  but  7  miles  distant  from 
the  shore  of  Lake  Erie  at  Dmikirk,  where  the  altitude  of  the  lake  bed  is 
less  than  570  feet,  and  24  miles  distant  from  the  axis  or  deepest  part  of  the 
Lake  Erie  Basin,  where  the  altitude  is  only  380  feet.  Were  ihe  ice  sheet 
no  higher  in  the  midst  of  the  lake  basin  than  this  moraine-covered  hill, 
its  thickness  opposite  Arkwright  and  Dunkirk  would  have  been  nearly 
1,400  feet.  But  it  is  probable  that  the  ice  margin  rose  considerably  above 
this  moraine-covered  hill,  and  that  there  was  a  gradual  ascent  from  the 
margin  northward  to  the  midst  of  the  lake  basin.  The  thickness  of  the  ice 
sheet,  probably  reached  fully  2,000  feet  in  the  midst  of  the  lake  basin 
north  of  Dunkirk.  If  the  ice  sheet  had  had  a  similar  thickness  opposite 
the  north  end  of  the  Grand  River  Basin,  there  should  have  been  a  decided 


LAKE  ESCARPMENT  MORAINES.  659 

protrusion  into  the  basin.  But  instead  this  morainic  system  passes  the  basin 
with  scarcely  a  mile  of  southward  deflection.  It  is  strikingly  in  contrast 
with  the  Cleveland,  or  next  earlier  morainic  belt,  which  has  a  loop  extending 
southward  20  to  25  miles  into  the  basin. 

It  may  be  objected  that  the  movement  toward  the  border  of  the  basin 
was  comparatively  weak,  the  main  movement  being  along  the  axis.  This 
objection  is,  however,  only  another  way  of  stating  that  the  ice  sheet  was  too 
thin  in  this  j^art  of  the  lake  basin  to  have  a  strong  movement.  It  is  doubtful 
if  its  thickness  was  half  that  of  the  portion  in  the  eastern  end  of  the  basin. 


Along  its  outer  border  this  morainic  system  iisuallv  shows  a  relief  of 
20  to  40  and  occasionally  60  feet;  but  the  country  to  the  south  rises  rapidly 
and  soon  reaches  an  altitude  much  above  the  morainic  crest.  The  relief  is 
best  shown  where  the  moraine  crosses  valleys,  such  as  the  Cassadaga, 
Chautauqua,  and  Conewango,  but  it  is  in  many  places  conspicuous  along 
the  face  of  the  escarpment. 

Between  the  members  of  this  morainic  system "  there  are  valley-like 
sags,  above  which  the  ridges  rise  to  heights  of  20  to  40  feet  or  more,  there 
being  nearly  as  much  relief  as  on  the  outer  border  of  the  system.  The 
sags  afford  convenient  lines  for  streams  to  follow,  and  the  peculiar  winding 
courses  and  sharp  deflections  of  the  creeks  on  the  south  border  of  the  Lake 
Erie  Basin  in  northwestern  Pennsylvania  and  northeastern  Ohio  are  in  large 
part  due  to  the  controlling  influence  of  the  sags. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

This  morainic  system,  like  the  earlier  ones,  presents  considerable 
variation  in  topographic  expression,  ranging  from  a  comparatively  smooth 
ridge  with  only  gentle  imdulations  to  intricate  hummocky  tracts  inclosing 
basins  that  hold  ponds  and  small  lakes.  Between  these  types  is  the 
well-defined  ridge  that  carries  sharp  hummocks  and  has  its  surface  indented 
with  basins.  There  is  also  some  contrast  between  different  moraines  of  this 
system,  the  Euclid  moraine  having,  on  the  whole,  less  strength  of  expression 
than  the  other  moraines.  In  the  detailed  discussion  which  follows,  the 
Euclid  is  first  considered,  after  which  the  other  moraines  follow  in  turn 
from  the  outer  toward  the  inner  part  of  the  morainic  system. 


660         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

From  Euclid  eastward  into  Lake  County  there  are  only  a  few  low 
swells  and  a  very  faint  ridge  to  mark  the  position  of  the  moraine,  the  largest 
swells  being  scarcely  10  feet  in  height.  Near  the  southwest  corner  of  Lake 
County  a  more  distinct  ridge  appears,  which  presents  a  relief  of  10  to  25 
feet,  and  has  swells  5  to  15  feet  in  height  along  its  crest  and  on  its  slopes. 
There  are  also  a  few  knolls  scattered  over  the  plain  on  the  south  border  of 
the  ridge.  These  features  continue  through  to  Chagrin  River,  a  distance 
of  3  or  4  miles.  East  of  Chagrin  River,  along  the  north  side  of  East 
Chagrin  River,  there  is  a  ridge  10  to  20  feet  in  height  with  a  breadth  of  a 
mile  or  less.  Its  surface  is  very  gently  undulating,  with  swells  but  5  to  10 
feet  in  height.  ,  An  old  channel  follows  the  south  border  of  this  ridge  from 
the  bend  of  Grand  River  south  of  Painesville  westward  to  East  Chagrin 
River,  which  seems  to  have  been  the  line  of  discharge  for  glacial  waters 
into  Lake  Maumee.  In  this  channel,  about  3  miles  southwest  of  Painesville, 
there  is  an  outtying  ridge  that  trends  northeast  to  southwest  in  harmony 
with  the  main  ridge  and  rises  nearly  50  feet  above  the  level  of  the  channel 
in  which  it  stands. 

The  portion  of  the  Euclid  moraine  which  lies  along  the  south  side  of 
Grand  River  presents  a  series  of  loosely  connected  knolls  and  short  ridges, 
10  to  20  feet  in  height,  covering  a  belt  only  one-half  mile  to  a  mile  in  width. 
There  does  not  seem  to  be  a  definite  basement  ridge,  such  as  appears  in 
portions  of  the  moraine  to  the  east  and  west. 

From  the  Grand  River  Valley  eastward  into  Pennsylvania  the  Euclid 
moraine  consists  of  a  faintly  outlined  ridge  with  a  relief  of  but  10  to  20 
feet,  yet  this  is  sufficient  to  hold  Griggs  Creek  in  a  westward  course  along 
its  outer  border  from  source  to  mouth  and  to  cause  Mill  Creek  to  turn  west- 
ward into  Grand  River.  In  eastern  Ashtabula  County,  Ohio,  it  caixses  a 
tributary  of  Ashtabula  Creek  to  flow  westward  on  its  outer  border,  while  in 
western  Erie  County,  Pa.,  it  causes  a  tributary  of  Conneaut  Creek  to  turn 
abruptly  eastward.  As  above  noted,  this  moraine  has  not  been  recog- 
nized farther  east  than  the  northward-flowing  part  of  Conneaut  Creek,  in 
Erie  County,  Pa. 

Returning  to  Painesville  and  taking  up  the  description  of  the  Paines- 
ville moraine,  we  find  a  somewhat  sharp  ridge,  20  to  40  feet  in  height, 
and  from  a  half  mile  or  less  to  fully  a  mile  in  width.  Its  crest  as  well  as 
slopes  carries  swells  and  sags,  with  oscillations  of  10  to  25  feet  or  more. 


LAKE  ESCAKPMENT  MORAINES.  661 

Throughout  its  coui'se,  from  Paiuesville  eastward  into  Pennsylvania,  it 
displays  much  g-reater  strength  than  the  Euclid  moraine.  Its  influence 
upon  drainage  is  a  notable  feature,  and  one  showing  its  almost  perfect  con- 
tinuity. Grrand  River  is  made  to  take  a  westward  course  for  about  20 
miles  along  its  outer  border  from  the  bend  near  Austinburg  to  the  bend  at 
Painesville,  thus  greatly  increasing  its  distance  to  Lake  Erie.  The  head- 
water part  of  Ashtabula  Creek,  from  its  source  westward  to  Kelloggsville, 
Ohio,  also  has  its  course  determined  by  this  morainic  ridge,  and  is  prevented 
from  flowing  directly  north  to  Lake  Erie. 

After  combining  with  the  Euclid  moraine  in  western  Erie  County,  Pa., 
there  is  but  little  change  in  the  topography  from  that  presented  by  the 
Painesville  moraine  west  of  the  point  of  union.  There  is  usually  a  well- 
defined  crest  and  a  sharply  undulating-  surface,  on  which  the  knolls  are  10 
to  25  feet  or  more  in  height.  The  part  of  the  moraine  between  Conneaut 
Creek  and  Elk  Creek,  as  may  be  seen  by  reference  to  PL  XVIII,  holds 
small  drainage  lines  between  it  and  the  base  of  the  rock  escarpment  to 
the  south,  one  line  leading  northeastward  into  Little  Elk  Creek,  and  the 
other  southwestward  into  Temple  Creek;,  a  tributary  of  Conneaut  Creek. 
Between  these  is  another  stream  which  finds  a  gap  in  the  moraine  through 
which  it  passes  northward  into  Elk  Creek.  Little  Elk  Creek  takes  advant- 
age of  a  similar  gap  near  its  mouth;  but  an  eastern  tributarj'  of  Little  Elk 
Creek  is  turned  westward  between  this  moraine  and  the  base  of  the  escarp- 
ment. Elk  Creek  owes  its  southwestward  deflection  of  3  or  4  miles,  near 
Sterrettania,  to  the  presence  of  this  moraine  on  its  north  side. 

The  Ashtabula  moraine  differs  but  little  in  strength  and  in  topographic 
expression  from  the  Paines\alle  moraine.  Its  width  is  one-half  mile  to  a  mile 
or  more,  and  its  crest  stands  30  to  60  feet  or  more  above  the  bordering  sag 
on  the  south  and  the  plain  on  the  north.  The  outer  or  south  face  is  much 
more  abrupt  than  the  inner.  It  is  sharply  undulating,  and  where  strongest 
it  has  knolls  20  to  40  feet  in  height.  The  weakest  part  is  immediately 
west  of  Kingsville,  where  for  a  couple  of  miles  it  rises  but  little  above 
the  old  lake  bottom,  and  has  perhaps  been  worn  down  to  some  extent  by 
the  waves.  The  portion  along  the  north  side  of  Coimeaut  Creek  from 
Kingsville,  Ohio,  eastward  to  Lexington,  Pa.,  is  exceptionally  strong,  its 
height  being  40  to  60  feet  above  the  creek  bluff.  Immediately  east  of 
Lexington  it  is  interrupted  by  a  narrow  gap  through  which  Crooked  Creek 


662  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

finds  a  passage,  while  at  Kingsville  it  affords  a  wider  gap  for  Conneaut 
Creek  to  turn  north  toward  the  lake. 

From  Conneaut  Creek  to  Elk  Creek  the  moraine,  though  having  a 
well-defined  crest,  carries  gentler  swells  than  in  the  neighboring  jDortions 
to  the  west  and  the  east.  From  Elk  Creek  eastward  to  its  junction  with 
the  Painesville  moraine  it  presents  a  series  of  sharp  knolls  distributed  over 
the  slopes  and  along  the  crest  of  a  prominent  basement  ridge.  Parts  of 
the  ridge  stand  60  to  80  -feet  above  the  sag  on  the  south,  which  is  drained 
by  Brandy  Run. 

Along  the  south  side  of  Walnut  Creek  from  near  Sterrettania  up  to 
Kearsarge  there  is  an  intricate  assemblage  of  knolls  and  sags  without  so 
well  defined  a  basement  ridge  as  appears  to  the  west,  where  the  moraines 
are  more  distinct.  The  largest  knolls  are  30  to  40'  feet  in  height  and  are 
rather  sharp.  A  similar  confused  assemblage  of  knolls  continues  across  the 
interval  between  Walnut  Creek  and  Mill  Creek  to  the  point  of  connection 
with  the  Girard  moraine  at  the  bend  of  Mill  Creek  south  of  Erie.  Walnut 
Creek  owes  its  deflection  from  the  base  of  the  escarpment  westward  to 
Kearsarge  to  the  presence  of  this  morainic  system  between  Kearsarge  and 
Mill  Creek.  Otherwise  the  headwater  portion  would  have  continued  north- 
ward to  Mill  Creek  and  thence  through  the  midst  of  the  city  of  Erie  into 
the  lake,  as  may  be  seen  by  reference  to  Plate  XVIII. 

In  the  range  of  sharp  knolls  which  leads  from  Cross  Station  toward 
Girard  the  highest  points  rise  about  70  feet  above  the  Maumee  beach  on 
the  north  slope,  but  are  seldom  as  much  as  30  feet  higher  than  the  gravel 
plain  on  the  south  or  outer  face.  In  places  the  knolls  barely  reach  the 
level  of  the  gravel  plain. 

In  the  western  part  of  the  Girard  moraine  there  is  a  gently  undu- 
lating ridge  with  swells  only  10  to  12  feet  high,  and  a  relief  of  15  to  20 
feet  above  the  plain  on  its  outer  or  south  border.  This  weak  phase  con- 
tinues to  Walnut  Creek  Valley  at  Swanville;  but  from  Walnut  Creek 
eastward  to  Mill  Creek,  a  distance  of  9  miles,  this  moraine  is  about  as 
strong  as  and  is  similar  in  topography  to  the  best  developed  parts  of  the 
Painesville  and  Ashtabula  moraines.  It  is  fully  a  mile  in  average  width 
and  consists  of  a  well-defined  basement  ridge  on  whose  crest  and  slopes 
knolls  10  to  40  feet  in  height  appear.  The  variations  in  the  strength  of 
the  Girard  moraine  are  clearly  brought  out  in  PI.  XVIII. 


LAKE  ESCARPMENT  MORAINES.  663 

From  the  bend  of  Mill  Creek  south  of  Ei-ie,  Pa.,  eastward  nearly  to 
the  north  end  of  Lake  Chautauqua,  N.  Y.,  this  morainic  system,  as  above 
noted,  is  combined  into  a  single  strong  belt.  Along  its  south  border  there 
is  often  a  somewhat  sharp  ridge  forming  the  crest  line  of  the  belt  and 
standing  20  to  30  feet  or  more  above  the  immediate  border.  Where  the 
moraine  crosses  Sixmile  Creek  there  is  a  small  tract  of  level  land  lying 
between  it  and  the  escarpment  to  the  south.  A  similar  low  plain  at  Sixteen- 
mile  Creek  is  traversed  by  the  creek  for  a  mile  or  more  near  Grahamsville. 
In  western  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y.,  there  is  a  similar  narrow  plain 
several  miles  in  length  which  has  been  utilized  by  Twentymile  Creek  in  its 
westward  course. 

From  this  ridge  northward  down  the  face  of  the  escarpment  the  drift 
knolls  are  distributed  singly  or  in  groups.  They  are  often  so  closely 
aggregated  as  to  give  the  face  of  the  escarpment  a  hummocky  appearance, 
but  in  places  are  scattering.  The  lower  part  of  the  escarpment  generally 
has  fewer  knolls  than  the  upper  part. 

From  the  New  York  line  eastward  to  the  Westfield  geodetic  station 
numerous  shallow  basins  were  found  among  low  swells  along  or  near  the 
crest  of  the  moraine.  Such  basins  are  less  numerous,  though  not  rare,  in 
Erie  County,  Pa. 

The  outer  moraine  in  the  depression  at  the  head  of  Lake  Chautauqu.a 
is  a  gently  undulating  till  ridge,  with  swells  scarcely  10  feet  in  height, 
among  which  there  are  numerous  saucer-like  depressions.  At  the  south 
border  it  stands  onl)''  8  or  10  feet  above  a  gravel  plain  that  leads  down  to 
Lake  Chautauqua,  being  near  the  1,340-foot  contour,  but  the  crest  in  places 
reaches  the  1,400-foot  contour.  It  is  not  certain,  however,  that  this  relief 
of  60  feet  is  entirely  due  to  drift  accumulations;  possibly  the  crest  follows 
in  part  a  rock  ridge. 

The  topography  of  the  outer  moraine  in  the  Bear  Lake  Valley  is 
somewhat  different  from  that  in  the  Chautauqua,  there  being  only  scattering 
knolls  without  a  well-defined  basement  ridge.  The  outer  of  the  two  moraines 
which  lead  from  the  Cassadaga  Valley  toward  Arkwright  consists  of  a  gently 
undulating  till  ridge  which,  for  a  couple  of  miles  northeast  from  Cassadaga 
village,  forms  a  divide  between  a  southward-flowing  and  a  westward-flowing 
tributary  of  Cassadaga  Creek,  as  indicated  in  PI.  XIX. 

The  inner  or  main  moraine  from  the  head  of  Lake  Chautauqua  eastward 


664  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

presents  topograph}'  similar  to  that  toward  the  west,  there  being  in  places 
a  narrow  ridge  scarcel)'  an  eighth  mile  in  width  and  30  to  40  feet  or  more 
in  height  forming  the  crest,  while  numerous  hummocks  and  basins  appear  on 
its  inner  border  for  about  a  mile  north  from  the  crest.  Such  a  sharp-crested 
ridge  is  a  conspicuous  feature  for  2  or  3  miles  in  the  part  of  the  moraine 
immediately  west  and  north  of  Bear  Lake,  as  may  be  seen  by  reference  to 
the  Dunkirk  topographic  sheet  (see  PL  XIX).  Just  outside  this  sharp 
moraine  is  a  smooth  gravel  plain. 

On  the  slopes  north  and  northwest  from  the  upper  Cassadaga  Lake 
there  are  a  few  di-ift  knolls  20  to  40  feet  or  more  in  height,  among  which  are 
numerous  small  ones  only  5  to  10  feet  high.  In  Cassadaga  Valley  a  gravelly 
tract  occiu-s  around  the  upper  and  lower  lake,  which  carries  a  few  low  knolls 
and  presents  apparently  a  gradation  from  the  moraine  into  a  plain  that  sets 
in  south  of  the  lower  lake. 

On  the  high  ridge  near  Arkwright  the  moraine  has  a  hummocky  surface, 
with  numerous  knolls  10  to  15  feet  and  a  few  20  or  25  feet  in  height.  This 
topography  extends  down  the  slope  eastward  to  West  Mud  Lake. 

The  valley  below  West  Mud  Lake  carries  a  smooth  gravel  jjlain,  but 
near  the  lake  it  becomes  full  of  basins,  the  largest  of  which  is  occupied  by 
the  lake.  They  extend  up  to  the  moraine  which  forms  the  di^ade  north 
of  the  lake,  and  which  presents  a  sharply  ridged  surface.  North  from  the 
morainic  crest  sharp  knolls  occur  for  a  mile  or  more.  Many  of  the  knolls 
are  small,  being  only  10  to  15  feet  in  height  and  covering  only  an  acre  or 
two.  There  are  basins  among  them  that  occupy  only  a  few  square  rods, 
yet  are  several  feet  in  depth. 

The  hummocky  topography  leads  eastward  over  the  ridge  to  East  Mud 
Lake,  where  the  moraine  presents  features  similar  to  those  around  West 
Mud  Lake,  there  being  a  gradation  from  the  gravel  plain  south  of  the  lake 
tlii'ough  basins  in  and  around  it  to  the  sharp-crested  moraine  that  passes  it 
on  the  north.  The  basins  on  the  border  of  the  lake  are  8  to  10  feet  deep 
and  only  a  few  acres  in  extent,  but  the  lake  itself  occupies  a  basin  nearly  an 
eighth  of  a  mile  across. 

From  East  Mud  Lake  eastward  to  Perrysburg  knolls  20  to  30  feet  high 
are  quite  numerous  and  are  arranged  in  chains  with  trend  in  line  with  the 
moraine,  or  nearl)'  east  to  west.  The  tendency  to  an  east-to-west  ridging 
becomes   still  more  conspicuous  in  the  area  extending  from  Perrysburg 


LAKE  ESCARPMENT  MORAINES.  665 

southeastward  into  the  Conewaugo  Valley.  The  ridges  are  in  some  cases 
30  to  40  feet  high  and  a  half  mile  or  more  in  length.  There  are  also 
numerous  conical  knolls  10  to  20  feet  high,  among  which  are  shallow  basins. 
At  the  south  border  of  the  moraine  there  is  a  gradual  transition  to  a  gravel 
plain  that  leads  down  to  the  Conewango  Swamp,  near  South  Dayton.  A 
similar  transition  is  found  in  Slab  Creek  Valley  west  of  Perrysburg. 

This  sti-ong  moraine,  as  above  noted,  dies  out  at  the  west  bluff  of  South 
Cattaraugus  Creek,  about  5  miles  south  of  Gowanda,  there  being  only  scat- 
tering di-ift  knolls  on  the  east  side  of  that  valley.  But  upon  crossing  over 
the  ridge  to  the  old  valley,  about  3  miles  northeast,  the  moraine  again 
appears,  though  its  ridges  and  swells  are  of  a  more  subdued  type  than  in 
districts  to  the  west.  The  swells  are  only  10  to  15  feet  high  and  have  very 
gentle  slopes,  while  the  crest  is  a  barely  perceptible  ridge. 

On  the  north  side  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  between  the  creek  and  ColHns 
Center  there  is  a  topography  similar  to  that  in  the  Conewango  Valley  near 
Dayton.  The  ridges  and  knolls  are  20  to  30  feet  high  and  anaong  them  are 
sloughs  and  saucer-hke  depressions.  There  is  but  little  change  in  topog- 
raphy in  passing  northeastward  over  the  high  ridge  north  of  Mortons 
Corners  to  Woodward  Hollow  (Wyandale  post-office),  though  the  knolls 
are  sharper  on  the  elevated  tract  than  on  the  lower  ground.  Knolls  20  or 
25  feet  high  may  be  seen  distinctly  for  a  distance  of  2  miles,  their  slopes 
are  so  abrupt.  Among  the  knolls  are  basins  with  abrupt  rims  instead  of 
the  saucer-like  depressions  noted  near  Collins  Center. 

In  the  valley  both  north  and  south  of  Woodward  Hollow  there  are 
sharp  knolls,  10  to  25  feet  or  more  in  height,  among  which  basins  are 
inclosed,  but  the  tendency  to  ridging  is  not  so  pronounced  as  to  the  west. 
The  east  slope  of  the  valle}-  also  presents  a  hummocky  surface  through  the 
entire  width  of  the  belt,  which  is  here  nearly  3  miles. 

Farther  east,  on  the  meridian  of  Springville  and  eastward  past  East 
Concord,  the  moraine  grades  on  the  south  into  a  gravel  plain  which  leads 
westward  some  distance  down  Cattaraugus  Creek.  Low  gravelly  swells 
appear  at  the  junction  of  the  plain  with  the  moraine.  There  is  considerable 
gravel  outwash  along  the  moraine  from  Springville  up  to  the  head  of  Cat- 
taraugus Creek,  setting  in  near  the  level  of  the  crest  of  the  moraine  and 
sloping  southward.  North  of  the  crest  the  moraine  is  in  places  lower  than 
the  gravel  plain  and  yet  carries  sharp  knolls  and  basins.     The  knolls  extend 


666  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OP  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

uorth  along  the  valleys  some  distance  farther  than  on  the  intervening  ridges, 
giving  the  appearance  of  spurs.  They  are  perhaps  the  lines  of  subglacial 
drainage,  many  of  the  knolls  being  gravelly  and  a  few  having  the  form  of 
eskers. 

The  interlobate  portion  of  this  morainic  system  in  western  Wyoming 
County  presents  in  its  southern  part  a  very  sharp  knob-and-basin  topography, 
scarcely  an  acre  of  the  surface  being  plane.  The  knolls  rise  usually  but  20 
to  30  feet  above  the  basins,  and  there  are  many  very  small,  sharp  hummocks 
only  5  to  10  feet  in  height.  Upon  passing  northward  in  the  interlobate 
belt  the  knolls  become  more  scattering  and  among  them  are  areas  of 
considerable  extent  which  have  a  nearly  plane  surface.  The  knolls  are, 
however,  in  some  cases  rather  larg-e,  some  of  them  being  40  to  50  feet  in 
height. 

The  portion  of  this  morainic  system  between  the  interlobate  tract  and 
the  Genesee  River  also  presents  a  sharp  knob-and-basin  topography,  with 
knolls  10  to  30  feet  or  more  in  height  inclosing  numerous  small  basins.' 
There  is  some  tendency  to  aggregation  in  belts  that  trend  northwest  to 
southeast  in  line  with  the  trend  of  the  system,  but  this  tendency  is  scarcely 
so  marked  as  in  the  district  west  of  the  interlobate  tract.  There  are  also 
strips  a  mile  or  so  in  width  in  the  midst  of  this  system  in  which  knolls  are 
rather  rare.  These  suggest  intermorainic  tracts,  but  they  are  not  continued 
far  enoug'h  to  cause  a  separation  of  the  system  into  distinct  moraines. 

STRUCTURE    OF    THE    DRIFT. 

In  the  gently  undulating-  morainic  ridges  from  Euclid,  Ohio,  eastward 
into  Pennsylvania  there  is  a  clayey  till  similar  to  that  found  in  the  plains 
farther  west,  and  but  few  gravel  knolls  occur.  The  coarse  material  becomes 
more  conspicuous  as  the  moraine  rises  along  the  escarpment  in  Erie  Coimty, 
Pa.,  and  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y.,  while  on  some  of  the  high  ridges 
farther  east  the  stones  are  so  abundant  as  to  give  the  moraine  a  gravelly 
appearance.  The  outer  belt  in  the  valley-like  depressions  at  the  head  of 
Lake  Chaiitauqua  and  at  Cassadaga  and  Bear  lakes  can-ies  a  more  clayey 
till  than  the  inner  or  main  belt.  There  is  also  a  very  clayey  till  in  the  old 
Upper  Allegheny  or  Conewango  Valley  and  the  old  course  of  South  Catta- 
raugus Creek.  But  from  the  crossing  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  near  Collins 
Center  eastward  to  the  interlobate  moraine  the  till  is  very  stony  and  gravel 


LAKE  ESCARPMENT  MORAINES.  667 

knolls  abound.  Gravel  knolls  are  more  conspicuous  in  the  valley-like 
depressions  than  on  the  ridges,  both  in  the  district  north  from  Cattarauo-us 
Creek  and  that  west  from  it  in  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y. 

The  interlobate  moraine  cai'ries  a  large  number  of  gravel  knolls,  and 
the  till  knolls  contain  a  large  amount  of  coarse  material.  The  depressions 
among  the  knolls  have,  on  the  whole,  a  coarser  drift  than  is  usualh'  found 
in  the  portion  west  of  the  interlobate,  where  a  compact  till  predominates. 

The  portion  of  this  morainic  system  between  the  interlobe  and  the 
Genesee  River  has  about  the  same  structure  as  the  interlobe,  there  being 
a  large  number  of  gravel  knolls  and  a  rather  stony  drift  in  the  till  knolls. 

Surface  bowlders  are  common  all  along  the  morainic  system,  but  are 
especiall}^  abundant  in  the  New  York  portion.  They  are  largely  granitic 
rocks,  though  in  many  places  Canadian  crystallines  are  represented. 

Parts  of  this  morainic  system  have  been  classed  with  the  beaches  hj 
early  writers.-'  This  confusion  appears  to  have  arisen  mainly  from  the 
imperfect  knowledge  of  the  phases  of  structure  which  a  moraine  may  pre- 
sent, especially  the  stony  phase,  though  in  one  of  the  instances  above  cited 
a  ridge  of  clayey  till  is  called  a  beach.  In  Read's  "Profile  section  from 
Lake  Erie  to  Grrand  River,"-  the  southernmost  of  the  four  ridges  there 
shown  is  -the  Painesville  moraine  and  is  described  as  a  riage  of  bowlder 
clay.  The  beaches  are  narrow  ridges  only  a  few  rods  wide,  while  the 
moraine  has  a  width  of  one-half  mile  oj.-  more.  The  beaches  are  composed 
of  assorted  material,  the  moraine  of  till,  with  occasional  developments  of 
gravelly  knolls  In  places  in  Ashtabula  County  the  moraine  and  beach  are 
so  closely  associated  that  beach  sand  appears  on  the  moraine,  but  through 
much  of  its  course  in  Ashtabula  County,  as  well  as  elsewhere,  the  moraine 
is  free  from  beach  deposits  and  from  evidences  of  wave  action.  The 
following  description  by  Read,  taken  from  the  report  on  Ashtabula  County,^ 
will  make  it  evident  that  a  glacial  ridge  rather  than  beach  is  described: 

The  old  "lake  ridges"  and  terraces  are  well  defined  in  the  county,  and  railroad 
excavations  have  afforded  unusual  facilities  for  studying  their  character.  The  outer 
or  southern  ridge,  where  exposed  by  railroad  cuts,  is  shown  to  be  a  ridge  or  wall  of 
compact  unstratified  clay,  composed  largely  of  the  local  rocks,  but  with  many  frag- 

'I.  C.  White:   Second  Geol.  Survey  Pennsylvania,  Rept.  Q*,  pp.  38,39.     M.  C.  Read:  Geology  of 
O'hio,  Vol.  I,  1873,  pp.  488^90,  516-518;  Vol.  II,  1875,  pp.  60-63. 
^  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  p.  518. 
'  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  p.  488. 


668  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

ments  of  granite  and  other  metamoi'phic  rocks,  not  rounded  by  the  action  of  waves 
but  in  irregular  forms,  ground,  polished,  and  marked  with  strife  and  scratches  on  all 
sides. 

On  page  489  the  following  section  is  jii'esented  by  Read,  and  with  it  a 
few  remarks  on  the  drift  clays  of  the  Painesville  moraine,  exposed  on  the 
bluff  of  Ashtabula  Creek : 

Section  of  the  Painesville  moraine  at  the  l>hiff  of  Ashtabula  Creelc. 

Feet. 

1.  Sandy  loam 1-2 

2.  Yellow  clay,  with  fragments  of  shale 10 

3.  Blue  clay,  with  fragments  of  shale  and  bowlders 14 

4.  Fine  sand,  local ■ .' . .  0-3 

5.  Coarse  gravel,  coarsest  at  bottom 10 

6.  Blue  clay,  with  bowlders 50 

7.  Erie  ahale  in  place. 

The  3'ellow  and  blue  clays  are  whollj'  unstratified,  composed  of  the  debris  of 
the  Erie  shales,  with  numerous  fragments  of  granite  rocks.  The  coarse  gravel  in  the 
middle  of  the  section  is  of  similar  fragments,  with  the  clay  washed  out  of  it.  The 
mass  bears  no  resemblance  to'  the  shingle  of  a  water-washed  beach,  the  gravel  not 
being  polished  and  rounded  into  pebbles,  but  apparenth'  the  result  of  a  mass  of  mud 
pushed  up  into  a  position  where  drainage  has  carried  off  the  softer  and  more  liquid 
materials.  The  local  bed  of  sand  (i  above)  is  stratified,  indicating  a  temporary  local 
space  of  open  water  apparently  soon  closed  up,  and  the  ice  pushing  the  unstratified 
claj'  above  it.  This  ridge  with  its  mass  unstratified  and  without  rounded,  water-worn 
pebbles,  can  not  be  the  slow  accumulations  ot  a  water-washed  beach,  nor  can  the 
materials  have  been  deposited  in  any  way  which  permitted  them  to  fall  through  water 
which  would  sort  and  stratify  them. 

In  Read's  descriptions  of  the  "south  ridge"  in  Lake  County,  the  upper 
beach  line  and  the  moraine  are  not  clearly  distinguished.  The  "south 
ridge"  in  Willoughby  Township  is  the  Euclid  moraine,  and  in  the  eastern 
part  of  Lake  County  is  the  Painesville  moraine,  but  what  is  termed  the  south 
ridg'e  at  Painesville  is  the  Belmore  beach.  It  is  remarked  concerning  the 
moraine  in  Willoughby  Township  that  "the  southern  lake  ridge  here,  and 
in  a  large  part  of  the  county,  is  mostly  composed  of  unstratified  clays,  but 
is  irregular  and  not  well  defined." 

Concerning  the  Belmore  beach  at  Painesville,  the  following  remarks  and 
section  are  presented:^ 

At  Painesville  the  south  ridge  is  in  places  largely  composed  of  coarse,  stratified 
gravel,  but  it  has  been  modified  by  subsequent  action.    The  following  is  a  section  from 

'  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  1873,  pp.  516-517. 


LAKE  ESCARPMENT  MORAINES.  669 

a  cut  made  by  the  Painesville  and  Youngstown  Railroad  on  the  north  bank  of  the 


river: 


Section  of  Belmore  heach  south  of  Painesville. 

Coarse  gravel,  without  distinct  bedding 12 

Fine  stratified  gravel 

Coarse  gravel  obliquely  stratified,  changing  below  to  fine  gravel  with  irregular  waved  lines  of 
stratification -  - 

In  the  above  section  the  upper  16  feet  constitutes  the  beach  proper. 
The  lower  part  of  the  section  is  an  earher  formation  of  glacial  age.  The 
gravel  is  cemented  with  lime  and  contains  much  calcareous  sand  and  rock 
flour  produced  by  glacial  grinding.  The  obliquely  stratified  gravel  Kes 
below  the  level  of  the  base  of  the  inner  slope  of  the  beach,  and  is  probably 
no  more  closely  related  to  the  beach  gravels  above  it  than  is  the  till  which 
so  often  underlies  beach  gravels,  the  beach  gravels  in  both  cases  being 
produced  at  a  later  period  by  the  waves  of  the  lake,  while  the  underlying 
gravels  or  the  till  were  produced  by  glacial  agencies. 

The  following  description  of  the  moraine  east  of  Painesville  is  given 
by  Read:^ 

The  bluflf  of  the  river  is  250  feet  above  the  lake.  An  irregular  clay  ridge,  half 
a  mile  north  of  the  bluff  and  about  5  miles  from  the  lake,  is  here  the  most  southern 
well-defined  lake  beach.  It  is  260  feet  above  the  lake,  and  composed  of  bowlder  clay, 
with  a  surface  somewhat  irregular  from  the  effects  of  erosion,  but  gently  sloping  to 
the  sandy  ridge  on  which  Madison  village  stands,  the  surface  generally  becoming 
sandy  as  this  ridge  is  approached. 

Thus  it  appears  from  the  descriptions  that  the  "south  ridge"  when  a 
moraine  is  composed  of  bowlder  clay,  and  when  a  beach,  of  sand  and 
gravel.  It  is,  however,  but  fair  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  Read 
appears  to  have  held  at  one  time  the  view  that  the  till  ridge  is  a  moraine, 
even  though  in  his  description  he  calls  it  a  lake  ridge.  Newberry  states" 
that  Read  had  regarded  this  ridge  as  a  moraine,  but  that  he  (Newberry) 
considered  it  a  clay  terrace  which  had  been  cut  by  the  lake.  The  chief 
geologist  of  the  Ohio  survey  thus  appears  to  have  been  influential  in  turn- 
ing his  subordinate  from  a  correct  to  an  erroneous  interpretation. 

OUTER   BOEDER   DRAINAGE. 

The  lines  of  escape  of  glacial  waters  on  the  outer  border  of  this 
morainic   system  are  very  plainly  indicated   along  much  of  the  border. 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  1873,  p.  518.  =Ibid.,  Vol.  II,  1875,  pp.  60-61. 


670  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

From  the  Conneaut  Valley,  in  western  Pennsj^lvania,  westward  to  the 
terminus  of  the  moranic  system  near  Euclid,  Ohio,  there  are  well-defined 
channels  between  it  and  the  rock  escarpment,  one  of  which  is  outside  the 
Euclid  moraine  and  others  between  the  moraines.  These  channels  are 
still  utilized  in  large  part  bv  small  westward-flowing  streams  which  after 
following  the  line  of  glacial  discharge  for  a  few  miles  now  turn  northward 
through  g'aps  in  the  moraines.  Between  these  streams  there  are  short  sec- 
tions of  the  glacial  channel  not  utilized  by  the  present  drainage.  Perhaps 
the  most  conspicuous  abandoned  part  leads  from  the  bend  of  the  Grand 
River  south  of  Painesville  westward  to  East  Chagrin  River  near  Kirtland, 
and  this  has  a  length  of  but  5  or  6  miles.  The  interval  between  Ashtabula 
Creek,  south  of  Kellogsville,  and  the  head  of  Griggs  Creek  is  scarcelv  2 
miles,  and  there  is  a  similar  interval  between  Chagrin  River  and  Euclid 
Creek.     In  each  of  these  places  there  is  a  well-defined  abandoned  channel. 

From  Avestern  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y.,  westward  to  Conneaut  Creek 
Valley-  the  waters  no  doubt  found  passages  along  the'  face  of  the  escarp- 
ment either  outside  or  just  within  the  edge  of  the  ice  sheet,  but  sufficient 
attention  has  not  been  given  to  the  channels  to  determine  their  full  courses 
and  connections. 

From  the  Chautauqua  Valley  eastward  to  the  Conewango  there  are, 
as  already  indicated,  moraine-headed  terraces  in  each  of  the  valleys  dis- 
charging southward  that  contain  a  gravel  outwash  fi-om  the  ice  sheet  and 
were  evidently  lines  of  vigorous  discharge.  Some  of  these  terraces  have 
their  heads  at  the  brow  of  the  escarpment  overlooking  Lake  Erie  (see 
PI.  XIX),  and  yet  lead  directly  away  from  the  lake  to  the  Allegheny 
River  and  thence  through  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

In  the  headwater  ]3ortion  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  there  appears  to  have 
been  a  vigorous  movement  of  the  waters  along  the  front  of  the  ice  sheet, 
such  as  would  call  for  adequate  outlet  to  the  west.  Fairchild  has  recently 
determined  that  there  was  a  discharge  from  the  South  Cattaraugus  past 
Persia  Siding  to  the  Conewango  at  an  altitude  but  little  above  1,300  feet 
above  tide.  Fairchild  has  also  found  evidence  that  the  discharge  shifted 
from  this  channel  to  channels  leading  westward  from  Go  wand  a  along  the 
face  of  the  escarpment  as  the  ice  melted  back.  His  studies  are  still  in 
progress  (in  1900)  and  promise  to  bring  out  an  interesting  drainage  history. 

The  drainage  from  the  part  of  the  morainic  system  in  the  vicinitj'  of 


LAKE  ESCARPMENT  MORAINES.  671 

the  Grenesee  River  seems  to  liave  been  southeastward  to  the  Caiiisteo  River, 
a  tributary  of  the  Susquehanna,  through  the  Burus-Arkport  channel,  brought 
to  notice  by  Fairchild.^  An  outhne  of  this  Hue  of  discharge,  given  by 
Fairchild,  is  as  follows.^ 

When  the  ice  uncovered  the  region  of  Portageville  the  Genesee  waters  found 
an  avenue  of  escape,  150  feet  lower  than  Cuba,  over  the  morainic  dam  east  of 
Portageville  and  lilled  the  Upper  Nunda  (Kishawa)  Vallej'  to  the  height  of  the 
col  north  of  Swains.  Overflowing  by  the  Swains-Canasei'aga  channel  into  the 
Dansville  Lake,  the  water  ultimatelj'  escaped  by  the  Poags  Hole  col,  past  the  sites 
of  Burns  and  Hornellsville,  to  the  Susquehanna. 

INNER    BORDER    PHENOMENA. 

From  the  western  terminus,  near  EucUd,  Ohio,  eastward  to  the  vicinity 
of  Dunkirk,  N.  Y.,  there  is  a  narrow  plain  lying  between  this  morainic 
system  and  Lake  Erie.  It  slopes  rapidly  from  the  base  of  the  escarpment, 
or  from  the  inner  border  of  the  morainic  system,  toward  the  lake.  The 
greater  part  of  it  has  been  under  lake  water  and  well-defined  beaches, 
descriptions  of  which  appear  in  Chapters  XV  and  XVI,  mark  the  different 
levels  which  the  lake  water  has  held. 

Over  much  of  this  lake  plain  rock  is  within  a  few  feet  of  the  surface, 
but  there  are  filled  valleys  crossing  the  plain  in  which  the  drift  is  very 
thick.  Their  courses  are  in  some  cases  entirely  concealed,  and  generally 
are  rendered  quite  obscure  by  the  drift  filling.  The  bluff  of  the  lake  often 
shows  places  where  A^alleys  come  in  whose  courses  across  the  lake  plain  are 
entirely  concealed. 

The  lake  and  stream  bluffs  and  the  well  borings  show  the  drift  to  be 
largely  till.  The  coarse  pebbles  are  scarcely  so  numerous  as  in  the  moraine 
and  in  places  are  rare,  but,  as  a  rule,  this  till  differs  little  from  the  clayey 
till  which  covers  the  plains  to  the  west  of  Lake  Erie.  In  the  intervals 
between  the  beaches  there  is  a  surprisingly  small  amount  of  sand  or  other 
wave-washed  material,  till  being  usuall}'  found  within  a  few  inches  or  at 
most  but  a  few  feet  of  the  surface.  The  material  covering  the  rock  is  there- 
fore largely  glacial. 

Upon  passing  eastward  from  Dunkirk  the  Growanda  moraine  soon 
appears  and  lies  within  a  few  miles  north  of  this  morainic  system  from  that 

1  Glacial  lakes  of  western  iSfew  York,  by  H.  L.  Fairchild:  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  VI, 
1895,  pp.  358-3.59.     Also  Glacial  Gen  .see  lakes:  ibid,  Vol.  VII,  1896,  pp.  438-140,  pis.  19  and  20. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  439. 


672  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

place  eastward  to  the  interlobate  moraine  in  western  Wyoming  County. 
The  portion  of  the  Growanda  moraine  west  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  hes  along 
the  south  border  of  the  lake  plain  near  the  base  of  the  escarpment,  and  is 
separated  from  the  morainic  system  under  discussion  only  by  a  narrow  strip, 
in  places  a  mile  or  less  in  width,  along  the  face  of  the  escarpment;  biit 
from  the  point  where  it  crosses  Cattaraugus  Creek,  at  Growanda,  northeast- 
ward to  the  interlobate  moraine,  the  Gowanda  moraine  lies  a  few  miles 
north  of  the  inner  border  of  this  morainic  system.  This  strip  between  the 
moraines,  although  involving  the  same  succession  of  ridges  and  valleys 
that  are  crossed  by  the  moraines,  is  strikingly  different  from  the  morainic 
strips.  The  slopes  and  crests  of  the  ridges  are  nearly  free  from  drift  swells 
and  the  valley  bottoms  are  smooth  and  open.  The  drift  is  also  perceptibly 
thinner  on  the  ridges  than  in  the  morainic  strips. 

East  from  the  interlobate  moraine  there  is,  for  some  distance  north 
from  this  morainic  system,  a  somewhat  hilly  region  with  comparatively  few 
drift  knolls  and  a  much  thinner  deposit  of  drift  than  appears  in  the  moraine. 
The  knolls  do  not  seem  to  be  arranged  in  such  definite  belts  as  in  the 
Gowanda  and  Hamburg  moraines  which  connect  with  the  western  side 
of  the  interlobe,  yet  their  deposition  probably  extends  over  the  time 
occupied  in  the  production  of  each  of  these  moraines. 

RELATION    TO    LAKE    MAUMEE. 

The  Lake  Escarpment  morainic  system  was  apparently  formed  during 
the  lower  stage  of  Lake  Maumee  while  it  stood  at  the  level  of  the  Leipsic 
beach.  That  beach,  as  indicated  on  pp.  734-738,  can  be  traced  with  some 
certainty  as  far  east  as  the  vicinity  of  Girard,  Pa.,  though  it  is  a  compara- 
tively weak  beach  from  Cleveland,  Ohio,  eastward.  Farther  east  than 
Girard  there  are  only  faint  and  rather  uncertain  indications  of  wave  action 
at  the  Leipsic  level.  The  ice  sheet  appears  to  have  persisted  there  until 
the  lake  had  found  a  lower  outlet  and  begun  to  form  the  Belmore  beach. 

SECTION  V.   MORAI^STES  OF  WESTER?^  NEW  YORK  SOUTH  OF   LAKE 

ONTARIO. 

There  are  several  short  moraines  in  western  New  York  between  the 
Lake  Escai-pment  system  and  the  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  two  of  which,  the 
Gowanda  and  Hamburg,  connect  at  the  east  with  the  interlobate  moraine 
which  extends  northward  from  the  Lake  Escarpment  system  to  northwestern 


GOWANDA  MORAINE.  673 

Wyoming  County,  while  the  remainder  continue  eastward  2:)ast  the  north 
end  of  this  interlobate  moraine,  in  part  as  distinct  ridges  and  in  part  coa- 
lesced. While  they  may  have  been  formed  in  nearly  as  close  succession 
as  the  several  moraines  of  the  Lake  Escarpment  system,  they  are  on  the 
whole  more  distinct  from  each  other  than  those  moraines,  and  should  not 
perhaps  be  grouped  as  a  single  system.  In  the  present  discussion  each 
morainic  ridge  receives  a  name,  and  the  several  ridges  are  considered  in 
turn,  beginning  with  the  southernmost. 

GO\/VANDA   MORAINE. 
DISTRIBUTION. 

The  westernmost  appearance  of  the  Growauda  moraine,  so  far  as  recog- 
nized, is  in  a  chain  of  knolls  which  lies  along  the  base  of  the  escarpment  in 
Sheridan  Township,  Chautauqua  County,  N.  Y.,  from  near  Sheridan  east- 
ward to  Walnut  Creek  at  Forestville.  On  the  east  side  of  Walnut  Creek  it 
widens  out  to  a  strip  a  mile  or  more  in  width,  which  occupies  the  entire 
space  between  the  Belmore  beach  and  the  base  of  the  escarpment  from 
Hanover  Center  eastward  to  the  valley  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  at  Gowanda. 
An  isolated  morainic  tract,  covering  about  '2  square  miles,  appears  on  the 
noi'th  side  of  Cattaraugus  Creek,  3  to  5  miles  east  of  Irving,  as  indicated  in 
PI.  XIX.  It  stands  below  the  level  of  the  Forest  beach,  yet  it  presents  a 
sharp  knob-and-basin  topography.  Its  relation  to  the  Gowanda  moraine  is 
not  understood. 

After  crossing  Cattaraugus  Creek  near  Gowanda  the  moraine  turns 
northward,  following  nearly  the  base  of  the  escarpment  past  Lawton  at  an 
altitude  but  little  above  the  level  of  the  Belmore  beach.  Northeast  of  Law- 
ton  it  crosses  over  the  i-idge  that  lies  between  Cattaraugus  and  Eighteen- 
mile  creeks,  passing  2  or  3  miles  east  of  North  Collins  and  coming  to 
Eighteenmile  Creek  Valley  at  Clarksburg.,  Thence  its  coru-se  is  northeast- 
ward over  another  ridge  to  the  east  branch  of  Eighteenmile  Creek  at 
Boston  Center.  It  continues  northeastward  over  a  prominent  ridge  between 
East  Eighteenmile  and  West  Cazenovia  creeks,  and  comes  to  the  valle}'  of 
the  latter  creek  at  West  Falls.  Thence  its  course  is  more  nearly  east  across 
a  ridge  in  southern  Aurora  Township,  Erie  Comity,  to  East  Cazenovia 
Creek,  at  and  north  of  the  village  of  South  Wales.     It  is  not  so  well  defined 

MON  XLI 43 


674  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  EKIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

farther  east,  but  seems  to  continue  across  Wales  Township,  Erie  County,  to 
the  interlobate  moraine  in  Sheldon  Township,  Wyoming-  County. 

The  general  width  of  this  moraine  is  only  about  a  mile  and  it  is  often 
considerably  narrower.  Its  narrowest  portions  are  usually  the  best  defined, 
for  the  nioraine  is  so  weak  that  when  spread  over  a  width  of  more  than  a 
mile  it  becomes  difficult  to  map  its  limits. 

RANGE    IN   ALTITUDE. 

The  portion  of  the  Gowanda  moraine  west  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  has  a 
range  of  only  about  100  feet  in  altitude,  the  lowest  points  being  near  the 
level  of  the  Belmore  beach,  840  to  850  feet  above  tide,  and  the  highest 
about  950  feet.  From  Cattaraugus  Creek  northward  past  Lawtou  it 
remains  at  similar  low  altitudes,  but  in  crossing  the  ridge  east  of  North  Col- 
lins it  rises  to  about  1,300  feet.  In  each  of  the  branches  of  Eighteenmile 
Creek  its  altitude  is  not  far  from  1,000  feet,  but  on  the  ridge  between  it  is 
fully  1,300  feet.  Farther  east  it  fluctuates  between  about  1,100  feet  in  the 
valleys  and  1,500  feet  or  more  on  the  ridges,  and  is  fully  1,500  feet  at  its 
junction  with  the  interlobate  tract  in  Sheldon  Township,  Wyoming  County. 

TOPOGKAPHT. 

This  moraine  throughout  its  course  consists  largely  of  small  swells,  10 
to  15  feet  high,  which  are  separated  by  sags  and  winding,  poorly  drained 
depressions.  Occasionally  knolls  25  to  40  feet  or  more  in  height  are  found, 
and  on  the  whole  the  portions  in  valleys  carry  larger  knolls  than  the  por- 
tions on  ridges.  Where  the  moraine  is  narrowed  to  about  a  half-mile  the 
knolls  are  usually  very  closely  aggregated  and  the  expression  is  strong; 
but  where  it  spreads  out  to  a  width  of  more  than  a  mile  the  knolls  become 
more  scattering  and  the  expression  correspondingly  weak.  In  the  portion 
from  South  Wales  eastward,  as  noted  above,  the  knolls  are  very  scattered 
and  it  becomes  difficult  in  places  to  determine  the  limits  of  the  moraine. 

STRUCTOEE    OF    THE    DRIFT. 

In  the  portion  of  the  moraine  west  of  Cattaraugus  Creek,  and  also 
on  the  ridges  farther  east,  the  Growanda  moraine  consists  mainly  of  till. 
Wells  often  pass  from  a  yellow  into  a  blue  till  at  8  or  10  feet.  The  till  is 
clayey  in  the  low  tract  west  from  Cattaraugus  Creek,  but  on  the  high  tracts 


GOWANDA  MORAINE.  675 

it  contains  less  clay  and  is  thickly  set  with  small  fragments  of  the  shaly 
sandstone  of  that  region. 

In  the  valleys  of  Eighteenmile  and  Cazenovia  creeks  there  are  heavy 
deposits  of  silt  and  fine  sand  which  were  apparently  laid  down  in  water. 
These  are  capped  by  a  few  feet  of  stony  material,  some  of  which  is  assorted. 
The  knolls  and  ridges  which  constitute  the  moraine  proper  carry  consid- 
erable gravelly  material. 

In  railway  cuttings  north  of  Growanda  beds  of  gravel  are  exposed 
beneath  the  till,  the  till  being  in  places  only  6  to  8  feet  thick.  The  gravel 
shows  discordant  stratification,  some  beds  being  horizontal  and  others 
having  a  sharp  inclination.  The  gravel  is  only  a  local  phase,  for  it  passes 
horizontally  into  unmodified  till  within  a  space  of  a  few  rods. 

A  bank  of  till  100  feet  in  height  is  exposed  on  the  west  side  of  Catta- 
raugus Creek  about  a  mile  west  of  Gowanda.  It  is  of  blue  color  and 
clayey,  yet  much  of  it  is  thickly  set  with  stones,  there  being  only  a  small 
part  in  which  pebbleless  clay  appears.  The  coarse  fragments  are  largely 
of  local  shaly  sandstone,  but  limestone  pebbles  are  not  rare,  and  there  are 
not  a  few  Canadian  crystallines.  This  till  was  probably  deposited  while 
the  ice  sheet  stood  farther  soiTth  than  the  Growanda  moraine,  and  may, 
therefore,  not  form  a  part  of  that  moraine.  It  is  capped  by  a  few  feet  of 
gravel  which  was  deposited  as  a  delta  in  connection  with  the  Belmore 
beach,  its  altitude  being  about  the  same  as  that  of  the  beach. 

The  Growanda  moraine  carries  a  remarkably  large  number  of  surface 
bowlders.  These  serve  to  indicate  its  limits  in  places  where  the  topographic 
expression  is  weak.  They  are  largely  granitic  rocks,  though  many  other 
Canadian  crystallines  are  represented.  The  bowlders  do  not  seem  to  be  so 
numerous  beneath  the  surface;  at  least  there  are  but  few  exposed  in  the 
banks  or  bluff's  of  the  streams  and  they  are  seldom  struck  in  the  excavation 
of  wells. 

OUTER   BORDER    DRAINAGE. 

The  position  of  the  ice  margin  at  the  time  this  moraine  was  forming 
was  very  unfavorable  for  such  a  southward  discharge  of  glacial  waters  as 
took  place  in  connection  with  the  deposition  of  earlier  moraines.  South- 
ward discharge  could  have  been  accomplished  only  by  a  ponding  of  waters 
south  of  the  ice  margin  to  sufficient  height  to  raise  the  water  surface  to  the 
level  of  the  passes  across  the  divide.     This  would  demand  lakes  about  400 


676         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

feet  deep  in  much  of  the  portion  west  of  Cattaraugus  Creek,  while  in  the 
portion  east  a  depth  of  200  feet  or  more  would  be  required  simply  to 
carry  the  water  southward  to  the  creek.  The  conditions  were  far  more 
favorable  for  westward  discharge  from  Cattaraugus  Creek  along  the  face  of 
the  escarpment  than  across  these  passes,  and  there  is  not  wanting  evidence 
of  such  a  discharge.  As  to  the  drainage  of  the  region  that  lies  north  of 
Cattaraugus  Creek  less  has  been  determined.  It  is  not  known  whether  the 
waters  were  ponded  sufficiently  to  throw  the  drainage  into  Cattaraugus 
Creek  or  had  lower  lines  of  discharge  along  or  beneath  the  ice  margin. 

Strong  indications  of  a  westward  discharge  from  the  western  part  of 
the  moraine  are  found  on  the  slope  of  the  northward  projecting  part  of  the 
escarpment  east  of  Forestville.  A  well-defined  channel  or  scourway  leads 
across  from  Silver  Creek  to  Walnut  Creek,  and  is  utilized  by  the  Erie 
Railway  for  a  couple  of  miles  about  midway  between  Smith  ^lills  and 
Forestville,  as  indicated  in  PL  XIX.  It  stands  between  the  920-  and  940- 
foot  contours,  and  is  therefore  80  feet  or  more  above  the  level  of  the  Belmore 
beach.  It  harmonizes  well,  however,  with  a  delta  on  Walnut  Creek  at  the 
village  of  Forestville,  which  stands  between  900  and  920  feet.  There  are 
some  indications  of  stream  action  along  the  base  of  the  escarpment  for  3  or 
4  miles  west  of  Walnut  Creek,  which  seem  referable  to  glacial  di-ainage, 
while  the  ice  margin  occupied  the  district  immediately  north  of  the  escarp- 
ment. The  level  of  Lake  Whittlesey  was  probably  reached  within  a  few 
miles  west  of  Walnut  Creek.  These  channels  are  now  (season  of  1900) 
under  investigation  by  Fairchild. 

Between  Smith  Mills  and  Cattaraugus  Creek  the  vsa-iter  noted  short 
sections  of  an  east-west  channel  and  also  shelves  or  ten-aces  leading  across 
divides  between  streams  that  now  discharge  northward;  but  the  full 
relations  of  these  channels  and  terraces  to  the  glacial  drainage  were  not 
determined. 

The  writer  also  noted  what  appears  to  have  been  a  line  of  glacial 
drainage  across  the  projecting  part  of  the  escarpment  near  Smith  Mills  at  a 
still  higher  level  than  the  channel  above  noted,  there  being  a  conspicuous 
terrace  at  and  west  of  the  railway  station  at  about  1,000  feet.  This  terrace 
may  be  mainly  a  rock  shelf  whose  origin  is  independent  of  the  glacial 
drainage,  but  its  smoothness  suggests  the  action  of  a  current  It  contrasts 
strikingly  with  the  in-egular  surface  of  the  slope  above  this  level. 


HAMBURG  MORAINE,  677 

INNER   BOEDER    PHENOMENA. 

From  the  western  terminus  eastward  to  Cattaraugus  Creek  this  moraine 
is  followed  closely  by  the  Belmore  beach,  but  farther  east  the  beach  bears 
away  from  the  moraine,  its  course  being  through  the  low  country,  while  the 
moraine  rises  to  somewhat  elevated  country.  The  Hamburg  moraine, 
which  leads  eastward  from  the  village  of  Hamburg,  lies,  throughout  its 
course,  only  a  few  miles  north  of  the  Gowanda,  but  is  entirely  distinct  from 
it.  Between  the  two  moraines  there  is  a  strip  in  which  the  drift  shows  but 
little  aggregation  in  knolls  and  is  on  the  whole  a  thinner  deposit  than  on 
either  moraine.  The  most  conspicuous  development  of  morainic  topography 
is  near  the  mouth  of  Cattaraugus  Creek,  as  indicated  above.  On  some  of 
the  high  ridges  the  drift  is  so  thin  that  shallow  ditches  reach  the  rock,  which 
in  places  is  touched  by  the  plow.  In  the  valleys  the  drift  is  very  thick, 
there  being  nearly  as  much  as  on  the  bordering  moraines.  Bowlders  are 
much  less  conspicuous  on  this  tract  than  on  the  Gowanda  moraine,  but 
otherwise  the  drift  is  not  strikingly  different  in  the  two  situations. 

The  beaches  and  attendant  lake  features  are  discussed  farther  on. 
We  therefore  pass  directly  to  the  Hamburg  moraine. 

HAMBURG  MORAINE. 
DISTRIBUTION. 

The  Hamburg  moraine  has  not  been  recognized  west  of  the  village  of 
Hamburg,  N.  Y.,  which  is  situated  10  miles  south  of  the  city  of  Buffalo. 
It  seems  probable,  however,  that  the  ice  margin  extended  westward  from 
Hamburg  along  the  north  side  of  Eighteenmile  Creek  to  Lake  Erie.  Pos- 
sibly the  somewhat  indirect  westward  course  of  the  creek  will  prove  to  be 
due  to  the  presence,  along  its  north  side,  of  a  water-laid  morainic  ridge 
so  broad  and  low  as  to  be  scarcely  perceptible  and  yet  of  sufficient  relief 
to  prevent  the  stream  from  taking  the  more  direct  course  northwestward 
into  Lake  Erie. 

At  Hamburg  a  distinct  till  ridge  appears  near  the  level  of  the  upper 
beach  of  the  Lake  Warren  series  and  leads  northeastward  to  Orchard  Park, 
where  it  is  crossed  by  the  Belmore  beach.  From  Orchard  Park  the  course 
is  eastward  across  Cazenovia  Creek  to  the  north  edge  of  East  Aurora,  and 
thence  to  Buffalo  Creek,  the  outer  border  in  Buffalo  Creek  Valley  being  at 
Porterville,  and  the  inner  border  near  East  Elma.     In  the  15  miles  from 


678         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

HamDtirg  to  Bixffalo  Creek  the  moraine  increases  from  less  than  a  mile  to 
fully  3  miles  in  width.  East  from  Buffalo  Creek  it  becomes  still  wider, 
and  in  eastern  Marilla  Township  has  two  somewhat  distinct  members,  one 
of  which  passes  south  of  Williston,  and  the  other  north.  The  Hamburg- 
moraine  connects  with  the  interlobate  moraine  of  the  Lake  Escarpment 
system  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Wyoming  County.  Its  length  from 
Hamburg  to  the  interlobate  moraine  is  scarcely  25  miles,  and  if  extended 
westward  to  Lake  Erie  it  would  not  much  exceed  30  miles. 

RANGE    IN    ALTITUDE. 

The  crest  of  the  moraine  at  Hamburg  stands  825  feet  above  tide.  It 
rises  to  about  875  feet  at  Orchard  Park,  and  to  fully  1,000  feet  between 
Orchard  Park  and  Cazenovia  Creek.  Between  Cazenovia  and  Buffalo 
creeks  its  outer  border  stands  925  to  950  feet  above  tide,  but  the  highest 
points  in  the  midst  of  the  moraine  are  probably  above  1,000  feet.  From 
Buffalo  Creek  eastward  the  iiuier  border  lises  from  about  950  feet  to  nearly 
1,000  feet,  and  the  northern,  or  inner,  member  has  a  crest  reaching  1,000 
feet  near  the  meridian  of  Williston,  and  becoming  still  higher  at  its  junction 
with  the  interlobate  moraine.  The  inner  member  reaches  about  1,100  feet 
on  the  meridian  of  Williston,  and  perhaps  1,200  feet  at  its  junction  with 
the  interlobate  moraine. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

The  greater  part  of  the  moraine  consists  of  sharp  knolls  20  to  50  feet 
in  height,  which,  together  with  inclosed  basins  and  winding  sloughs,  give 
it  very  strong  expression.  The  most  inconspicuous  part  is  the  crest  and 
outer  slope  of  the  western  portion,  from  near  Orchard  Park  to  Hamburg, 
where  only  gentle  swells  5  to  10  feet  in  height  occur.  The  sharp  knolls 
are  usually  closely  aggregated,  but  in  Marilla  Township  the  outer  member 
consists  of  scattered  knolls  of  considerable  prominence,  among  which  are 
nearly  plane  tracts  which  occupy  more  ground  than  the  knolls.  The  inner 
member,  as  far  west  as  Marilla,  has  closely  aggregated  sharp  knolls.  But 
from  Marilla  to  East  Elma  there  is  a  pitted  gravel  plain  with  basins  10  to 
20  feet  or  more  in  depth,  which  often  cover  several  acres  each.  The  width 
of  this  strip  is  a  mile  or  more,  and  its  length  about  3  miles.  It  stands  very 
near  the  level  of  the  Belmore  beach,  and  was  apparently  formed  in  the 
water. 


HAMBURG  MORAINE.  679 

On  the  inner  slope  of  the  moraine  near  Orchard  Park  the  lake  waves 
connected  with  the  Belmore  beach  have  formed  a  marked  terrace  from 
which  the  knolls  have  been  cut  away  and  the  depressions  filled,  but  west- 
ward from  Orchard  Park  down  the  slope  toward  the  upper  beach  of  the 
Lake  Warren  series,  the  knolls  and  basins  seem  to  have  been  modified  but 
little  by  lake  waves.  The  moraine  appears  to  have  extended  but  little 
north  of  the  beach,  though  a  few  drift  knolls  were  observed  a  mile  or  so 
north  of  it  along  the  valley  of  Rush  Creek.  A  small  part  of  the  moraine, 
about  2  miles  southwest  of  Orchard  Park,  stands  as  an  island  above  the 
level  of  the  Belmore  beach.  It  covers  only  about  40  acres,  and  the  road 
from  Abbotts  Corners  to  EUicott  passes  directly  over  it.  Wave  action  is 
very  clear  on  its  north  and  west  face,  but  the  south  and  east  are  scarcely 
at  all  wave-cut.  These  and  other  features  attending  the  lake  occupancy 
are  more  fully  discussed  in  connection  with  the  beaches. 

STRUCTURE    OF   THE    DRIFT. 

This  moraine  contains  a  remarkably  large  amount  of  gravelly  material 
along  much  of  its  course.  There  is,  however,  from  Hamburg  nearly  to 
Orchard  Park,  a  ridge  of  compact  clayey  till  forming  the  crest  of  the 
moraine.  There  is  also  much  compact  till  on  the  high  parts  of  the  moraine 
between  Cazenovia  and  Buffalo  creeks.  Gravelly  knolls  abound  on  the 
inner  slope  from  near  Hamburg  to  Orchard  Park  immediately  north  of  the 
till  ridge  just  mentioned,  while  from  Orchard  Park  to  Cazenovia  Creek 
the  crest,  as  well  as  slopes,  is  largely  a  gravelly  material.  There  is  an 
abandoned  valley,  probably  of  preglacial  age,  leading  from  Cazenovia 
Creek  at  East  Aurora  to  Buffalo  Creek  at  East  Elma,  and  this  is  filled  with 
sharp  gravelly  knolls  and  ridges,  which  are  markedly  in  contrast  with  the 
gentle  till  swells  on  the  higher  part  of  the  moraine  north  of  this  old  valley. 
From  Buffalo  Creek  eastward  nearly  all  the  knolls  appear  to  contain  gravel, 
while  the  low  or  gently  undulating  tracts  among  them  carry  a  rather 
stony  till. 

OUTER    BORDER    DRAINAGE. 

The  line  of  escape  for  glacial  waters  at  the  time  this  moraine  was 
forming  was  evidently  westward  into  the  glacial  lake  which  was  bordered 
by  the  Belmore  beach  (Lake  Whittlesey).  There  is  a  well-defined  channel 
leading  from  the  head  of   Little    Buffalo  Creek,  in  southeastern  Marilla 


680  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Township,  in  a  course  south  of  west  along  the  outer  border  of  the  Hamburg 
moraine  to  Buffalo  Creek,  just  below  Wales  Center.  Its  altitude  is  fully 
100  feet  above  the  present  bed  of  Buffalo  Creek  at  Wales  Center,  or  not  far 
from  1,000  feet  above  tide.  Upon  reaching  Buffalo  Creek,  the  stream  seems 
to  have  passed  down  the  valley  about  two  miles,  or  nearly  to  Portersville, 
and  then  turned  westward  along-  the  face  of  the  iipland  that  separates 
Buffalo  Creek  from  the  abandoned  valley  leading  in  from  East  Aurora.  It 
soon  entered  that  abandoned  valley  and  followed  it  in  a  course  south  of 
west  through  East  Aurora  to  Cazenovia  Creek.  Its  altitude  near  the  railway 
station  in  East  Aurora  is  about  the  same  as  the  station — 925  feet.  Its 
precise  course  for  2  or  3  miles  west  from  Cazenovia  Creek  has  not  been 
determined,  but  it  seems  to  have  kept  along  the  creek  far  enough  to  pass 
the  elevated  upland  west  of  East  Aurora,  and  to  have  then  taken  a  south- 
westward  course  along  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine.  Evidence  that  it 
took  this  course  is  found  in  a  channel,  now  abandoned,  whose  south  bluflf  is 
well  defined,  being  cut  into  the  face  of  the  escarpment  south  of  the  moraine, 
but  whose  north  border  is  vague.  The  east-west  road  leading  from  East 
Aurora  to  Deuels  Corners  descends  into  this  channel  about  2  miles  east 
of  Deuels  Corners  and  keeps  in  it  for  about  a  mile  toward  the  corners,  when 
low  shale  hills  set  in.  The  channel  passes  between  these  hills  and  the 
higher  land  to  the  south,  and  has  for  a  short  distance  a  well-defined  bluff  on 
each  side.  West  of  the  shale  hills  it  enters  the  old  lake  at  an  altitude 
about  875  feet  above  tide,  thus  making  a  fall  of  50  feet  in  the  6  or  7  miles 
west  from  East  Aurora.  The  actual  fall  of  the  stream  was,  however,  some- 
what less,  for  northeastward  differential  uplift,  as  shown  in  the  neighboring 
beaches,  has  materially  affected  that  region. 

The  channel  just  described  is  but  one-fourth  to  one-half  mile  wide,  and 
its  bluffs  seldom  exceed  30  feet  in  height.  It  seems  rather  small  to  have 
carried  the  full  drainage  from  the  melting  ice  sheet,  and  suggests  the  inter- 
pretation that  part  of  the  water  may  have  woi'ked  westward  into  the  lake 
beneath  the  edge  of  the  ice  sheet. 

Between  the  two  members  of  the  moraine  in  eastern  Marilla  Township 
there  is  a  small  channel  which  leads  westward  past  Williston  to  the  pitted 
gravel  plain  south  of  Marilla.  This  was  apparentl}'  formed  by  a  glacial 
stream,  for  it  is  out  of  harmony  witli  the  present  drainage  and  is  largely  an 
abandoned  channel. 


MARILLA  MORAINE.  681 

There  is  still  another  channel  which  seems  to  have  been  formed  just 
before  the  ice  sheet  withdrew  from  this  moraine.  It  lies  on  the  north  slope 
of  the  inner  member,  but  is  limited  on  the  north  by  a  chain  of  di-ift  knolls 
that  separates  it  from  a  lower  channel.  Each  of  the  channels  passes  across 
from  Cayuga  Creek  to  Little  Buffalo  Creek.  The  one  under  discussion 
seems  to  be  in  harmony  with  the  Belmore  beach  and  apparently  connected 
with  Lake  Whittlesey  at  Marilla.  The  lower  channel  to  the  north  seems 
to  be  connected  with  the  upper  beach  of  the  Lake  Warren  series  and  is 
therefore  of  later  date  than  this  moraine. 

MARILLA    MORAINE. 
DISTRIBUTION. 

The  Marilla  moraine  appears  to  set  in  on  the  east  side  of  Little  Buffalo 
Creek  immediately  north  of  the  village  of  Marilla  in  eastern  Erie  County, 
N.  Y.  If  it  continues  farther  west,  it  is  either  too  faint  to  be  easily  recog- 
nized or  is  combined  with  the  Hamburg  moraine.  From  Marilla  eastward 
into  Genesee  County  it  is  a  well-defined  ridge  separated  by  only  a  naiTOw, 
valley-like  lowland  from  the  Hamburg  moraine.  Its  outer  border  passes 
just  north  of  the  corners  of  Wyoming,  Grenesee,  and  Erie  counties,  while  its 
inner  border  passes  from  Erie  into  Genesee  County  immediately  east  of  the 
village  of  Alden. 

The  Marilla  moraine  does  not,  like  the  Hamburg,  connect  with  the 
interlobate  moraine  of  the  Lake  Escarpment  system,  but  passes  the  north 
end  of  the  interlobate  spur  and  continues  eastward  to  Tonawanda  Creek 
Valley  south  of  Batavia,  near  which  it  passes  beneath  or  becomes  combined 
with  the  Batavia  moraine.  For  several  miles  before  reaching  Tonawanda 
Creek  it  is  combined  with  the  Alden  moraine,  which  farther  west  lies  1  to  3 
miles  north  of  it. 

The  moraine  is  generally  between  1  and  2  miles  wide.  Its  course 
throughout  is  from  south  of  west  to  north  of  east  and  is  remarkably  direct. 

RANGE   IN    ALTITUDE. 

This  moraine  shows  remarkably  little  range  in  altitude  compared  with 
moraines  to  the  south.  Its  altitude  near  Marilla  is  about  900  feet  on  the 
crest  and  875  feet  on  the  inner  border;  at  the  line  of  Erie  and  Genesee 
counties  the  crest  is  about  1,000  feet;  from  this  county  line  eastward  to 


682  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Tonawauda  Creek  the  crest  generally  stands  between  950  and  1,000  feet, 
while  the  inner  border  in  places  extends  down  to  less  than  900  feet. 

TOPOORAPHY. 

Along-  this  moraine  there  is  g-enerally  a  definite  ridging  in  line  with  the 
trend  of  the  moraine.  In  places  two  or  more  parallel  ridges  appear  in  close 
succession,  but  quite  as  often  there  is  a  single  main  ridge,  on  the  inner  slope 
of  which  there  may  be  subordinate  ridges.  The  relief  of  the  ridges  seldom 
exceeds  40  feet,  and  is  generally  30  feet  or  less. 

The  undulations  range  from  low,  gentle  swells  to  rather  sharp  knolls 
West  from  the  Erie-Genesee  county  line  the  crest  is  in  places  nearly  free 
from  swells,  and  there  ai-e  very  few  sharp  knolls;  but  in  Genesee  County 
the  surface  is  generally  sharply  undulating,  with  knolls  15  to  30  feet  in 
height,  which  cover  but  a  few  acres  each.  The  knolls  are  also  more  closely 
associated  in  Genesee  than  in  Erie  County.  There  are  only  a  few  Avell- 
defined  basins,  but  winding  sloughs  are  common  among  the  knolls. 

There  is  a  small  esker  situated  in  this  moraine  in  the  northeast  part  of 
Darien  Township,  Genesee  County.  It  is  less  than  a  half  mile  long  and 
only  50  to  75  feet  wide,  yet  it  rises  generally  to  a  height  of  fully  15  feet. 
The  trend  is  nearly  north  to  south,  though  the  esker  is  slightly  winding. 
It  terminates  at  the  south  in  a  small  gravel  delta,  which  stands  about  as  high 
as  the  crest  of  the  ridge.  This  delta  rises  abruptly  above  low  ground  on 
the  east,  but  is  continued  toward  the  west  in  a  gravel  plain  which  is  at 
nearly  the  same  level  as  the  delta,  and  which  is  probably  an  outwash 
from  the  portion  of  the  ice  sheet  immediately  west  of  the  esker,  it  being 
on  the  south  border  of  the  moraine. 

STRUCTURE    OF    THE    DRIFT. 

The  Marilla  moraine  carries  much  less  gravel  than  the  Hamburg,  there 
being  only  an  occasional  knoll  in  which  gravel  is  known  to  occur.  The 
surface  of  the  moraine,  both  on  knolls  and  in  depressions,  is  a  rather  clayey 
till,  liberally  strewn  with  bowlders.  Large  limestone  slabs,  gathered  from 
the  formations  which  outcrop  between  this  moraine  and  Lake  Ontario,  are 
conspicuous  both  on  the  surface  and  in  the  midst  of  the  till.  Such  slabs 
are  rare  on  moraines  outside  of  this  one,  but  are  common  on  those  which 
lie  between  it  and  the  lake. 


MARILLA  MORAINE.  683 

KELATION   TO   LAKE    WHITTLESEY, 

This  moraine  seems  to  have  been  formed  nearly  at  the  time  when  the 
lake  level  dropped  from  the  Belmore  beach  to  the  Forest,  and  marks, 
therefore,  the  closing-  part  of  the  existence  of  Lake  Whittlesey.  Taylor  and 
the  writer,  after  tracing  the  Belmore  beach  to  Marilla,  searched  in  vain  for 
its  continuation  on  the  north  slope  of  the  Marilla  moraine.  That  slope 
appears  not  to  be  modified  by  lake  waves  at  the  level  of  the  Belmore  beach. 
This  matter  is  considered  more  fully  in  connection  with  the  discussion  of 
the  Belmore  beach. 

OUTER   BORDER   DRAINAGE. 

Along  the  south  border  of  the  western  portion  of  the  moraine,  from 
southwestern  Darien  Township,  in  Genesee  County,  to  the  end  of  the 
moraine,  near  Manila,  there  is  an  open  valle}^  occupied  in  part  by  an 
eastern  tributary  of  Cayug-a  Creek,  in  part  by  Little  Buffalo  Creek,  and 
in  part  abandoned.  It  shows  a  perceptible  westward  descent,  and  was 
evidently  utilized  by  the  glacial  waters  in  their  escape  to  the  lake,  if  it  was 
not  opened  by  them.  The  width  ranges  from  about  one-fourth  mile  up  to 
over  one-half  mile.  The  banks  are  usually  low,  being  seldom  more  than 
30  feet  in  height.  At  Marilla  it  is  a  few  feet  lower  than  the  Belmore 
beach,  and  tlie  valley  continues  descending  westward  till  it  reaches  the  level 
of  the  Forest  beach,  where  an  extensive  delta  is  found  that  covers  the 
interval  between  Little  Buffalo  and  Buffalo  creeks.  It  seems  evident  that 
by  the  time  this  channel  was  fully  opened  the  lake  level  had  dropped  to  the 
Forest  beach  and  Lake  Warren  had  succeeded  Lake  Whittlesey  in  the 
Erie  Basin. 

From  the  head  of  the  eastern  tributary  of  Cayuga  Creek,  just  referred 
to,  eastward  to  Tonawanda  Creek  the  line  or  lines  of  escape  for  glacial 
waters  have  not  been  clearly  worked  out.  There  are  scourways  among 
the  glacial  ridges  and  knolls  in  northern  Darien  Township  which  appear  to 
mark  lines  of  discharge,  and  which  may,  by  detailed  study,  be  found  to 
form  a  connected  system.  These  may,  however,  have  been  opened  at  the 
time  the  ice  sheet  was  forming  the  Alden  moraine,  which,  as  above  noted, 
is  combined  with  the  Hamburg  from  Darien  Township  eastward.  This 
being  the  case,  they  do  not  throw  light  on  the  earlier  part  of  the  drainage. 
From  eastern  Darien  Township  eastward  to  Tonawanda  Creek  there  is  a 
sag  or  valley  along  the  outer  border  of  the  moraine,  which  received  some 


684  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

outwash,  but  whicli  unaj  not  have  been  excavated  by  g-lacial  waters.  The 
esker  delta  noted  above  lies  in  this  sag,  and  its  form  seems  to  indicate  that 
it  was  built  up  in  a  body  of  still  water  or  in  a  stream  with  very  sluggish 
current  The  gravelly  outwash  to  the  west  of  the  esker  delta  and  the  delta 
itself  indicate  that  currents  of  considerable  strength  were  issuing  from  the 
ice  sheet;  but  these  were,  perhaps,  forced  out  by  hydi-ostatic  pressure  into 
a  body  of  water  which  had  but  little  current. 

ALDEN    MORAINE. 
DISTRIBUTION. 

The  Alden  moraine  has  been  recognized  no  farther  west  than  Alden 
Center,  in  eastern  Erie  County,  N.  Y.  It  appears  as  a  well-defined  ridge 
immediately  east  of  Alden  Center  on  the  east  bluff  of  Ellicott  Creek  and 
just  back  of  the  lower  or  Forest-Crittenden  beach  of  Lake  Warren.  It 
takes  a  course  north  of  east  into  Genesee  County,  and,  as  above  noted, 
becomes  united  with  the  Marilla  moraine  about  3  miles  east  of  the  county 
line.  Its  inner  border  at  the  west  end  is  south  of  the  Lackawanna  Railroad, 
biTt  the  moraine  soon  crosses  to  the  north  side  of  that  railroad  and  lies  near 
the  Lehigh  Valley  and  New  York  Central  railroads.  For  2  or  3  miles  in 
northern  Darien  and  southern  Pembroke  townships,  Genesee  County,  it 
extends  slightly  beyond  (north  of)  the  New  York  Central  Railroad,  but 
with  this  exception  it  lies  south  of  that  railroad  to  the  valley  of  Tonawanda 
Creek  in  Bata^^a.  The  Batavia  moraine  there  comes  in  from  the  northwest 
and  overrides  or  combines  with  the  Alden  moraine,  and  it  has  not  been 
recognized  between  Bata^da  and  the  eastern  limits  of  our  district,  the  Genesee 
River. 

RANGE    IN    ALTITUDE. 

This  moraine,  like  the  Marilla,  presents  but  little  range  in  altitude ;  the 
western  end,  near  Alden  Center,  stands  about  850  feet  above  tide,  and  there 
are  but  few  points  between  that  place  and  Batavia  that  rise  above  950  feet. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

The  greater  part  of  this  moraine  is  very  similar  in  contour  to  the 
Marilla  moraine,  there  being  generally  a  definite  ridging  from  east  to  west 
in  line  with  the  moraine.  The  ridges  are  not  continuous  for  long  distances, 
so  that  drainage  lines  find  frequent  gaps  tln-ough  which  to  pass  northward. 


ALDEN  MORAINE.  685 

The  knolls  that  are  associated  with  the  ridges  are  often  quite  sharp,  but 
are  only  10  to  30  feet  in  height. 

At  the  western  end  of  the  moraine  there  are  numerous  small  basins 
bordered  by  gently  undulating  gravelly  tracts.  The  appearance  is  some- 
what similar  to  that  of  the  pitted  gravel  plains  found  as  an  outwash  from 
the  ice  sheet.  The  outwash  seems  to  have  been  directly  into  lake  water, 
for  the  pitted  plain  stands  at  about  the  level  of  the  beach  of  Lake  WaiTen. 

STRUCTUKE    OF   THE    DRIFT. 

In  structure  the  Alden  moraine  is  similar  to  the  Marilla,  the  greater 
part  of  the  drift  being  a  clayey  till.  Limestone  pebbles  and  also  large 
blocks  are  conspicuous  ingredients  of  the  till,  and  surface  bowlders  are 
numerous. 

OUTER   BORDER    DRAINAGE. 

It  is  probable  that  the  glacial  drainage  from  the  vicinity  of  Tonawanda 
Creek  to  the  western  terminus  of  the  moraine  was  westward.  For  a  few 
miles  it  was  through  naiTOw  channels  among  the  knolls  and  ridges  of  the 
Marilla  moraine;  but  from  near  Fargo,  in  Darien  Township,  Grenesee  County, 
westward  to  Alden  Center,  there  is  a  plain  1  to  2  miles  in  width  which  stands 
near  the  level  of  Lake  Warren,  and  which  probably  carried  a  shallow  bay 
into  which  the  glacial  waters  discharged. 

RELATION   TO    LAKE   WARREN. 

To  the  north  and  east  from  this  moraine  there  seems  to  be  but  a  single 
beach  of  Lake  Warren,  the  Lower  Forest  or  Crittenden,  while  to  the  south 
and  west  there  is  a  more  complex  system.  The  moraine  seems  therefore  to 
correlate  with  a  somewhat  lengthy  part  of  the  Lake  Warren  history.  This 
matter  is  considered  more  fully  in  the  discussion  of  the  beaches  of  Lake 
Warren. 

PEMBROKE  RIDGES. 
DISTRIBUTION. 

Under  this  name  is  discussed  a  complex  system  of  sharp  gravelly  knolls 
and  ridges  which  leads  eastward  from  the  west  part  of  Pembroke  Township, 
in  western  Genesee  County,  to  the  Batavia  moraine  in  western  Batavia 
Townsliip,  a  distance  of  about  10  miles.  They  are  in  part  shown  on  PI.  III. 
There  are  usually  two,  and  in  places  three,  ranges  of  knolls,  each  trending 


686  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

from  south  of  west  to  nortli  of  east.  The  southern  range  lies  only  1  to  2 
miles  north  of  the  inner  border  of  the  Alden  moraine.  The  second  range 
lies  1  to  2  miles  farther  north.  The  second  range  crosses  to  the  north  side 
of  Tonawanda  Creek  near  East  Pembroke,  while  the  south  range  lies  south 
cif  the  creek  all  the  wa}'  to  the  Batavia  moraine.  There  is  a  short  range  of 
knolls  south  of  Indian  Falls,  which  is  fully  2  miles  north  of  the  second 
rang'e.  A  range  west  of  East  Pembroke  is  also  somewhat  distinct  from  the 
second  range,  and  trends  from  southwest  to  northeast. 

These  ranges  of  knolls  may  find  westward  continuation  toward  Buffalo 
along  the  Corniferous  escarpment,  there  being  a  few  drift  knolls  and  short 
ridges  scattered  along  the  base  of  the  escarpment  from  Akron  westward, 
and  a  few  knolls  on  the  escarpment  between  Akron  and  Crittenden.  These 
knolls  along  the  base  of  the  escarpment  may,  however,  be  incident  to  the 
retarding  influence  of  the  escarpment  upon  the  ice  movement,  in  which  case 
they  may  indicate  nothing  as  to  the  position  of  the  ice  margin. 

RANGE    IN    ALTITUDE. 

The  highest  point  in  this  system  of  knolls  is  in  a  gravel  ridge  on  the 
north  side  of  Tonawanda  Creek,  about  2  miles  northeast  of  East  Pembroke, 
which  bears  some  resemblance  to  an  esker.  This  ridge,  as  shown  by  the 
Medina  topographic  sheet,  rises  above  the  l,UOO-foot  contour.  It  is  75  to 
100  feet  higher  than  the  majority  of  the  knolls  in  that  vicinity,  and  stands 
130  feet  above  low  ground  within  one-fourth  of  a  mile  to  the  east,  north,  or 
west.  The  crests  of  the  two  ranges  generally  stand  between  900  and  950 
feet,  while  the  low  ground  on  their  borders  is  about  850  to  875  feet. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

The  south  range  of  knolls  is  in  places  scarcely  one-fourth  of  a  mile  in 
width,  though  the  knolls  rise  30  to  50  feet  above  bordering  plane  tracts. 
There  are  scattering  knolls  along  the  north  border  of  this  range  which  are 
but  10  to  15  feet  high.  The  range  has,  on  the  whole,  greater  continuity  than 
the  one  north  of  it,  but  is  not  so  prominent.  The  north  range  contains 
several  knolls  75  feet  or  more  in  height  and  many  are  40  to  50  feet.  It' is 
so  prominent  that  its  course  may  be  seen  for  several  miles  at  a  stretch. 
Some  of  the  knolls  are  sharp  and  conical;  others  are  elongated,  though 
seldom  to  a  greater  length  than  one-fourth  of  a  mile.  The  large  knolls 
carry  hummocks  on  their  slopes  and  also  send  out  irregular  spurs,  which  add 


PEMBROKE  RIDGES.  687 

to  the  complexity  of  the  range.  The  portion  on  the  north  side  of  Tona- 
wanda  Creek  hes  within  the  limit,s  of  the  Medina  quadrangle  and  occupies 
the  interval  between  the  creek  and  a  marsh}'  tract  nearly  parallel  with  it  a 
mile  or  so  to  the  north  (see  PI.  III).  The  most  prominent  group  of  knolls 
in  this  part  of  the  range  bears  some  resemblance  to  an  esker,  in  that  it 
trends  directly  across  the  range  and  has  a  sharp,  nan-ow  gravel  ridge.  The 
ridge  has  not,  however,  so  smooth  a  crest  and  slopes  as  generally  characterize 
eskers.  The  north  end  rises  abruptly  to  a  height  130  feet  above  the  bor- 
dering marsh,  but  most  of  the  ridge  is  only  76  to  90  feet  above  the  marsh. 
It  is  about  a  mile  in  length  and  is  narrow  and  sharp  throughoiit  its  course. 
The  knolls  around  this  esker-like  ridge  are  generally  but  20  to  30  feet  high, 
being  less  prominent  than  in  the  part  of  the  range  farther  west,  on  the 
south  side  of  Tonawanda  Creek. 

The  range  standing  south  of  Indian  Falls  is  less  than  a  mile  in  length 
and  scarcely  one-fourth  mile  in  width,  but  stands  nearly  50  feet  above 
bordering  tracts  on  the  south  and  east,  and  even  more  above  the  tract  on  the 
north.  From  this  range  southward  to  the  main  range  there  is  a  gently 
undulating  strip  strewn  with  bowlders,  that  separates  the  old  lake  plain  on 
the  west  from  a  shallow  bay  on  the  east  which  occupied  3  or  4  square  miles. 

STEUOTUEE    OF   THE    DEIFT. 

So  far  as  can  be  ascertained  from  the  surface  ditches  and  shallow 
excavations,  these  ranges  of  knolls  are  composed  of  gravelly  and  sandy 
material  with  but  little  clayey  till.  They  are  in  striking  contrast  to  the 
Alden  and  Marilla  moraines,  which,  as  above  noted,  are  composed  largely 
of  clayey  till.  There  are  numerous  surface  bowlders,  but  there  seems  not 
to  be  many  bowlders  incorporated  in  the  di'ift. 

The  cat'ise  for  so  much  water  action  in  connection  with  the  production 
of  this  moraine  is  not  apparent.  It  does  not  seem  due  solely  to  its  having 
been  formed  near  the  level  of  Lake  Warren,  for  in  that  case  we  should 
expect  the  Alden  and  Marilla  moraines  to  show  evidence  of  more  water 
action. 

OXJTEE   BORDEE    DEAINAGE. 

There  is  a  sag  along  the  outer  border  of  the  south  range  extending 
from  its  western  end  at  the  shore  of  Lake  Warren  eastward  nearl}-  to 
Batavia,  which  affords  adequate  room  for  westward  discharge  of  glacial 


688  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

waters.  It  is  now  utilized  for  a  few  miles  by  Murder  Creek.  The  sag 
stands  but  little  above  the  old  lake  level,  and  probably  was  in  part  occupied 
by  a  bay  at  the  level  of  the  lake. 

There  is  also  a  sag  between  the  south  and  north  ranges  which  would 
have  afforded  a  line  of  discharge  for  glacial  waters  issuing  from  the  north 
range.  It  is  now  utilized  from  near  East  Pembroke  westward  by  a  tribu- 
tary of  Murder  Creek,  while  Tonawanda  Creek  utilizes  the  part  east  of  East 
Pembroke. 

BATAVIA   MORAINE. 
DISTRIBUTION. 

The  Batavia  moraine  forms  the  south  member  of  a  rather  complex 
series  of  moraines,  drumlins,  and  eskers,  which  occupy  the  district  imme- 
diately south  of  Lake  Ontario.  The  writer  applied  the  name  Lockport  to 
this  south  member  some  years  ago,^  but  upon  further  consideration  it  seems 
preferable  to  substitute  the  name  Batavia.  The  western  part  is  so  vague 
that  some  uncertainty  is  felt  as  to  its  continuation.  The  Batavia  moraine, 
from  the  Genesee  River  westward  to  the  Tonawanda  swamp  in  north- 
western Genesee  County,  lies  just  south  of  the  drumlin  belt  and  has  a 
general  course  slightly  north  of  west.  From  that  swamp  westward  two 
lines  invite  attention :  one  continues  the  course  north  of  west  to  Lockport, 
passing  to  the  north  side  of  the  few  drumlins  which  appear  in  that  region; 
the  other  leads  south  of  west  along  or  near  the  base  of  the  Corniferous 
escaii^ment,  toward  Buffalo,  keeping  south  of  all  the  drumlins.  The  latter 
course  seems  to  have  in  its  favor  a  relationshiiJ  to  the  drumlins  similar  to 
that  found  farther  east.  It,  however,  differs  in  being  not  even  approxi- 
mately at  a  right  ang'le  with  the  trend  of  the  drumlins,  but  instead  is  nearly 
in  line  with  them.  So  far  as  morainic  features  are  concerned,  there  is  very 
little  to  favor  this  line,  there  being  only  occasional  slight  ridging  and  a 
few  knolls  and  basins;  and  these,  as  already  indicated,  may  be  incident  to 
the  retai'ding  influence  of  the  escarpment  upon  the  ice  movement  rather 
than  marginal  accumulations  of  a  morainic  character. 

While  the  uncertainty  as  to  this  line  is  great,  it  should  perhaps  be  held 
as  a  possible  continuation  of  the  ice  margin,  especially  since  the  line  toward 
Lockport  seems  also  open  to  question.     Turning  to  the  latter  line  we  find 

^Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series,  Vol.  L,  1895,  pp.  13-17. 


BATAVIA  MORAINE.  689 

tliat  there  is  a  definite  belt  of  ridges  and  knolls  leading  from  the  Tona- 
wanda  Swamp  toward  Lockport,  which  seemed  to  the  writer,  while  in  the 
field,  to  be  the  more  jJi'obable  continuation  of  the  Batavia  moraine.  The 
gap  at  the  Tonawanda  Swamp,  which  separates  it  from  that  moraine,  is 
less  than  2  miles  wide,  and  the  ridges  on  ojDposite  sides  of  the  swamp  are 
about  in  line  with  each  t)ther,  as  may  be  seen  by  reference  to  PL  III.  It 
is  found,  however,  that  the  north  or  main  ridge  of  the  belt  west  of  the 
swamp  is  practically  continuous  with  the  Barre  moraine,  which  leads  in 
from  the  east  along  the  north  side  of  the  drumlin  belt.  This  may  not 
oppose  the  interpretation  that  the  belt  constitutes  the  continuation  of  both 
moraines,  but  it  certainly  leaves  it  open  to  question.  The  description  of 
the  Batavia  moraine  will  consequently  be  cai-ried  eastward  only  from 
Tonawanda  Swamp,  the  portion  of  the  morainic  system  to  the  west  being 
described  in  connection  with  the  Barre  moraine. 

The  Batavia  moraine,  as  shown  in  PI.  Ill,  leads  from  the  southeast 
border  of  Tonawanda  Swamp  southeastward  across  Alabama  Township, 
Genesee  County,  passing  south  of  Alabama  Center  and  Smithville  and 
coming  to  the  Corniferous  escarpment  immediately  south  of  the  latter 
village.  On  rising  to  the  brow  of  the  Corniferous  escarpment  it  leads 
toward  Batavia  and  crosses  over  or  becomes  combined  with  the  Pembroke, 
Alden,  and  Marilla  moraines.  From  Batavia  it  continues  south  of  east  as 
far  as  Oatka  or  Aliens  Creek,  which  it  crosses  2  to  4  miles  south  of  Leroy. 
It  then  takes  a  coiu'se  nearly  east  to  the  Genesee  River,  coming  to  that 
stream  immediately  below  (north  of)  the  village  of  Avon.  Its  farther 
course  was  iiot  determined. 

RANGE    IX    ALTITUDE. 

.  The  Tonawanda  Swamp  is  about  620  feet  above  tide.  The  altitude 
increases  gradually  from  the  swamp  to  the  Corniferous  escarpment,  reaching- 
about  780  feet  at  the  base  and  900  feet  at  the  brow  of  the  escarpment  south 
of  Smithville.  The  highest  points  between  Smithville  and  Batavia  are 
about  960  feet,  one  being  at  the  geodetic  station  4  miles  west  of  Batavia, 
and  others  between  that  place  and  the  city.  An  altitude  of  900  to  950  feet 
prevails  for  several  miles  east  from  Batavia.  The  moraine  then  begins  to 
descend  t(3ward  the  Genesee  River,  and  is  below  600  feet  on  the  border  of 
that  stream. 

MON   XLI ii 


690  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 


TOPOGRAPHY. 


On  the  east  border  of  Tonawanda  Swamp  the  morame  rises  into  a  stout 
till  ridge  30  to  50  feet  in  height,  which  has  a  well-defined  crest  and  gently 
undulating  .surface  and  is  a  prominent  feature  for  at  least  4  miles  Its  con- 
tours are  to  some  extent  shown  on  the  topographic  map,  PI.  III. 

Upon  rising'  to  the  Corniferous  escarpment  the  moraine  breaks  up  into 
a  series  of  knolls  and  short  ridges,  rather  sharp  in  contoru',  which  inclose 
basins  and  winding  sloughs.  This  phase  becomes  conspicuous  at  the  place 
where  the  moraine  rises  above  the  level  of  Lake  Warren,  though  a  few 
knolls  and  basins  appear  southwest  of  Oakfield  at  a  considerably  lower 
level.  The  northwest  side  of  this  till  ridge,  just  discussed,  is  fully  200  feet 
below  the  level  of  that  lake,  and  is  a  remarkably  strong  feature  to  have 
been  formed  in  such  a  depth  of  water.  The  contours  of  the  part  of  this 
moraine  which  was  formed  above  the  level  of  Lake  Warren  are  partly 
brought  out  by  the  topographic  maps,  the  course  of  the  moraine  being 
through  the  northeast  part  of  the  Medina  quadrangle  and  the  southwest 
part  of  the  Batavia.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  height  of  the  knolls  and 
ridges  ranges  from  60  feet  down  to  less  than  20  feet.  Many  small  knolls 
less  than  10  feet  in  height  are  not  represented  on  the  maps,  and  this 
detracts  greatly  from  their  expression. 

The  moraine  holds  its  sharp  features  as  far  east  as  the  valley  of  Aliens 
Creek,  near  Leroy,  but  Avithin  a  few  miles  east  from  that  creek  the  sharp 
knolls  change  to  yevj  small  swells  and  the  prominent  knolls  and  ridges 
present  smoother  slopes  than  to  the  west.  The  ridges  ai-e  not  so  long  nor 
so  definite  as  in  the  district  below  the  Corniferous  escarpment,  but  they  are 
fully  as  high.  This  part  of  the  moraine  was  also  formed  in  water,  for  a 
glacial  lake  occupied  the  Genesee  Valley  at  the  time  it  was  forming. 

STRUCTUBE    OF   THE    DRIFT. 

The  portion  of  the  Batavia  moraine  between  the  Corniferous  escarpment 
and  the  Tonawanda  Swamp  contains  a  large  amount  of  compact  till,  but 
the  portion  on  the  escarpment  carries  a  loose  stony  till  and  also  considerable 
gravel  and  sand.  The  gravelly  ingredients  are  more  conspicuous  from 
Batavia  northwest  to  the  brow  of  the  escarpment  than  east  from  that  city. 
The  portion  of  the  moraine  which  sto<id  above  the  level  of  Lake  Warren 
carries  a  large  number  of  surface  bowlders,  but  bowlders  are  not  a  con- 
spicuous feature  on  the  part  formed  below  the  level  of  the  lake. 


DRUMLINS  OF  WESTERN  NEW  YORK.  691 


WESTERN   NEW  YORK  DRUMLIN   BELT. 
DISTRIBUTION. 


The  extent  of  the  drumUn  belt  from  the  G-enesee  River  westward 
to  Niagara  River  is  well  shown  on  the  Rochester,  Brockport,  Albion, 
Medina,  Lockport,  and  Tonawanda  topographic  sheets,  incorporated  in 
PL  III,  the  contours  of  the  oval-shaped  hills  being  a  sufficient  means  for 
identification.  The  drumlins  are  all  situated  in  the  district  between  the 
Corniferous  and  Niagara  escarpments.^  It  will  be  observed  that  in  the 
Rochester  quadrangle  the  drumlin  belt  crosses  to  the  west  side  of  the 
Grenesee  below  Scottsville,  and  nearly  occupies  the  interval  of  7  miles 
between  Aliens  Creek  and  Black  Creek;  on  the  Brockport  quadrangle 
the  south  border  lies  near  Aliens  Creek,  while  the  north  border  is  6 
to  8  miles  farther  north,  being  generally  about  2  miles  north  of  Black 
Creek;  in  the  Albion  quadrangle  it  lies  luainly  in  the  northern  townships 
of  Genesee  County  (Bergen,  Byron,  Elba,  and  Oakfield),  but  extends 
southward  into  Stafford  Township,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  New  York  Cen- 
tral Railroad;  in  the  Medina  sheet  it  is  represented  in  only  a  few  small 
drundins  on  the  south  side  of  Oak  Orchard  Swamp,  in  Oakfield  and 
Alabama  townships.  There  is  an  interval  of  about  15  miles  in  which  no 
drumlins  occur;  but  near  Raymond,  south  of  Lockport,  there  is  a  group 
of  three  drumlins;  and  near  Pendleton  Center,  a  few  miles  farther  west, 
there  is  a  similar  group,  and  still  farther  west,  near  Tonawanda,  an 
occasional  low  drumlinoid  ridge. 

Where  best  developed  the  drumlins  occur  at  intervals  of  one-half  mile 
to  a  mile,  and  there  is  usually  a  nearly  plane  surface  among  them,  but 
where  they  are  poorly  developed  the  di-ift  among  the  drumlins  is  liable  to 
be  aggregated  in  knolls  of  irregular  shape,  often  bearing  no  resemblance 
to  drumlins.  The  drumlins  prevail  to  the  exclusion  of  other  drift  knolls 
only  in  very  limited  areas.  It  will  be  observed  that  they  are  most 
abundant  in  the  northern  and  eastern  parts  of  Elba  Township,  Genesee 
County,  and  thence  eastward  along  the  borders  of  Black  Creek  to  the 
Genesee  River.  In  the  southern  part  of  the  drumlin  belt  there  are  many 
small  drift  knolls  and  ridges  which  do  not  appear  on  the  topographic 
sheets,  but  which  tend  to  give  the  surface  a  morainic  appearance.     The 


1 A  few  drumlins  near  the  mouth  of  Genesee  River  do  not  fall  in  the  belt  under  discussion. 


692  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

drumlins  near  Lockport  and    farther  west  stand  in  a  very  level   region, 
decidedly  in  contrast  to  that  found  in  the  drumlin  belt  to  the  east. 

RANGE    IN    ALTITUDE. 

Although  the  drumlins  of  this  belt  are  all  situated  in  the  district 
between  the  Niagara  and  Corniferous  escarpments,  the  belt  shows  a  range 
of  about  300  feet  in  altitude.  They  appear  at  the  lowest  altitude  near 
the  Genesee  River,  ,525  to  550  feet,  and  at  the  highest  altitude  in  eastern 
Elba  and  northern  Stafford  townships  in  the  Albion  quadrangle,  where 
their  crests,  in  a  few  instances,  rise  above  the  820-foot  contour.  It  should, 
perhaps,  be  explained  that  there  are  other  drumlins  near  the  shore  of  Lake 
Ontario  (some  of  which  appear  in  PI.  Ill)  that  are  not  in  the  belt  mider 
discussion. 

TOPOGRAPHY. 

The  usual  form  assumed  by  the  di'umlins  in  this  region  is  an  elliptical 
smooth-surfaced  knoll,  a  mile  or  less  in  length  and  scarcely  one-fourth  mile 
in  width,  but  in  places  they  are  elongated  to  10  or  12  times  their  width 
and  reach  a  length  of  2  miles  or  more.  They  trend  in  a  general  northeast- 
southwest  direction,  with  variations  of  perhaps  20°  on  either  side  of  a  due 
northeast-to-southwest  line.  The  northeast  end  shows  a  tendency  to  be  more 
abrupt  than  the  southwest,  though  a  large  proportion  of  the  drumlins  are 
very  symmetrical.  Where  the  sides  are  not  symmetrical  the  southeast  is 
usually  the  more  abrupt.  The  height  ranges  from  10  or  15  feet  up  to 
about  100  feet,  but  in  the  majority  it  is  not  far  from  40  feet.  The  most 
prominent  drumlins  are  in  northern  Elba  Township,  the  one  utilized  for 
the  Parker  geodetic  station  being  about  105  feet  above  the  Oak  Orchard 
Swamp,  only  one-fourth  mile  to  the  north.  Two  miles  farther  west  a  knoll 
of  gravelly  constitution  and  less  regular  form  than  the  typical  drumlin 
stands  130  feet  above  the  bordering  swamp. 

The  knolls  and  ridges  which  occur  among  the  drumlins  and  along  the 
south  border  of  the  belt  are  of  various  shapes  and  sizes,  as  may  be  seen  to 
some  extent  in  PL  III.  There  are  with  these  knolls  and  ridges  small, 
nearly  plane  areas  carrying  shallow  basins.  Such  areas  are  usually 
gravelly,  and  present  the  appearance  of  the  pitted  outwash  plains  that 
border  moraines.  These  pitted  plains  occur  at  intervals  along  the  north 
side    of  Aliens    Creek   from   Scottsville  westward    to    the   bend   north  of 


DRUMLINS  OF  WESTERN  NEW  YORK.  693 

Leroy.  They  are  also  conspicuous  in  the  vicinity  of  Oakfield.  In  general 
they  are  near  the  south  border  of  the  drumlin  belt,  and,  together  with  the 
neighboring  drift  knolls  and  ridges  of  moraiuic  type,  they  support  the  ^aew 
that  the  ice  margin  at  one  time  stood  near  a  line  drawn  along  the  southern 
edge  of  the  drumlin  belt.  This  interpretation  is  strengthened  by  the 
fact  that  an  exceptionally  large  number  of  bowlders  occur  throughout  the 
drumlin  belt  from  the  Greuesee  River  westward  to  the  point  where  it  dies 
out  in  western  Genesee  County.  They  abound  among  the  drumlins  as  well 
as  on  them,  and  )n  nearly  plane  tracts  as  well  as  on  knolls. 

STRUCTURE    OF   THE    DRIFT. 

The  drumlins  are  usually  composed  of  a  compact  blue  till,  and  it  is 
rare  to  find  assorted  material  in  them.  Some  of  the  most  prominent  ones, 
however,  are  known  to  contain  gravel.  From  the  numerous  well  sections 
obtained  it  would  appear  that  the  drundins  rarely  if  ever  have  a  rock 
nucleus.  In  many  cases  the  wells  extend  far  below  the  base  of  a  drumUn 
without  entering  rock. 

For  several  miles  west  from  the  Genesee  River  the  drumhns  carry  a 
coating  of  fine  sand,  deposited  apparently  by  lake  water  after  the  withdrawal 
of  the  ice  sheet.  In  some  cases  the  depth  of  the  sand  is  several  feet,  but  it 
is  usually  only  a  few  inches.  The  heaviest  deposits  noted  are  those  lying 
on  the  west  side  of  Genesee  River,  north  of  Scottsville. 

The  knolls  and  much  of  the  plane-surfaced  drift  among  the  drumhns 
contain  a  large  amount  of  gravel  with  the  till.  This  is  especially  the  case 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  belt.  The  presence  of  gravel  is  known  chiefly 
from  well  data,  but  there  are  a  number  of  places  where  gravel  pits  have 
been  opened. 

The  bowlders  are  apparently  more  numerous  on  the  surface  than 
beneath,  at  least  wells  seldom  encormter  them.  They  are  so  abundant  on 
the  surface  as  to  afford  material  for  many  miles  of  wall  fence,  and  are  also 
piled  in  large  heaps  in  the  fields.  The  majority  are  granite  rocks,  but  slabs 
of  hmestone  are  rather  common.  In  size  there  is  considerable  variation 
from  place  to  place,  there  being  in  some  localities  only  small  stones  a  foot 
or  less  in  diameter,  while  in  others  many  large  bowlders  are  present. 
These  variations  are  probably  significant,  but  like  the  variations  in  the 
underlying  drift,  the  significance  is  not  yet  apparent. 


694  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

RELATION    TO    LAKE    WARREN. 

After  forming'  the  Batavia  moraine  the  ice  sheet  apparently  withdrew 
from,  the  Corniferous  escarpment  sufficiently  to  allow  the  waters  of  the 
Genesee  glacial  lake  to  enter  Lake  Warren  and  take  the  level  of  that  lake. 
This  blending  of  the  lakes  in  all  probability  occurred  while  the  drumlins 
and  their  attendant  morainic  phenomena  were  being  produced,  and  the 
connecting  portion  of  the  beach  of  Lake  Warren  would  date  from  this 
time.  Possibly  the  lake  waters  were  barred  out  or  were  of  little  effect  for 
a  considerable  part  of  the  time  that  the  drumlins  were  forming,  for  drumlins 
were  apparently  submarginal  rather  than  terminal  accumulations  of  the 
ice  sheet;  but  the  southern  portion  of  the  belt,  with  its  morainic  knolls 
and  pitted  gravel  plains,  seems  to  have  been  nearly  coincident  with  the  ice 
margin  for  at  least  part  of  the  time. 

It  is  a  matter  of  much  significance  that  these  pitted  gravel  plains 
appear  at  levels  far  below  the  level  of  Lake  Warren  and  in  positions 
where  it  would  seem  probable  that  the  lake  had  free  access  to  the  ice 
margin.  Those  near  Oakfield  are  fully  100  feet  below  the  level  of  the 
neighboring  part  of  the  beach  of  Lake  Warren,  while  those  along  the 
border  of  Aliens  Creek  are  150  to  250  feet  or  more  below  the  beach. 
There  is  a  gravel  plain  just  west  of  Scottsville  on  the  nortli  side  of  Aliens 
Creek  which  stands  between  the  580  and  600  foot  contours,  or  about  275 
feet  below  the  beach  of  Lake  Warren.  This  has  been  extensively  opened 
for  gravel  in  a  direction  favorable  for  showing  the  mode  of  formation,  there 
being  a  pit  about  one-fourth  of  a  mile  long  extending  from  north  to  south 
across  the  gravel  plain.  The  bedding  shows  that  it  was  built  by  a  stream 
moving  southward  away  from  the  ice  sheet  but  up  the  Genesee  Valley. 
The  beds  were  built  out  from  north  to  south  in  the  form  of  a  delta,  the 
topset  and  foreset  beds  being  well  exposed.  The  dip  of  the  foreset  beds 
is  most  abrupt  in  the  middle  part  of  the  pit,  being  25°  to  30°  below  the 
horizontal.  With  the  advance  of  the  delta  southward  the  angle  of  dip 
decreases  to  10°  or  less.  The  material  is  a  sandy  gravel  with  many  stones 
2  or  3  inches  in  diameter.  It  is,  on  the  whole,  finer  and  less  distinctly 
assorted  than  in  the  outvvash  gravels  formed  in  situations  where  the  water 
had  free  escape.  If  Lake  Warren  still  persisted  the  material  contained  in 
this  delta  and  other  gravelly  deposits  along  the  southern  border  of  the 
di-umlin  belt  seems  likely  to  have  been  forced  out  by  hydrostatic  pressure 
from  the  edo'e  of  the  ice  slieet  into  the  bordering  lake. 


BARRE  MORAINE.  695 

Excavations  in  the  pitted  plain  southwest  of  Oakfield,  near  the.  Fertilizer 
Works,  show  till  interbedded  with  gravel  and  sand  in  such  manner  as  to 
suggest  either  a  readvance  of  the  ice  to  form  the  till,  or  the  deposition  of 
the  gravel  beneath  the  ice  margin.  The  form  of  the  pits  or  basins  seems  to 
favor  the  view  that  the  ice  was  present  and  prevented  their  being  filled  with 
gravel.  The  gravel  deposits  of  this  region,  while  presenting  considerable 
similarity  to  the  outwash  found  in  localities  where  there  was  free  discharge 
for  the  glacial  waters  will  probably,  upon  close  inspection,  reveal  through- 
out their  extent  features  which  are  compatible  with  the  obstructed  drainage 
due  to  the  presence  of  the  waters  of  Lake  Wai'ren. 

BARRE  MORAINE  AND   ASSOCIATED   ESKERS. 
DISTEIBUTION. 

The  Barre  moraine  presents  a  nearly  continuous  chain  of  ridges  from 
the  head  of  Oak  Orchard  Swamp,  near  South  Barre,  in  southern  Orleans 
County,  westward  to  Lockport.  Its  crest  passes  through  the  villages  of 
West  Barre,  East  Shelby,  Royalton,  and  McNalls,  in  a  slightly  winding 
course,  as  shown  on  PL  III.  From  its  crest  eskers  and  morainic  spurs 
extend  north  a  mile  or  two,  but  the  main  ridge  is  only  about  one-fourth  of 
a  mile  in  width.  South  from  the  main  ridge  in  western  Orleans  County 
small  ridges  and  knolls  are  scattered  over  the  interval  between  the  ridge 
and  Oak  Orchard  Swamp.  Knolls  and  ridges  also  lie  south  of  the  main 
ridge  in  Niagara  County  out  to  a  distance  of  about  2  miles.  Those  in 
Niagara  County,  as  above  indicated,  may  belong  to  the  Batavia  moraine. 
The  continuation  from  Lockport  seems  to  be  in  a  northward  course  toward 
Wilson,  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  there  being  an  exceptionall}'  large 
number  of  bowlders  in  that  direction.  No  sharj^ly  outlined  ridges  or  other 
morainic  features  were  noted,  but  as  the  drift  here  was  laid  down  in  a  great 
depth  of  lake  water  such  ridges  could  hardly  be  expected. 

From  South  Barre  eastward  the  coru-se  of  the  Barre  moraine  is  rather 
indefinite.  There  is,  however,  a  prominent  group  of  knolls  in  the  "New 
Guinea  Settlement"  at  the  head  of  Oak  Orchard  Swamp,  in  southwestern 
Clarendon  Township,  which  constitutes  a  natural  line  of  continuation.  From 
this  group  the  course  seems  to  be  south  of  east  into  northeastern  Genesee 
County,  there  being  more  drift  knolls  in  that  direction  than  to  the  east  or 
northeast.  Its  continuation  in  Monroe  County  seems  to  be  in  knolls  near 
the  line   of  Ogden  arid  Riga  townships   and  in  the  north  part  of  Chili 


696  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Towuship.  This  belt  of  knolls  is  situated  immediately  north  of  the  nortii 
border  of  the  drmnlin  belt  from  near  the  "New  Guinea  Settlement"  east- 
ward to  the  Genesee  River,  and  presents  a  striking-lj  different  topography, 
as  may  be  seen  by  the  topographic  sheets  and  to  some  extent  in  PI  III. 
The  number  of  knolls  is  greater  than  in  the  district  to  the  north,  though  the 
latter  is  by  no  means  free  from  them. 

RANGE    IN    ALTITUDE. 

The  principal  variation  in  altitude  is  made  in  rising  from  the  plain 
north  of  the  Niagara  escarpment  up  to  the  brow,  the  altitude  near  the  base 
being  only  400  feet  and  on  the  brow  about  630  feet.  The  level  of  the  base 
of  the  ch-ift  ridges  and  knolls  from  the  escarpment  eastward  to  Oak  Orchard 
Creek  falls  between  620  and  650  feet,  while  the  crests  of  the  ridges  range 
from  about  630  feet  up  to  700  feet,  the  highest  points  being  near  West 
Shelby.  From  West  Shelby  to  East  Shelby  the  crest  stands  generally 
between  650  and  675  feet,  but  knolls  on  a  spur  north  of  the  main  ridge  near 
the  Ross  geodetic  station  rise  above  700  feet.  From  East  Shelby  to  West 
Barre  the  crest  is  mainly  between  the  660-  and  680-foot  contours,  Init  a 
point  on  an  esker  at  the  Pusel  geodetic  station,  a  mile  northwest  of  West 
Barre,  reaches  737  feet.  This  appears  to  be  the  highest  point  in  Orleans 
County.  From  West  Barre  to  South  Barre  the  crests  of  ridges  range 
between  650  and  700  feet,  the  lowest  ridges  being  situated  in  the  edge  of 
Oak  Orchai-d  Swamp.  At  the  border  of  the  sharp  drift  knolls  in  the  New 
Guinea  Settlement,  the  swamp  stands  just  below  the  640-foot  contour,  while 
some  of  the  knolls  rise  above  the  700-foot  contour.  From  tliis  group  of 
knolls  eastward  to  western  Monroe  County  there  is  but  little  descent,  the 
altitude  being  generally  between  620  and  650  feet;  but  from  the  meridian 
of  Church ville  to  the  Genesee  River,  a  distance  of  about  12  miles,  there  is 
a  descent  of  almost  100  feet,  the  altitude  on  the  border  of  the  Genesee 
being  but  little  above  the  520-foot  contour. 

Particular  attention  is  called  to  the  range  in  altitude  because  the  narrow 
ridge  leading  westward  from  West  Barre  has  been  considered  a  beach  of 
Lake  Ontario  by  many  of  the  residents.  The  form  and  structure  in  places 
seem  to  sustain  that  interpretation.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  part 
between  West  Barre  and  West  Shelby;  but  in  this  part  of  the  ridge  there 
are  oscillations  of  30  or  40  feet  in  the  level  of  the  crest  within  a  distance  of 


BARRE  MORAINE.  697 

less  than  5  miles,  a  diflference  which  seems  too  great  to  be  due  to  ujjlift. 
Uplift  here  may  amount  to  a  foot  or  more  per  mile  along-  a  line  from  south- 
west to  northeast,  as  shown  by  measurements  on  the  neighboring-  portion  of 
the  beach  of  Lake  Warren.  A  variation  of  10  to  12  feet  ma}-  also  occur  in 
a  shore  line,  independent  of  uplift,  there  being'  that  amount  of  variation  in 
the  beach  of  Lake  Erie.  But  if  these  are  combined  it  would  cause  scarcel}" 
half  the  variation  in  altitude  which  this  part  of  the  ridge  displays. 

TOPOGRAPHT. 

T'here  are  few  moraines  which  present  greater  variations  in  topography 
than  are  displayed  by  this  one.  Knobs  and  basins,  smooth  till  ridges,  eskers, 
drumlinoid  forms,  and  nondescript  or  irregular  forms  are  all  present. 

For  a  few  miles  south  from  Lake  Ontario  only  a  few  low  swells  can  be 
detected,  but  the  bowlders  which  appear  in  great  numbers  seem  to  indicate 
the  position  of  the  ice  margin.  They  occupy  a  belt  2  miles  or  more  in 
^yidth,  in  which  they  have  been  heaped  in  great  piles  in  the  fields  and  built 
into  stone  walls. 

On  the  face  of  the  Niagara  escarpment  for  2  miles  east  from  the  eastern 
edge  of  the  city  of  Lockport  the  moraine  consists  of  a  series  of  knolls  and 
basins,  which  give  that  part  of  the  escarpment  an  appearance  striking-ly  in 
contrast  with  the  smooth  face  it  presents  west  from  Lockport.  From  the 
brow  of  the  escarpment  about  a  mile  east  of  the  city  limits  of  Lockport  a 
well-defined  ridge  15  to  40  feet  in  height  and  one-fourth  mile  or  less  in 
width  leads  eastward  past  McNalls  and  Royalton.  Its  surface  is  gently 
undulating,  like  the  till  ridges  so  common  on  the  plains  of  Illinois,  and,  like 
them,  it  is  composed  largely  of  till.  To  the  north,  between  this  ridge  and 
the  escarpment,  there  is  a  gently  undulating  tract  thickly  strewn  with 
bowlders,  while  along  the  brow  of  the  escarpment  several  knolls  15  to  20 
feet  high  appear.  South  of  the  till  ridge  the  surface  is  nearly  plane  as  far 
east  as  the  meridian  of  McNalls.  A  system  of  knolls  and  ridges  there  sets 
ill  which  leads  eastward  to  West  Alabama,  and  which  may  belong  to  the 
Batavia  moraine.  The  ridges  are  broken  by  occasional  gaps  and  are  some- 
what disjointed,  but  are  definite  for  2  or  3  miles  at  a  stretch,  as  shown  by 
the  topographic  map  (PI.  Ill)  In  form  they  are  similar  to  the  ridge  that 
leads  through  Eoyalton,  but  they  are  also  similar  to  the  till  ridge  southeast 
of  Tona,wanda  Swamp  in  Alabama  Township,  Genesee  County,  of  which 
they  are,  perhaps,  the  continuation. 


698  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

The  main  ridge  leads  from  Royaltoii  eastward  to  West  Shelby,  but 
becomes  irregular,  and  at  West  Shelby  connects  with  a  prominent  morainic 
spur  which  extends  north  about  2  miles  It  also  changes  in  C(>nstituti(jn 
to  a  mixture  of  gravel  and  till.  In  the  spur  that  leads  north  from  West 
Shelby  there  are  sharp  knolls  20  to  40  feet  high,  among  which  basins  are 
incloseci  that  cover  areas  of  from  1  to  5  acres  each.  It  is  a  very  gravelly 
belt,  but  there  is  usually  a  thin  capping  of  till  thickly  set  with  bowldei's 
About  a  mile  east  from  the  north  end  of  this  morainic  spur  is  an  isolated 
sharp  ridge  of  sandy  'till,  on  which  Ryan  geodetic  station  was  placed. 
The  ridge  is  abovit  one-half  mile  long  and  trends  north-northeast  to  south- 
southwest.  Its  highest  points  are  about  60  feet  above  the  bordering 
plain.     There  are  knolls  15  to  30  feet  high  along  its  slopes. 

On  the  east  side  of  Oak  Orchard  Creek  there  is  greater  complexity 
than  on  the  west.  The  main  ridge  is  very  definite  all  the  way  from  the 
creek  to  West  Barre,  but  ridges  north  and  south  of  it  are  scattered  over 
a  nearly  plane  tract  occupying  only  a  small  part  of  the  surface.  The 
main  ridge  in  places  presents  a  smooth  surface  like  a  beach  line  and  is 
narrow  and  low,  the  height  being  but  10  to  15  feet  and  width  50  to  75 
vards;  but  usually  its  surface  is  more  irregular  than  a  beach  line,  there 
being  variations  of  15  to  20  feet  in  height  within  short  distances.  The 
bulk  is  also  greater  on  the  whole  than  beaches  commonly  display,  the 
width  being  from  an  eighth  to  a  fourth  of  a  mile  and  the  height  from  10  to 
40  feet. 

Of  the  scattering  ridges  found  south  of  the  main  ridge  the  most 
prominent  is  at  Edwards  geodetic  station,  its  height  being  about  50  feet. 
The  majority  are  between  15  and  25  feet  in  height.  These  ridges  are 
commonly  but  an  eighth  of  a  mile  or  less  in  width  and  one-lialf  mile  to  a 
mile  or  more  in  length.  The  usual  trend  is  from  north  of  east  to  south  of 
west,  being  similar  to  that  of  the  drumlins,  but  this  is  the  only  point  of 
resemblance,  the  surface  being  less  regular  than  that  of  drumlins.  They 
also  are  largely  composed  of  sand  and  gravel,  while  the  drumlins  are 
mainly  of  till. 

North  of  the  main  ridge  there  are  onl}-  scattering  knolls  and  low  wind- 
ing ridges  for  a  mile  or  two  east  from  Oak  Orchard  Creek.  A  sharp  range 
of  gravelly  hills  then  sets  in,  which  trends  northwest  to  southeast.  Its 
highest  points  stand  75  to- 100  feet  above  bordering  plane  ti-acts  and  its 


BAREE  MORAINE.  699 

surface  is  very  irregular,  as  may  be  seen  by  reference  to  the  topographic 
map  (PI.  III).  For  several  miles  east  from  this  range  of  knolls  the  sur- 
face is  nearly  all  plane,  there  being  only  an  occasional  low  knoll.  There 
is  then  a  sharp  ridge  with  north-south  trend,  which  connects  at  the  south 
near  East  Shelby  with  the  main  ridge.  It  is  about  1 J  miles  long  and  one- 
fourth  mile  or  less  in  widtli.  Its  height  ranges  from  15  to  60  feet.  The 
surface  is  thickly  strewn  with  bowlders,  which  add  to  its  morainic  expres- 
sion. This  ridge  and  the  range  of  gravelly  hills  to  the  we.st  seem  to  be 
morainic  spurs  rather  than  eskers;  at  least  they  are  not  so  regular  in  form 
as  eskers. 

The  most  prominent  ridges  of  Orleans  County  are  found  in  the  next 
spur  to  the  east.  They  cover  a  track  nearly  2  miles  in  length  (from  north 
to  south)  and  a  mile  or  less  in  width.  The  main  ridge  bears  some  resem- 
blance to  an  esker,  but  there  are  many  irregular-shaped  ridges  and  knolls 
associated  with  it.  It  terminates  at  the  south  in  a  flat-topped  tract  which 
stands  about  80  feet  above  the  bordering  plains  and  which  incloses  a  deep 
basin.  A  marsh  lies  in  the  midst  of  this  system  of  ridges.  There  is  on 
the  west  side  of  the  marsh  a  ridge  about  40  feet  in  height  which  has  a 
flattened  top  in  which  there  are  shallow  basins.  On  the  east  side  of  the 
marsh  is  a  less  regular  ridge,  which  in  places  presents  the  form  of  an  esker. 

From  W  est  Barre  eastward  to  the  east  end  of  Oak  Orchard  Swamp  the 
ridges  and  knolls  are  similar  to  those  found  south  of  the  main  ridge  to  the 
West  from  West  Barre.  They  trend  east-northeast  to  west-southwest  and 
are  rather  narrow  and  sharp.  The  height  is  seldom  less  than  1.5  feet  and 
in  places  reaches  40  feet.   ■ 

The  prominent  group  of  ridges  and  knolls  in  the  New  Guinea  settle- 
ment at  the  east  end  of  Oak  Orchard  Swamp  is  well  represented  in  PL  III. 
Basins  appear  on  the  crests  of  the  ridges,  two  of  which  are  shown  on  the 
map.     The  ridges  rise  abruptly  40  to  60  feet  above  the   bordering  swamp. 

From  this  group  of  ridges  eastward  to  the  Genesee  River  the  knolls  are 
rather  scattered  and  of  irregular  shape.  They  contrast  strikingly  with  the 
regulai-  form  of  the  drumlins  to  the  south,  as  may  be  seen  by  reference  to 
the  topographic  map.  Two  ridges  in  this  part  of  the  moraine  are  worthy 
of  notice,  one  is  an  esker  or  gravel  ridge  near  Ogden  and  the  other  a  sandy 
ridge  near  Chili. 

East  and  south  of  Ogden  Village  there  is  a  narrow  gravel  ridge  15  to 


700  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

30  feet  in  height  and  about  2  miles  in  length,  including  snaall  gaps.  The 
northern  half  has  a  nearly  due  north-south  trend,  but  the  southern  half  l^ears 
southwestward.  The  topographic  map  shows  the  change  in  trend  but  fails 
to  bring  out  the  esker  form  which  it  presents. 

From  near  Chili  northeastward  to  the  bend  of  Coldwater  or  Little  Black 
Creek  there  is  a  sandy  belt  abont  1  mile  wide  and  3  miles  in  length,  which 
has  a  knob-and-basin  topography.  Its  highest  points  stand  about  60  feet 
above  Little  Black  Creek.  The  topographic  features  as  well  as  the  sandy 
material  suggest  wind  action,  but  bowlders  were  found  embedded  in  the 
sand  and  on  its  sui'face,  which  seem  to  indicate  that  the  features  are  oidy  to 
a  minor  degree  due  to  the  wind.  Griacial  action  seems  to  have  been  the 
main  agency.  The  intricacy  of  this  belt  is  brought  out  to  a  fair  deg-ree  b}' 
the  topographic  map.  South  of  this  sandy  belt  from  Chili  eastward  to  the 
Grenesee  River  is  a  gently  undulating  till  tract,  with  knolls  usually  l:)ut  10 
to  15  feet  in  height,  while  to  the  north  the  surface  is  even  less  undulatory 
and  carries  scarcely  any  sand.  This  sandy  belt  has  about  the  same  trend 
as  the  striae  of  that  vicinity,  and  meets  the  remainder  of  the  moraine 
obliquely.  It  is  in  a  nearly  direct  line  of  continuation  of  the  Pinnacle 
Hills  ridge  of  Rochester,  but  is  separated  from  it  by  a  gap  about  4  miles  in 
width,  which  is  partly  occupied  by  a  later  moraine.  The  presence  of  this 
moraine  is  thought  to  indicate  that  the  Pinnacle  Hills  ridge  was  formed 
later  than  the  Chili  sand  belt. 

STRUCTTJRE    OF    THE    DRIFT. 

In  the  Barre  moraine,  as  well  as  its  associated  spurs,  eskers,  etc.,  there 
is  a  large  amount  of  gravel  and  sand.  Indeed,  till  seems  to  predominate 
over  assorted  material  only  for  a  few  miles  east  from  Lockport.  The  ridges 
there  as  well  as  the  plains  are  principall}^  till.  Farther  east  there  seeins  to 
be  considerable  till  in  plane  tracts,  but  the  ridges  are  chiefly  gravel.  Tlie 
most  prominent  ridges  are  usually  thickly  strewn  with  bowlders,  but  they 
are  not  so  numerous  on  the  low  ridges  and  on  plane  tracts.  Among  the 
bowlders,  which  are  largely  of  granitic  rocks,  there  are  not  a  few  limestone 
slabs  gathered  from  the  immediate  vicinity. 

The  drift  is  ordinarily  so  thick  along  the  line  of  this  moraine  that 
wells  are  obtained  without  entering  rock.  There  are,  however,  small  areas 
around  Shelby  Center  and  Barre  Center  as  well  as  farther  east  wliere  the 
drift  is  very  thin,  so  that  the  rock  ledges  are  within  reach  of  the  plow. 


ALBION  MORAINE.  701 


RELATION    TO    LAKE    WARKEN. 


The  highest  points  on  this  moraine  stand  more  than  100  feet  below 
the  level  of  the  neighboring  part  of  the  beach  of  Lake  Warren,  while  the 
lowest  parts  are  several  hnndred  feet  below  the  level  of  that  lake.  On 
theoretical  grounds  the  ice  sheet  appears  to  have  terminated  in  that  lake  at 
the  time  the  Barre  moraine  was  forming.  On  this  assumption  its  deposits 
are  all  water-laid.  It  seems  remarkable  that  under  these  conditions  assorted 
material,  and  especially  coarse  gravel  beds,  should  form  so  prominent  con- 
stituents of  the  drift.  There  being  no  line  of  rapid  escape  for  the  waters 
from  the  ice  margin,  it  would  seem  natural  for  the  fine  material  to  be  laid 
down  with  the  coarse,  though  possibly  there  was  sufficiently  vigorous 
movement  of  water  under  the  ice  to  cause  much  assorting  of  its  deposits 
and  removal  of  fine  material. 


ALBION   MORAINE. 


DISTRIBUTION. 


The  course  of  this  moraine  has  been  accurately  traced  only  from 
Albion  eastward  to  Rochester,  but  it  has  been  crossed  on  the  New  York 
Central  Railroad,  directly  south  of  Knowlesville,  and  appears  from  the  con- 
tours of  the  Medina  topographic  sheet  to  come  to  the  Erie  Canal  1^  miles 
west  of  Knowlesville,  and  to  be  continued  westward  in  a  series  of  knolls 
on  the  borders  of  Oak  Orchard  Creek,  1  to  3  miles  north  of  Medina. 
From  the  railway  crossing  south  of  Knowlesville  to  Albion  the  crest  of 
the  moraine  is  less  than  a  mile  south  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad, 
and  is  followed  by  a  "ridge  road."  The  moraine  is  scarcely  one-fourth  of 
a  mile  in  width,  but  presents  a  very  definite  ridge.  It  is  cut  through  by 
Sandy  Creek  near  the  southeast  edge  of  the  city  of  Albion,  but  the  gap  is 
very  narrow,  and  the  ridge  continues  to  the  Albion  Cemetery,  1-^  miles  east 
of  the  city,  where  it  rises  into  greater  prominence. 

There  are  minor  ridges  and  small  knolls  and  also  basins  in  Albion  and 
eastward  to  the  cemetery,  extending  out  to  a  distance  of  nearly  a  mile  north 
of  the  main  ridge,  but  west  from  Albion  such  features  are  rare. 

At  Albion  Cemetery  there  is  a  knoll  standing  nearly  100  feet  above 
low  ground  on  the  south  and  60  to  75  feet  above  the  neighboring  parts  of 
the  moraine.     Toward  the  east  the  moraine  continues  with  sharp  ridges  and 


702  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

knolls  as  far  as  the  west  border  of  Murray  Township,  2  miles.  It  is  then 
vague  for  about  a  mile,  but  reappears  on  the  brow  of  the  Niagara  escarp- 
ment near  a  schoolhouse.  About  one-foui"th  mile  east  of  the  schoolhouse  a 
gap  about  one-fourth  mile  wide  sets  in,  but  this  gap  is  bridged  by  a  reef  of 
bowlders.  East  of  this  gap  for  about  2  miles  the  ridge  lies  just  south 
of  an  east-west  road  and  is  very  sharp  and  narrow. 

About  1^  miles  west  of  Holley  the  moraine  makes  a  southward  jog  to 
Clarendon,  and  thence  passes  in  a  nearly  east  course  into  Monroe  Comity. 
In  this  deflection  it  passes  ai'ound  an  esker  that  lies  between  Holley  and 
Clarendon. 

The  moraine  becomes  more  complex  on  passing  east  from  Clarendon, 
its  ridges  and  knolls  being  scattered  over  a  belt  1  to  2  miles  wide,  lying 
mainly  south  of  the  Erie  Canal.  The  main  ridge,  however,  is  along  the 
southern  border,  and  is,  as  a  rule,  definite  and  nearly  continuous.  It  passes ' 
through  Lake  View  Cemetery,  IJ  miles  south  of  Brockport.  There  are 
drift  knolls  and  ridges  in  Brockport  and  eastwai'd  from  there  to  Spencer- 
port  in  sufficient  number  to  give  a  raorainic  aspect  to  the  surface. 

Froiii  Adams  Basin,  2  miles  west  of  Spencerport,  a  morainic  spur 
extends  north  nearly  2  miles,  occupying  a  width  of  about  a  mile,  but  the 
moraine  presents  a  definite  east- west  ridge  opposite  the  south  end  of  this 
spur,  which  passes  about  one-half  mile  south  of  Adams  Basin  and  Spencer- 
port. There  are  drift  knolls  around  Spencerport  and  for  a  mile  or  more 
east  and  north,  but  the  moraine  takes  a  southeastward  course  into  Gates 
Township,  its  crest  passing  just  south  of  West  Gates  and  crossing  the  main 
line  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad  a  mile  southwest  of  Gates.  It  con- 
tinues south  of  east  to  the  Genesee  River  in  the  south  part  of  Rochester, 
upon  crossing  which  it  connects  directly  with  the  west  end  of  the  Pinnacle 
Hills  ridge. 

The  Pinnacle  Hills  ridge  is  thought  by  Fairchild  to  be  a  marginal 
moraine,  but  to  the  writer  it  appears  more  like  a  spur  extending  back  from 
the  inner  border  of  the  moraine.  A  low  till  ridge,  which  leads  from  its 
western  end  southward  toward  Ridgeland,  is  thought  to  mark  the  continua- 
tion of  the  Albion  moraine.  As  this  lies  beyond  the  field  allotted  for  inves- 
tigation, its  course  was  not  traced  farther  than  Ridgeland.  The  relation  of 
strias  to  this  ridge  is  discussed  farther  on  (p.  709). 


ALBION  MORAINE.  703 


RANGE    IN    ALTITUDE. 


The  altitude  of  the  crest  of  the  morame  is  only  about  .540  feet  at  the 
Erie  Canal  west  of  Knowlesville,  while  the  altitude  of  knolls  farther  west  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  Medina  quadrangle  is  from  540  to  550  feet.  The 
altitude  gradually  increases  eastward,  the  600-foot  contour  being  reached 
in  the  western  part  of  Albion  Township  and  the  620-foot  contour  2  miles 
southwest  of  Albion.  The  cemetery  hill  east  of  Albion  rises  above  the 
680-foot  contour,  but  neighboring  portions  of  the  crest  are  scarcely  640 
feet,  and  it  stands  near  the  640-foot  contour  for  several  miles  to  the  east. 
About  3  miles  southwest  of  Brockport  the  crest  rises  above  the  660-foot 
contour,  and  immediately  south  of  the  village  it  passes  the  680-foot  con- 
tour. A  knoll  here  appears,  which  rises  above  the  720-foot  contour,  but 
the  general  elevation  for  a  mile  is  about"  680  feet.  Between  Brockport  and 
Spencerport  the  altitude  decreases  to  about  600  feet,  and  from  that  village 
southeastward  into  Gates  Township  only  the  prominent  knolls  rise  above 
that  contour.  At  the  crossing  of  the  main  line  of  the  New  York  Ceiitral 
Railroad  southwest  of  Gates  it  is  barely  580  feet,  and  few  points  from 
there  eastward  to  the  Buffalo,  Rochester  and  Pittsburg  Railroad  rise  to  this 
contour,  while  at  the  bluffs  of  the  Genesee  the  altitude  is  only  about  560 
feet,  and  from  the  river  southward  to  Ridgeland  it  is  between  560  and  580 
feet.  The  Pinnacle  Hills  ridge  varies  greatly  in  altitude,  its  northeastern 
end  at  Brighton  being  barely  500  feet,  while  the  highest  point  rises  above 
the  740-foot  contour.     Much  of  the  crest  stands  above  the  600-foot  contour. 

Between  Albion  and  Brockport,  where  the  crest  of  the  moraine  is 
highest,  morainic  knolls  and  ridges  abound  along  the  face  of  the  Niagara 
escarpment  down  about  to  the  level  of  the  Erie  Canal,  510  feet,  but  are 
rare  north  of  the  canal  except  in  the  spur  near  Adams  Basin,  where  they 
extend  about  2  miles  north  of  the  canal.  The  highest  points  on  this  spur 
are  about  560  feet  and  the  lowest  about  460  feet. 


TOPOGRAPHY. 


The  main  ridge  throughout  much  of  its  course  has  an  abrupt  outer 
border  relief  of  20  to  30  feet,  and  is  more  nearly  continuous  than  any 
ridges  in  neighboring  moraines.  There  are,  aside  from  the  large  knolls 
which  occasionally  appear  along  the  crest,  numerous  small  knolls  and  gentle 
swells  along  the  crest  and  on  the  slopes.     The  knolls  and  ridges  which  lie 


704  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

north  of  the  main  ridge  are  ordinarily  but  10  to  20  feet  in  height,  and  the 
ridging  is  far  less  conspicuous  than  in  the  main  ridge. 

The  sharply  ridged  parts  of  this  inner  border  are  confined  chiefly  to 
the  esker  near  Holley,  the  spur  near  Adams  Basin,  and  the  Pinnacle  Hills 
ridge  in  Rochester. 

The  Holley  esker  sets  in  about  a  mile  southwest  of  that  village  and 
extends  southwestward  to  within  one-half  mile  of  Clarendon,  its  length 
being  .about  IJ  miles.  It  is  a  nearly  continuous  ridge,  though  it  varies 
greatly  in  height,  there  being  hummocks  on  it.  One  of  these  hummocks 
rises  40  feet  above  the  adjacent  parts  of  the  ridge,  while  others  rise  15  feet 
or  more.  The  ridge  is  in  places  very  sharp,  in  one  place  its  width  being 
only  30  or  40  yards  and  its  height  20  to  30  feet.  Along  each  side  of  the 
ridge  gravelly  knolls  abound,  which  rise  10  to  20  feet  above  the  marshy 
tract  hi  which  the  esker  lies.  These  knolls  also  extend  around  the  southern 
end  of  the  ridge,  being  numerous  at  Clarendon  and  for  a  short  distance  south 
and  east  of  the  village. 

The  spur  near  Adams  Basin  does  not  carry  a  definite  esker  ridge,  but 
consists  of  irregular-shaped  knolls,  which  are  often  grouped  into  small 
clusters.  The  intricacy  of  contours  is  only  faintly  portrayed  on  the  topo- 
graphic map  (PI.  III). 

The  Pinnacle  Hills  ridge,  which  received  the  attention  of  many  geolo- 
gists attending  the  Rochester  Meeting  of  the  Association  for  Advancement 
of  Science,  in  1892,  has  since  been  described  by  Upham'  and  by  Fairchild.^ 
With  a  width  of  but  one-eighth  to  one-half  mile,  including  slopes,  and  a 
height  of  50  to  240  feet,  it  constitutes  a  very  conspicuous  drift  feature.  It 
does  not  present  the  form  of  a  typical  esker,  though  it  was  put  in  this 
category  by  Uphara.  Its  topography  is  more  like  that  of  a  very  sharp 
moraine,  and  the  name  kame-moraine  given  by  Fairchild  seems  highly 
applicable.  The  following  description  of  the  topography  is  taken  from 
Fairchild's  paper  just  cited: 

The  Pinnacle  Hills  extend  from  the  village  of  Brighton  to  the  Grenesee  River,  a 
distance  of  4  miles,  with  a  general  direction  of  west  16°  .south.  The  belt  of  hills  has 
a  linear  form  with  a  distinct  curvature  of  large  radius,  the  convexity  facing  south- 
ward.    The  range,  however,  is  not  continuous  or  uniform,  but  consists  of  groups  of 

'Eskers  near  Bochester,  N.  Y.,  by  Warren  Upham:  Proc.  Rochester  Acad.  Science,  Vol.  II, 
1893,  pp.  181-200. 

^The  kame-moraine  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  by  H.  L.  Fairchild:  Am.  Geologist,  Vol.  XVI,  1895, 
pp.  39-51;  with  map. 


ALBION  MORAINE.  705 

inegular  hills  and  knolls,  three  main  divisions  being  easily  recognized.  The  first 
large  group  extends  from  Brighton  to  Monroe  avenue.  This  group  is  subdivided  by 
a  deep  cut,  the  western  mass  being  known  as  Cobbs  Hill,  with  a  sunmiit  height  of 
663  feet  above  tide.  The  sag  which  was  cut  by  Monroe  avenue  originally  had  an 
elevation  of  560  feet.  The  second  large  group  lies  between  Monroe  avenue  and  a 
sag  or  depression  one-fourth  of  a  mile  west  of  South  Clinton  street  (Pinnacle  avenue). 
This  group  is  the  most  distinct  and  compact,  and  contains  the  highest  point  in  the 
whole  range,  called  the  "Pinnacle,"  which  name  has  been  extended  to  cover  the  whole 
series  of  hills.  The  altitude  of  this  summit  is  749  feet,  or  about  240  feet  above  the 
surrounding  plain.  The  third  group  may  be  regarded  as  including  all  the  western 
part  of  the  hill  range,  which  is  lower  than  the  eastern  part,  much  broader  and  less 
definite.  This  includes  in  succession,  westwardh",  the  knolls  east  of  South  Goodman 
street;  Highland  Park,  between  Goodman  street  and  South  avenue;  the  "Warner 
tract,"  lying  between  South  and  Mount  Hope  avenues;  Mount  Hope  Cemetery,  lying 
west  of  Mount  Hope  avenue;  and  the  low  point  running  into  a  bend  of  the  Genesee 
River.  The  highest  points  in  this  area  are  the  knoll  on  which  is  built  the  memorial 
pavilion  near  the  reservoir,  650  feet,  and  the  summits  in  the  cemetery,  650  to  670  feet. 

The  eastern  portion  of  the  range  consists  of  a  series  of  overlapping  ridges  or 
elongated  mounds  having  their  longest  diameters  parallel  in  general  with  the  trend  of 
the  range.  Onlj'  at  the  "Pinnacle  "  is  the  cross  section  a  single  ridge,  and  this  part 
is  better  described  as  an  elongated,  irregular  mound.  The  width  of  the  belt  at  Cobbs 
Hill  is  but  little  less  than  one-half  mile,  and  here  the  crests  of  the  southern  and 
northern  series  of  ridges  or  mounds  are  but  one-fourth  mile  apart.  At  South  Good- 
man street  the  two  series  of  ridges  are  one-eighth  of  a  mile  apart.  The  western  third 
of  the  range,  or  the  poi'tion  beyond  South  Goodman  street,  is  very  difl'erent,  there 
being,  instead  of  east-west  ridges,  a  broader  irregular  aggregation  of  mounds  with  a 
larger  number  of  inclosed  basins. 

The  crest  line  is  verjr  irregular,  nowhere  level  for  anj'  distance,  and  varying  100 
to  180  feet  in  height  between  the  groups  of  hills.  The  northern  slopes  of  the  range 
are  irregular,  with  spurs,  and  hillocks  and  deep  ravines,  and  over  the  eastern  half  of 
the  range  are  usually  as  steep  as  the  material  will  rest,  25°  to  30°.  The  southern 
slopes  are  more  smooth  and  uniform,  commonly  with  gentle  inclination  to  the  southern 
plain  into  which  they  blend. 

The  irregularity  of  the  hills  is  great  in  both  longitudinal  and  transverse  sections. 
The  onl}'  feature  of  evident  system  is  the  linear  arrangement  of  the  series,  taken  as 
a  whole. 

A  striking  feature  which  has  not  been  sufiiciently  noted  is  the  frequent  occur- 
rence of  "kettle  holes "  and  basins.  A  better  example  of  mound  and  basin  topography 
might  not  be  desired  than  is  found  in  Mount  Hope  Cemeter}^.  Beautiful  examples 
of  "kettle  holes"  are  seen  here;  also  in  the  Warner  tract;  also  east  of  South  Good- 
man street,  and  east  of  Cobbs  Hill.  The  only  ponds  or  swamps  are  found  east  of 
South  Goodman  street,  where  one  pond  occurs,  lying  at  the  base  of  the  hills,  and  one 
lai'ge  oval  basin  has  been  filled  with  peat  to  a  depth  of  at  least  6  feet. 

There  is  a  small  ridged  and  knolly  drift  tract  on  the  inner  border  of  the 
moraine  in  the  west  part  of  Rochester  to  which  Fairchild,  in  the  jDaper  just 

MON    XLI 15 


706  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

cited,  has  applied  the  name  "Lincohi  Park  kame  area."  It  consists  of  a 
series  of  low  gravel  and  sand  knolls  distributed  in  a  belt  1^-  miles  long  from 
north  to  south  and  less  than  one-half  mile  wide.  The  largest  are  but  20  to 
30  feet  in  height  and  from  200  yards  to  about  one-fourth  mile  in  length. 
These  knolls  are  recognized  by  Fairchild  to  be  inside  the  frontal  moraine. 

STRUCTURE    OF    THE     DRIFT. 

The  main  ridge  of  the  Albion  moraine  apparently  contains  a  much 
larger  percentage  of  till  than  is  found  in  the  moraines  outside  of  it.  It  is 
a  clayey  till,  thickly  set  with  small  stones,  and  bears  a  close  resemblance 
to  the  ordinary  till  of  the  plains  to  the  west  of  Lake  Erie.  Its  surface  is 
liberally  strewn  with  bowlders  and  so  is  the  inner  slope  of  the  moraine. 

The  small  knolls  and  ridges  on  the  inner  slope  also  contain  much  till, 
but  the  large  knolls  are  in  many  instances  composed  chiefly  of  sand  and 
gravel. 

Fairchild  has  given  a  detailed  description  of  several  sections  in  the 
Pinnacle  Hills  ridge  from  which  it  appears  that  the  north  slope  and  crest 
carry  a  large  amount  of  till,  but  the  south  slope  and  basal  portion  of  the 
ridge  are  composed  chieily  of  gravel  and  sand.  The  dip  of  the  beds  is  not 
westward,  or  lengthwise  of  the  range  of  hills,  nor  is  it  from  the  crest  toward 
each  border,  as  is  common  in  eskers.  In  general  it  is  southward  and  east 
of  south,  or  across  the  trend  line.  The  southward  dip  is  fomid  to  be  most 
pronounced  in  the  gravels  upon  the  north  side  of  the  range,  and  there  is  an 
approach  to  horizontality  in  passing  toward  the  south  flank.  There  are 
many  local  exceptions,  but  these  have  seemed  to  Fairchild  to  be  in  large 
part  due  to  disturbances  by  ice  thrust,  to  which  should  probably  be  added 
.  disturbances  from  settling  of  the  beds. 

Large  blocks  of  Lockport  (Niagara)  limestone  abound  on  the  surface 
and  in  the  till  of  the  Pinnacle  Hills  ridge.  Their  altitude  reaches  more 
than  200  feet  above  the  outcrops  of  this  limestone  in  the  districts  to  the 
north,  and  yet  they  seem  to  be  derived  from  that  district  within  a  distance 
of  5  miles. 

In  the  esker  near  Holley  there  are  two  gravel  pits  near  its  northeast 
end.  The  bedding  is  imperfect  in  the  surface  portion  to  a  depth  of  several 
feet,  there  being  earthy  or  clayey  material  commingled  with  sand  and  gravel. 
Below  this  depth  the  bedding  is  distinct,  but  it  is  variable,  for  the  beds 


ALBION  MORAINE.  707 

arch  and  dip  at  various  angles.  They,  however,  show  a  tendency  to  slope 
with  the  surface  from  the .  crest  toward  each  side  of  the  ridge.  A  surprising 
feature  in  these  gravel  pits  is  the  very  large  percentage  of  Medina  sandstone 
fragments.  By  actual  count  they  constitute  aboiit  90  per  cent  of  the  pebbles. 
The  sand  also  must  contain  a  large  amount  of  rock  fragments  of  the  same 
formation,  for  it  has  the  pink  tinge  characteristic  of  the  sandstone  and  shales. 
The  till  of  this  moraine  occasionally  presents  a  pink  tinge  because  of 
the  presence  of  the  Medina  shales,  but  ordinarily  it  has  a  blue  cast  and  the 
coarse  fragments  seem  to  consist  more  largely  of  limestone  than  of  sandstone. 
The  granitic  and  other  crystalline  rocks  of  distant  derivation  do  not  consti- 
tute a  prominent  part  of  the  till,  but  are  very  abundant  on  the  surface. 

RELATION    TO    LAKE    WARREN. 

Until  this  moraine  has  been  traced  farther  east  its  relations  to  Lake 
Warren  can  only  be  conjectured.  It  was  probably  formed  near  the  close 
of  the  existence  of  that  lake,  for  the  waters  must  have  fallen  to  a  lower  level 
as  soon  as  the  ice  sheet  uncovered  the  Mohawk  outlet.  Possibly  the  outlet 
was  opened  and  the  lake  level  lowered  before  the  moraine  was  formed. 

INNER    BORDER    PHENOMENA. 

Between  the  Albion  moraine  and  Lake  Ontario  there  is  a  plain  sloping 
gradually  toward  the  lake,  as  may  be  seen  by  PI.  III.  It  is  traversed 
by  the  Iroquois  beach,  which  lies  1  to  4  miles  north  from  the  inner  border 
of  the  moraine,  from  the  Grenesee  westward  to  Oak  Orchard  Creek.  Above 
the  level  of  this  beach  drift  swells  are  not  uncommon,  but  below  it  they  are 
very  rare.  There  are,  however,  just  west  of  the  mouth  of  the  Grenesee,  a 
few  small  drumlins,  standing  only  60  to  75  feet  above  the  level  of  Lake 
Ontario,  or  more  than  100  feet  below  the  level  of  the  Iroquois  beach. 

The  drift  is  usually  thin  throughout  this  plain,  a  depth  of  50  feet  being- 
rare.  It  has  been  noted  by  Gilbert  ^  that  the  divides  between  the  drainage 
lines  usually  carry  a  smaller  amount  of  drift  than  the  sags  through  which 
the  streams  have  their  courses.  This,  as  Gilbert  announced,  is  a  matter  of 
some  significance,  in  that  it  shows  that  the  di'ainage  is  not  controlled  by 
ridges  of  drift,  but  instead  by  furrows  in  the  rock.  He  considers  these 
furrows  immense  glacial  groves,  as  indicated  more  fully  below  (p.  709). 

1  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  X,  1899,  pp.  126-129. 


708  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

In  addition  to  the  furrowing'  just  mentioned,  Gilbert  has  discovered  an 
interesting  dislocation  of  the  Medina  shale  at  Thirtymile  Point,  which  he 
attributes  to  glacial  thrust/ 

GLACIAL  STRIDE. 

Nnmerous  observations  of  glacial  strife  have  been  made  by  the  writer 
and  by  others  on  the  Corniferous  escarpment  from  Batavia  westward,  and 
on  the  Niagara  escarpment  from  Rochester  westward  to  the  Niagara  River, 
all  of  which  have  a  bearing  west  of  south.  They  vary,  however,  from  S. 
5°  W.  to  S.  60°  W.  A  similar  vaiiation  in  trend  is  found  in  the  drumlins 
which  appear  between  these  escarpments  and  which  are  thought  to  indicate 
the  direction  of  ice  movement. 

On  the  u]3lands  south  of  the  Corniferous  escarpment  two  observations 
of  striae  were  made  in  western  Wyoming  County  which  bear  east  of  south, 
one  being  S.  20°  E.,  and  the  other  S.  30°  to  35°  E.  They  are  near  the  point 
of  connection  of  the  Growanda  moraine  with  the  interlobate  belt,  the  one 
with  bearing  S.  20°  E.,  being  1 J  miles  west  of  North  Sheldon,  while  the 
one  with  bearing  S.  30°  E.,  is  2  miles  southwest  of  Sheldon  Center.  The 
diversity  in  the  bearing  of  the  strije  in  the  low  country  lying  between  Lakes 
Ontario  and  Erie  and  of  those  on  the  uplands  to  the  south,  may  simply 
indicate  a  difference  in  the  direction  of  movement  of  ice  in  the  axial  and  the 
peripheral  portions.  A  sonthwestward  axial  movement  is  to  be  infen-ed 
from  the  fact  that  in  the  late  stage  of  glaciation  the  ice  sheet  moved  from 
the  Ijake  Ontario  into  the  Lake  Erie  basin;  but  the  margin  need  not 
partake  of  this  movement,  for  in  crowding  against  the  uplands  on  the  south 
of  these  basins  it  would  be  liable  to  move  in  a  southeastward  direction. 
There  is  a  possibility,  however,  that  the  striae  on  the  uplands  of  Wyoming 
County  were  formed  at  a  much  earlier  date  than  those  on  lower  land  to  the 
north  and  northwest,  and  that  at  the  time  they  were  formed  the  ice  sheet 
had  a  general  southeastward  movement  across  the  lake  basins,  its  thickness 
being  so  great  that  the  basins  then  had  little  influence  tipon  its  course. 

Irving  P.  Bishop,  of  the  New  York  survey,  has  brought  to  notice 
several  instances  of  striation  on  the  bed  and  bluffs  of  Niagara  River  near 
Buffalo,  which  show  that  the  channel  had  nearly  its  present  depth  prior  to 
the  close  of  the  Glacial  epoch.^     A  photograph  of  a  striated  ledge  at  the 

iLoc.  cit,  pp.  131-134. 

2  Fifteenth  Ann.  Kept.  New  York  Geol.  Survey,  1895,  pp.  325,  326,  392 


GLACIAL  STRLE.  709 

Lehigh  coal  sheds,  about  6  miles  east  of  Buffalo,  accompanies  Bishop's 
report.  Several  acres  were  stripped  of  drift  to  expose  the  rock,  which  was 
used  as  a  floor  for  the  sheds.  The  surface,  though  in  places  slightly 
undulating,  is  well  polished,  and  sharp  grooves  are  numerous. 

Gilbert's  recent  studies  of  glacial  sculpture  in  western  New  York^  have 
bi'ought  to  light  numerous  exposures  of  glaciated  ledges,  about  fifteen  of 
which  are  along  the  brow  and  face  of  the  Niagara  escarpment  between 
Lockport  and  the  Niagara  River.  Evidence  has  also  been  found  that  the 
shales  to  the  north  have  been  furrowed  by  the  ice  on  a  grand  scale,  the 
furrows  being  in  some  cases  at  least  40  feet  in  depth  and  hundreds  of  feet 
in  width.  These  great  furrows  have  a  southwestward  trend  or  bearing 
similar  to  that  of  the  striae  on  the  hard  rocks  of  the  region. 

Fairchild  has  found,  near  Rochester,  two  sets  of  striae,  an  older,  main 
set  with  a  bearing  S.  40°  to  60°  W.,  and  a  later,  light  striation,  hardly  more 
than  a  polishing,  with  a  bearing  S.  5°  to  15°  W.  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Genesee,  while  they  are  slightly  east  of  south  on  the  east  side  of  the  river. 
He  considers  the  latter  set  of  similar  age  to  the  Albion  moraine  and  calls 
attention  to  the  fact  that  their  direction  is  about  perpendicular  to  the  arc  of 
the  moraine.  It  is  not  certain,  however,  that  such  a  phase  of  striation 
might  not  accompany  the  prodiiction  of  a  spur  since  the  ice  is  liable  to  be 
to  some  extent  lobed  on  each  side  of  a  spur  and  to  have  more  or  less  move- 
ment toward  it.  The  movement  in  connection  with  the  Pinnacle  Hills 
ridge  would  naturally  be  stronger  toward  the  north  side  than  toward  the 
south,  since  the  main  body  of  ice  stood  on  that  side,  and  probably  had  a 
movement  southward  as  well  as  westward. 

'  Bull,  tieol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  X,  1899,  pp.  121-130. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
THE    GLACIAL   LAKE   MAUMEE. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Lake  Maumee  is  the  first  and  highest  of  a  series  of  large,  definitely 
outlined  glacial  lakes  which  occu^jied  the  Huron-Erie  basin.  This  lake,  as 
noted  in  the  discussion  of  the  Fort  Wayne  and  Defiance  moraines,  was 
preceded  by  a  few  small,  disconnected  lakes  which  lay  between  the  ice 
margin  and  the  divide  south  of  Lake  Erie,  and  which  found  outlets  at 
several  points  across  the  divide  at  levels  somewhat  higher  than  the  Fort 
Wayne  outlet. 

Lake  Maumee  was  limited  on  the  south  and  west  by  a  land  bamer, 
but  its  limits  on  the  north  and  east  were  determined  by  the  retreating  ice 
sheet.  The  Defiance  moraine  marks  the  position  which  the  ice  sheet  held 
during  a  large  part  of  the  lake's  existence  (see  PL  XX).  With  the  melting 
back  of  the  ice  the  lake  expanded  its  area  to  the  limits  shown  in  PI.  XXI. 
The  outlet  past  Fort  Wayne  was  the  lowest  available  point  on  the  bordering 
rim  at  the  beginning  of  the  lake's  existence,  but  later,  the  ice  having  melted 
away  from  another  point  equally  low  near  Imlay,  Mich.,  the  lake  for  a 
brief  time  seems  to  have  had  two  outlets. 

With  the  further  withdrawal  of  the  ice  a  still  lower  outlet  became 
available,  and  with  the  change  of  outlet  and  lowering  of  level  this  lake's 
history  closed  and  that  of  its  successor,  Lake  Whittlesey,  had  its  beginning. 
The  latter  in  turn  was  succeeded  by  a  lake  with  still  different  outlet  and 
lower  level,  and  these  changes  were  continued,  as  will  be  described  in  the 
discussion  which  follows.  ■ 

Lake  Maumee  will  here  include  the  uppermost  two  beaches  of  the 
Huron-Erie  basin  with  the  two  outlets,  the  Fort  Wayne  and  the  Imlay,  for 
it  now  appears  probable  that  the  former  outlet  continued  in  operation  after 
the  latter  was  opened.  The  beaches  will  be  called  the  first  Maumee  and 
the  second  Maumee,  these  names  being  more  readily  understood  than  any 
other  of  the  several  names  which  have  been  applied.     The  name  Lake 

710 


U    S    GEOLOGICAL   SURVEY 


MICHIGAN  KLNTICKI 


INDIANA 


MONOGRAPH  X  LI    PL.  XX 


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*. 


1 


OUTLETS  OF  LAKE  MAUMEE.  711 

Maumee  was  first  applied  iii  1888  by  C.  R.  Dryer,  of  the  Indiana  Geological 
Survey,  in  an  official  report  on  the  "Geology  of  Allen  County,  Indiana," 
which  includes  a  discussion  of  the  western  ends  of  the  beaches  and  the 
Fort  Wayne  outlet.^ 

FORT   WAYNE   OUTLET   OR   WABASH-ERIE   CHAJ^^KEL,. 

The  former  extension  of  lake  waters  to  Fort  Wayne  was  known  as 
long  ag'o  as  1840,  for  Bela  Hubbard  makes  reference  to  such  an  extension 
in  a  State  report  published  that  year.^  It  is  probable,  also,  that  the  outlet 
to  the  Wabash  was  recognized  at  that  time,  but  the  outlet  seems  to  have 
received  its  first  careful  examination  by  Gilbert  about  thirty  years  later, 
during  his  investigation  of  the  Maumee  Valley  for  the  Ohio  Geological 
Survey.  He  called  attention  to  it  in  1871^  and  again  in  his  official  report 
published  in  1873/  The  outlet  was  very  briefly  described  in  each  pub- 
lication and  no  name  was  applied  to  it.  The  first  name  which  it  appears 
to  have  received  in  print  was  that  applied  by  Dryer  in  his  report  above 
mentioned,  where  it  is  called  the  Wabash-Erie  channel.  This  name,  how- 
ever, seems  not  to  have  met  with  such  favor  as  the  name  Fort  Wayne 
outlet,  which,  though  later  introduced  into  tlie  hterature,  has  for  several 
years  been  in  use  among  geologists,  and  is  now  quite  common  in  print. 
The  term  "Fort  Wayne  outlet" has  the  advantage  also  of  being  in  harinonv 
with  the  nomenclature  adopted  for  the  other  (Imlay)  outlet,  both  being 
from  towns  situated  near  the  points  where  the  outlets  led  away  from  the 
old  lake,  and  both  being  termed  outlets. 

As  indicated  by  Gilbert,  the  lake  which  formed  the  upper  Maumee 
beach  discharged  southwestward  into  the  Wabash  River.  The  outlet  begins 
about  2  miles  west  of  New  Haven,  where  the  north  and  south  shores  cease 
converging  and  turn  westward  in  parallel  courses  to  form  the  bluff's  of  the 
stream.  On  reaching  the  Wabash  the  outlet  has  a  length  of  fully  80  miles, 
but  the  enlargement  due  to  the  accession  of  the  lake  waters  extends  down 
the  Wabash  many  miles  farther.     The  width  ranges  from  1   mile  up  to 

'  Sixteenth  Ann.  Rept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1888,  pp.  107-126. 

''  Third  Ann.  Rept.  of  Dr.  Douglas  Houghton,  pp.  102-111.  Published  as  house  document  No.  8, 
Detroit,  1840. 

^  On  certain  glacial  and  postglacial  phenomena  of  the  Maumee  Valley,  by  G.  K.  Gilbert:  Am. 
Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series,  Vol.  I,  1871,  pp.  339-345;  see  also  a  brief  notice  in  Rept.  Geol.  Survey  Ohio,  1870, 
Columbus,  1871,  p.  488. 

■•Report  on  the  surface  geology  of  the  Maumee  Valley,  etc.  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  1, 1873,  pp 
550-551. 


712  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

nearly  3  miles,  the  least  width  being  in  the  city  of  Fort  Wayne,  where  it 
passes  through  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine,  and  the  greatest  width,  2  to  5 
miles,  being  west  of  the  city.  The  bluffs  range  in  height  from  15  or  20  feet 
up  to  about  75  feet,  the  highest  part  of  the  bluffs  being  near  Aboit,  at  the 
place  where  the  outlet  cuts  through  the  Wabash  moraine.  The  bluffs  in 
Fort  Wayne,  where  the  outlet  crosses  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine,  are  scarcely 
50  feet  in  height. 

The  bed  of  the  outlet  in  Fort  Wayne  stands  about  755  feet  above  tide 
or  182  feet  above  Lake  Erie,  and  the  head  near  New  Haven  seems  to  be 
but  a  foot  or  two  higher.  From  Fort  Wayne  to  Lewis's  ford,  3  miles  east 
of  Huntington,  there  appears  to  be  a  fall  of  but  11  feet,  though  the  distance 
is  nearly  25  miles.  At  this  ford  a  ledge  of  limestone  forms  a  barrier  which 
was  influential  in  causing  the  low  rate  of  fall.  Between  this  ledge  and  the 
junction  with  the  Wabash  River  there  is  a  fall  of  45  feet  in  the  present 
drainage  line.  Little  River,  and  the  lake  outlet  probably  had  nearly  that 
amount  of  fall,  for  Little  River  has  done  scarcely  any  cutting  in  the  bed  of 
the  outlet. 

The  bluffs  of  the  outlet  are  abrupt  throughout  the  entire  distance  from 
the  head  to  its  junction  with  the  Wabash  and  far  down  the  Wabash  Valley, 
showing  clearly  the  work  of  a  vigorous  stream.  Parts  of  the  bed  are  strewn 
with  bowlders  and  cobblestones,  also  indicating  an  old  scourway.  The 
northwest  part  of  the  city  of  Fort  Wayne  stands  on  such  a  stony  part  of  the 
bed.  Between  Fort  Wayne  and  the  ledge  at  Lewis's  ford  the  bed  is  occupied 
by  an  extensive  growth  of  peaty  material,  beneath  which  there  is  fine  sand. 
This  part  had  apparently  been  scoured  out  somewhat  below  its  present  level 
during  the  most  vigorous  stage  of  the  excavation  and  was  then  filled  in  as 
the  strength  of  the  flow  declined. 

The  outlet  is  also  partially  filled  near  its  head  by  a  delta  of  sand  formed 
at  the  mouth  of  Sixmile  Creek.  Dryer  estimates  the  average  height  of  this 
delta  to  be  about  10  feet  above  adjacent  parts  of  the  lake  bottom,^  and 
considers  it  the  product  of  a  stream  that  has  passed  from  the  St.  Marys  River 
Valley  northward  through  the  Sixmile  Creek  channel.  This  stream  is 
reported  to  be  still  operative  at  exceptionally  high  stages  of  water  in  St. 
Marys  River,  though  the  main  current  passes  around  by  Fort  Wayne  to  the 
head  of  the  Maumee  River. 

'Sixteenth  Ann.  Rei)t.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1888,  p.  113. 


OUTLETS  OF  LAKE  MAUMEE.  713 

SIXMILE   CKEEK   CHANNEL. 

This  channel,  which  was  brought  to  notice  by  Diyer/  has  been  discussed 
in  connection  with  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine,  its  course  being  southward  from 
New  Haven  to  the  St.  Marys  River,  through  the  Fort  Wayne  moraine,  and 
thence  westward  to  the  Fort  Wayne  outlet.  It  is  much  smaller  than  the 
Fort  Wayne  outlet,  being  only  about  one-fourth  mile  in  width.  Although 
its  bottom  has  a  level  40  to  60  feet  below  neighboring  parts  of  the  moraine, 
its  immediate  banks  are  scarcely  more  than  15  feet  in  height.  The  channel 
is  now  drained  northward  by  Sixmile  Creek  from  within  2  miles  of  St.  Marys 
River;  but  it  seems  to  have  been  opened,  or  at  least  utilized,  by  waters  of 
Lake  Maumee  discharging  southward.  The  beach  south  of  the  lake  turns 
up  this  channel  on  each  side  just  as  the  north  and  south  beaches  turn 
westward  into  the  Fort  Wayne  outlet.  Furthermore,  the  recurved  portion 
on  the  east  side  of  Sixmile  channel  has  been  opened  for  gravel,  and  its 
bedding  shows  that  it  was  formed  by  a  southward-flowing  stream.  This 
line  of  discharge  for  Lake  Maumee  found  its  continuation  down  the  St. 
Marys  Valley  but  a  short  distance,  for  it  left  the  river  and  passed  directly 
west  to  join  the  Fort  Wayne  outlet  about  6  miles  southwest  of  Fort  Wayne. 
The  course  is  plainly  marked  by  a  channel  about  the  same  size  as  that 
along  Sixmile  Creek. 

This  channel  was  probably  utilized  only  during  the  highest  stage  of 
Lake  Maumee,  for  its  summit  is  apparently  a  little  higher  than  the  second 
beach.  The  deposit  of  sand  found  near  the  north  end  of  the  channel  may, 
as  suggested  by  Dryer,  represent,  in  part  at  least,  the  delta  of  the  St.  Marys 
River,  formed  after  the  lake  level  had  become  lower. 

IMLAY   OUTLET. 

The  headward  part  of  the  Imlay  outlet,  as  described  by  Taylor,^  is  only 
about  one-third  of  a  mile  wide  at- its  narrowest  place,  averaging  somewhat 
less  than  half  a  mile  in  width,  and  "does  not  give  evidence  of  a  very  rapid 
or  powerfully  flowing  current,  if  the  sediments  remaining  on  its  bottom  are 
taken  as  an  indication,  for  it  is  floored  mainly  by  sandy  beds  of  gravel  and 
not  by  bowlders  and  cobble."  These  gravel  beds  are  found  chiefly  along 
the  borders  of  the  valley  and  stand  6  to  15  feet  above  the  swamp  which 

'  Sixteenth  Ann.  Eept.  Geol.  Survey  Indiana,  1888,  p.  112. 
■■'Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  VIII,  1897,  pp.  37-39. 


714         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

occupies  its  axis.  In  this  narrow  portion,  which  extends  through  parts  of 
Goodland,  Burnside,  and  North  Branch  townships,  in  Lapeer  County,  the 
banks  are  steep,  as  is  also  the  west  bank  southward  through  Imlay  Town- 
ship. But  below  the  village  of  North  Branch  the  width  is  seldom  less  than 
a  mile,  and  there  are  fewer  places  where  the  bordering  bank  is  sufficiently ; 
steep  to  suggest  cutting  by  the  current. 

Taylor  argued  in  his  paper  that  the  narrowness  of  the  Imlay  outlet, 
as  compared  with  that  at  Fort  Wayne,  seems  to  show  that  the  former  never 
carried  the  whole  discharge  from  Lake  Maumee,  but  that  the  Fort  Wayne 
outlet  also  probably  continued  active.  In  a  recent  letter,  however,  he 
points  out  that  a  newly  found  fragment  of  the  beach  at  the  southwest 
corner  of  section  3  of  Goodland  Township  overlooks  the  col  and  stands  20 
to  25  feet  above  it.  From  this  fact  he  sugg'ests  that  the  capacity  of  the 
narrow  part  of  the  outlet  may  have  been  largely  compensated  by  the 
rather  unusual  depth  of  the  water  passing-  through  it,  and  that  there  may 
have  been  after  all  little,  if  any,  water  left  to  flow  out  past  Fort  Wayne. 
The  fact  that  the  lower  reaches  of  the  Imlay  outlet,  as  lately  seen  in  Clin- 
ton and  western  Shiawassee  counties,  have  an  average  width  of  a  mile, 
thus  comparing  favorably  with  the  width  of  the  Fort  Wayne  outlet,  gives 
some  added  strength  to  this  view.  Still,  so  far  as  could  be  made  out 
from  the  faint  featm'es  of  the  second  beach  near  the  head  of  the  Fort 
Wayne  outlet,  it  seems  probable  that  this  outlet  did,  in  fact,  continue  to 
carry  off  some  part  of  the  discharge  after  the  Imla}-  outlet  had  opened. 

MAUMEE  BEACHES,  FROM  THE  FORT  WAYJSTE   TO   THE   IMXiAY  OUTLET. 

Before  a  discussion  of  these  beaches  is  begun  a  few  explanatory  state- 
ments seem  necessary  concerning  the  difficulty  of  discriminating  between 
the  first  and  second  beaches.  The  strength  of  neither  beach  is  great, 
except  in  places  favorable  for  strong  wave  action.  Where  the  lake  plain 
inside  of  a  beach  slopes  at  the  rate  of  15  or  20  feet  to  the  mile  a  well- 
defined  ridge  of  wave-washed  material  or  a  cut  bank  may  be  expected,  but 
where  it  becomes  reduced  to  10  feet  or  less  per  mile  it  can  with  difficulty 
be  discerned,  even  though  the  surface,  as  stated  by  Gilbert,  is  remarkably 
adapted  to  receive  the  impress  of  the  waves.  In  the  case  of  the  Maumee 
beaches  conditions  of  slope  are  in  places  favorable  for  the  strong  develop- 
ment of  both  beaches,  in  places  for  but  one,  and  in  places  for  neither.     As 


U.  S- GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY 


VliJNOGRAPH  /  LI     PL.  XXI 


MICHIGAN  KENTUCKY' 


LEGEND 


3:-! 


fj      ^pnitmin  ie  border 
elactalld-  ts  or  of  u 


lured  borders  i»f 
•Hacial  Ifltos  oi'  of  kv 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  MAUMEE.  715 

the  beaches  differ  but  a  few  feet  m  altitude  (10  to  25  feet),  and  as  topo- 
grapliic  maps  of  the  region  they  traverse  have  not  been  made,  it  will  easily 
be  seen  that  some  uncertainty  in  identification  is  likely  to  be  felt  at  points 
where  but  one  beach  is  present.  It  is  now  known  that  considerable  error 
of  identification  has  appeared  in  publications  already  made  by  the  writer 
as  well  as  by  others.  Portions  of  what  was  supposed  to  be  the  first  beach 
have,  upon  further  examination,  proved  to  belong  to  the  second  beach,  the 
first  beach  having  been  found  in  faint  form  outside  of  and  above  the  level 
of  the  second  beach.  The  first  beach  has  also  in  one  case  been  taken  for 
the  second,  and  this  has  led  the  writer  to  a  serious  error  of  interpretation  in 
the  part  of  the  lake  border  in  Ohio  between  Findlay  and  Cleveland.^  Rail- 
way altitudes  have  been  pressed  into  service  wherever  obtainable,  and  these, 
together  with  a  reexamination  of  much  of  the  shore  since  the  first  publica- 
tion (in  1892),  enable  the  writer  to  correct  some  errors  and  to  understand 
nioi^  fi-^lly  the  difficulties  of  correlation. 

The  Maumee  beaches  have  been  traced  eastward  from  the  Fort  Wayne 
outlet  to  their  termini  on  the  south  border  of  the  Lake  Erie  Basin,  as 
described  below.  They  have  been  traced  northward  no  farther  than  the 
Imla^  tlet,  in  Lapeer  County,  Mich.  On  the  west  border  of  the  lake  only 
in(  al  notice  was  taken  of  the  second  beach,  the  writer's  attention  being 

con^  trated  on  the  determination  of  the  extent  of  the  lake  and  the  position 
and  character  of  \  &  highest  shore. 

It  was  found  that  the  border  of  the  lake  is  usually  marked  by  a  cut 
bank  or  a  gj-avelly  ridge,  and  that  the  surface  inside  the  lake  border  is 
perceptibly  smoother  than  that  outside.  There  are,  however,  a  few  places 
where  the  waters  were  too  shallow  to  permit  strong  wave  action,  and  at 
such  places  tlie  margin  can  be  only  approximately  determined.  The  extent 
of  the  lake  is  indicated  in  PI.  XXI,  but  as  the  scale  of  the  map  is  small  and 
the  variations  in  the  beach  are  of  considerable  interest,  a  somewhat  detailed 
outline  of  the  position  and  character  of  the  beach  will  be  given. 

DETAILED    DESCRIPTION. 

At  the  point  where  the  upper  beach  turns  into  the  Fort  Wayne  outlet, 
1^  miles  northwest  of  New  Haven,  Ind.,  it  stands  15  to  20  feet  above  the 
floor  of  the  outlet  and  several  feet  above  the  plain  back  of  it.      It  presents  a 


'Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series,  Vol.  XLIII,  1892,  pp.  287,  291-296. 


716  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

sing-le  strong  ridge  from  that  point  northeastward  about  to  St.  Peter's  Church, 
2  miles  north  of  New  Haven.  It  there  assumes  a  comphcated  form,  with 
three  ridges  more  or  less  definite  and  of  about  the  same  height.  The  middle 
ridge  is  on  the  whole  stronger  than  the  outer  and  inner.  These  continue 
nearly  2  miles,  to  the  western  edge  of  Milan  Township.  The  second  beach 
is  present  much  of  the  way  to  Milan  Township,  and  stands  about  15  feet 
lower  than  the  first  or  upper  beach.  It  is  much  weaker  than  the  upper 
beach,  probably  because  of  the  shallow  depth  of  the  lake  in  front  of  it. 

From  western  Milan  Township  to  Maysville,  a  distance  of  7  miles,  the 
upper  beach  is  rather  fragmentary  or  disconnected,  and  stands  only  5  to  10 
feet  above  the  lake  plain  on  its  inner  border.  A  common  feature  in  this 
part  of  the  shore  is  an  overlap  of  ridges  at  the  point  of  entry  of  streams  into 
the  old  lake,  a  bar  having  been  extended  southward  on  the  east  or  lakeward 
side  of  nearly  every  stream  from  the  point  where  it  entered  the  lake.  These 
streams  enter  at  intervals  of  about  a  half  mile,  and  the  bars  extend  south  so 
far  as  to  cause  much  of  the  shore  to  be  lined  with  them. 

At  Maysville  (Harlan  post-office)  a  strong  beach  sets  in,  150  to  200 
yards  wide  and  10  or  12  feet  high.  It  is  bordered  on  the  inner  slope  by  a 
weak  ridge  or  offshore  bar,  standing  about  10  feet  below  its  crest  and  8  or 
10  feet  above  the  plain  to  the  southeast.  There  are  also  some  marks  of 
wave  action  and  a  "weak  shore  line  to  be  seen  on  the  tract  immediately 
outside  this  strong  beach,  but  this  soon  becomes  merged  with  the  main  ridge 
upon  passing  east.  The  beach  is  well  developed,  largely  as  a  gravel  ridge, 
from  Maysville  to  the  State  line,  a  distance  of  8  miles,  and  the  oflFshore  bar  is 
found  to  accompany  it,  for  short  distances,  at  frequent  intervals.  The  beach 
is  ordinarily  50  to  75  yards  wide,  and  stands  several  feet  above  the  lake 
plain  on  its  inner  border.  It  shows  some  overlapping  at  streams,  but  not 
to  so  mai-ked  a  degree  as  in  the  district  southwest  of  Maysville. 

From  near  the  State  line  of  Indiana  and  Ohio  to  Hicksville,  Ohio,  a 
distance  of  2  miles,  there  is  scarcely  a  trace  of  the  shore,  as  the  water 
was  probably  too  shallow  for  wave  action;  but  immediately  back  of 
Hicksville  a  cut  bank  appears,  which  is  distinctly  developed  for  several 
miles.  In  the  village  of  Hicksville  the  second  beach  is  well  defined,  but 
is  not  so  marked  a  feature  as  the  cut  bank  of  the  upper  shore  line. 

To  one  passing  northeast  from  Hicksville  along  the  Hicksville  and 
Bryan  pike  the  upper   beach  is   in   plain  view,  though  at  a  distance  of 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  MAUMEE.  717 

one-fourtli  to  oue-lialf  mile  or  more  from  the  road,  the  cut  bank  being  often 
15  feet  or  more  in  height.  The  second  beach,  though  lying  near  the  pike, 
is  developed  for  only  short  distances  and  is  difficult  to  trace. 

About  2J  miles  from  Hicksville  a  gravel  ridge  sets  in  that  is  60  to  80 
yards  or  more  wide  and  6  to  8  feet  high.  This  follows  the  Bryan  pike 
northeast  one-half  mile  to  the  Six  Points  Church,  and  seems  to  be  the  upper 
beach.  From  the  church  northeastward  to  Lost  Creek  there  are  two  well- 
defined  gravel  ridges,  differing  a  few  feet  in  altitude,  but  scarcely  so  much 
as  the  usual  difference  between  the  first  and  second  beaches.  The  upper 
ridge  lies  north  of  the  pike  much  of  the  way  to  Lost  Creek,  while  the 
lower  lies  along  or  near  it.  The  pike  turns  north  after  crossing  the  creek 
and  comes  to  the  upper  beach  about  a  mile  from  the  creek  bridge.  The 
beach  is  exceptionally  strong  for  a  mile  or  more  along  the  east  side  of  Lost 
Creek,  its  breadth  being  about  150  yards  and  its  relief  15  feet  or  more 
above  the  plain  on  its  inner  or  southeast  border,  and  several  feet  above  the 
plain  on  its  outer  border.  The  lower  of  these  two  ridges  is  poorly  developed 
from  Lost  Creek  to  Farmers  Center,  but  from  there  northward  to  Bryan 
there  is  a  rather  definite  ridge,  which  has  the  altitude  of  the  seco;id  beach. 

The  upper  beach  crosses  Dry  Creek  at  its  bend  3  miles  southwest  of 
Williams  Center,  and  for  nearly  2  miles  above  this  point  lies  along  the  east 
side  of  the  stream,  causing  it  to  take  a  southwestward  course.  It  consists 
of  a  gravel  ridge  100  to  200  yards  in  width  and  10  to  15  feet  in  lieight. 
The  ridge  continues  prominent  and  carries  a  large  amount  of  gravel  as  far 
as  Williams  Center,  but  from  there  to  Bryan  gravel  appears  only  in  patches - 
and  the  shore  is  mainly  a  cut  bank.  It  passes  about  a  mile  west  and  a 
mile  north  of  the  court-house  at  Bryan,  while  the  second  beach  passes 
through  the  court-house  block. 

From  Bryan  the  upper  beach,  a  cut  bank,  bears  north  of  east  to  Beaver 
Creek,  crossing  that  stream  just  above  Pulaski.  The  second  beach,  a  gravel 
ridge,  bears  northeast  and  crosses  the  creek  about  a  mile  below  Pulaski, 
after  which  it  follows  up  the  east  side  of  its  valley  to  the  village. 

About  a  mile  above  Pulaski  the  upper  beach  takes  the  form  of  a  gi-avel 
ridge  and  maintains  it  much  of  the  way  to  West  Unity.  It  stands  usually 
10  to  15  feet  above  the  inner  border  plain,  and  3  to  6  feet  or  more  above 
the  tract  west  of  it.  It  passes  through  the  north  part  of  West  Unity  and 
has  been  opened  extensively  for  gravel  immediatelj^  east  of  the  railway 
station. 


718  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

From  West  Unity  northeastward  past  Fayette  into  Michig-an  the  upper 
beach  lies  but  a  few  miles  west  of  the  Defiance  moraine,  and  parts  of 
that  moraine  rose  above  the  lake  level.  It  seems  to  have  been  protected  to 
a  great  degree  fi'ora  wave  action,  and  the  beach  is  not  so  strong  as  farther 
south. 

Near  Adrian  traces  of  a  vigorous  stream,  which  was  discharged  south- 
ward, were  found,  as  shown  by  the  bedding  of  its  gravel  deposits.  It  pro- 
duced a  remarkable  amount  of  erosion  considering  the  fact  that  it  was 
flowing  near  the  lake  level.  The  west  part  of  the  city  of  Adrian  stands  on 
the  scourway  of  this  stream,  its  path  being  indicated  by  a  level  bowlder- 
strewn  surface  bordered  on  the  west  by  a  definite  bank  or  bluff.  Immedi- 
ately south  of  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  Railway  a  deposit 
of  gravel  sets  in  on  this  old  stream  bed  and  extends  for  4  miles  to  the 
southwest,  or  nearly  to  the  village  of  Sand  Creek.  The  stream  seems  to 
have  entered  Lake  Maumee  near  this  village,  for  southwest  of  Sand 
Creek,  along  the  west  side  of  the  Defiance  moraine  there  is  a  sandy  ridge 
at  a  level  corresponding  to  the  upper  beach  of  Lake  Maumee.  It  appears 
north  of  Black  Creek  near  Packer  and  south  of  Black  Creek  from  near 
Birao  to  the  vicinity  of  the  State  line,  passing  about  a  mile  east  of  Morenci. 
It  is  a  low  ridge  only  3  to  5  feet  high,  but  is  perhaps  as  strong  as  could  be 
expected  along  a  narrow  bay.  The  west  border  of  the  bay  can  be  traced 
easily  from  Sand  Creek  southwestward  by  a  cut  bank. 

At  the  time  the  stream  was  operating,  the  ice  sheet  seems  to  have 
occupied  the  Defiance  moraine,  so  that  Lake  Maumee  extended  but  little 
north  of  the  Ohio-Michigan  State  line.  The  production  of  this  moraine, 
however,  as  already  indicated,  occupied  only  a  part  of  the  time  when  Lake 
Maumee  was  forming  its  upper  beach.  The  beach  has  been  found  farther 
north  on  the  inner  border  of  that  moraine. 

The  southernmost  point  on  the  inner  slope  of  the  northern  limb  of  the 
Defiance  moraine  at  which  the  upper  beach  has  been  identified  is  near 
Fairfield,  Mich.,  6  miles  south  of  Adrian,  but  there  are  probably  traces  of 
it  farther  south  in  the  midst  of  the  sand  area  of  northern  Fulton  County, 
Ohio,  for  parts  of  that  area  rise  20  feet  or  more  above  the  level  of  the  upper 
beach  of  Lake  Maumee.  The  second  beach  is  well  developed  at  many  points 
both  on  the  east  and  west  borders  of  that  sand  area,  as  indicated  below. 
About  a  mile   southwest  of  Fairfield    a   g-ravel  ridffe   sets   in  whicli  leads 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  MAUMEE.  719 

northeastward  through  the  north  part  of  the  village,  and  which  furnished 
the  site  for  the  Fairfield  geodetic  station.  It  is  100  yards  or  more  in  widtli 
and  stands  in  places  10  to  15  feet  above  the  plain  on  its  inner  border.  The 
second  beach  lies  within  one-fourth  of  a  mile  south  of  it  and  leads  throuo-li 
the  south  part  of  Fairfield.  It  is  traceable  beyond  the  southwest  terminus 
of  the  upper  ridge.  Both  ridges  are  developed  for  a  short  distance  from 
Fairfield  along  the  inner  border  of  the  Defiance  moraine,  which  there 
runs  nearly  west  to  east.  About  2  miles  east  of  Fairfield  the  Defiance 
moraine  swings  abruptly  to  the  north  and  becomes  broken  up  into  knolls 
and  sloughs  which  are  wave  worn  only  at  a  few  exposed  points.  The 
second  beach,  however,  lies  near  the  border  between  the  moraine  and  the 
plain  and  is  better  developed. 

The  upper  beach  seems  to  be  definite  at  but  few  points  in  the  next  15 
miles  to  the  north,  though  more  or  less  smoothing  of  the  surface  of  knolls 
and  slight  terracing  may  be  traced  all  along  the  inner  slope  of  the  Defiance 
moraine.  The  second  beach  is  much  better  defined,  and  lies  near  the 
border  between  the  moraine  and  the  plain. 

In  northeastern  Lenawee  County,  between  Ridgeway  and  Macon,  two 
ridges  appear  above  the  Belmore  which  seem  to  differ  about  15  feet  in 
altitude.  The  lower  is  about  35  feet  and  the  higher  50  feet,  by  aneroid, 
above  the  Belmore  beach  at  Ridgeway.  The  lower  ridge  is  rather  weak, 
but  the  higher  one  is  strong  and  is  maintained  distinctl}^  for  a  distance  of 
fully  3  miles.  It  contains  a  sandy  gravel  and  stands  5  to  10  feet  above 
border  tracts.  On  the  west  side  there  is  a  swamp,  covering  much  of  sections 
18  and  19,  Macon  Township,  and  extending  back  to  the  border  of  the 
moraine.  This,  in  all  probability,  was  covered  by  lake  water,  the  ridge  in 
that  case  being  at  the  place  where  the  water  became  so  shallow  as  to  cause 
the  waves  to  break.  This  ridge  terminates  near  the  bluif  of  a  small  stream 
about  a  half  mile  southeast  of  Macon.  From  the  north  end  of  the  swamp, 
near  Macon,  the  beach  continues  northward,  along  the  border  of  the 
Defiance  moraine,  into  Washtenaw  County,  being  largely  a  cut  bank,  though 
gravelly  ridges  appear  where  small  streams  led  down  from  the  moraine  to 
the  lake  plain. 

The  beach  turns  eastward  in  section  22,  Saline  Township,  Washtenaw 
County,  and  passes  through  the  central  part  of  section  23  and  north  part  of 
section  24,  to  Saline  River,  in  the  south  part  of  section  13,  being  much  of 


720  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  way  a  well-defined  gravel  ridge.  East  from  the  rivei  the  beach  con- 
tinues in  a  course  north  of  east  through  York  Township,  traversing  sections 
18,  17,  16,  15,  14,  11,  12,  and  1,  and  presenting  throughout  much  of  its 
course  a  well-defined  gravel  ridge  6  to  10  feet  high  and  50  to  100  yards 
or  more  in  width. 

In  section  12,  York  Township,  the  beach  turns  northward  and  enters 
Ypsilanti  Township  near  its  southwest  corner.  For  about  3  miles  it  presents 
a  well-defined  sandy  ridge,  passing  in  a  direct  course  slightly  east  of  north 
to  the  north  part  of  section  20,  where  it  terminates  abruptly.  But  another 
ridge  sets  in  outside  this  ridge  and  pursues  a  winding  course  northward 
through  the  western  part  of  Ypsilanti  Township,  passing  near  the  western 
linnts  of  the  city  of  Ypsilanti  and  coming  to  Huron  River  in  the  northwest 
part  of  section  5.  About  a  mile  east  of  this  ridge,  and  at  a  slightly  lower 
level,  there  are  faint  ridges  of  sand  running-  through  the  southwest  part  of  the 
city  and  along  or  near  Summit  Street  nearly  to  the  State  Normal  grounds 
in  the  northwest  part.  On  the  north  side  of  Huron  River  there  is  a  promi- 
nent sand  bar  setting  in  at  Highland  Cemetery  nearly  opposite  the  ridge 
at  the  Normal  grounds.  This  bar  trends  east  of  north  about  a  mile  and 
connects  with  a  beach  leading  in  from  the  west  which  forms  the  contin- 
uation of  the  western  or  main  ridge  found  south  of  the  river.  This  beach 
can  be  traced  westward  across  sections  33  and  32,  Superior  Township, 
nearly  to  the  Huron  River,  and  to  within  less  than  a  mile  of  the  end  of  the 
beach  south  of  the  river.  The  Huron  River  does  not  present  a  definite 
terrace  at  the  level  of  this  beach.  This  is  due  perhaps  to  the  fact  that  the 
stream  for  a  considerable  period  had  its  discharge  southward  from  Ann 
Arbor  to  Saline  River.  Possibly  the  diversion  to  the  present  course  did 
not  occur  until  after  Lake  Maumee  began  to  form  this  beach. 

From  the  point  where  the  bar  connects  with  the  beach  in  the  west  part 
of  section  33,  the  beach  takes  a  north-northeast  course  into  Wayne  County, 
passing  through  sections  34,  27,  22,  23,  14,  and  12,  Superior  Township,  and 
entering  Wayne  County  in  the  northwest  part  of  section  7,  Canton  Township. 
It  consists  usually  of  a  low,  gravelly  ridge  3  to  6  feet  in  height,  but  there 
are  frequent  gaps  where  it  is  poorly  developed  or  has  the  form  of  a  cut  bank. 

The  beach  presents  simply  a  cut  bank  for  several  miles  after  crossing 
into  Wayne  County,  but  from  section  28,  Plymouth  Township,  northeastward 
to  West  Rouge  River,  near  Waterford,  it  usually  consists  of  a  low,  gravelly 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  MAUMEE.  721 

ridge.  On  the  east  side  of  Rouge  River  there  is  a  conspicuous  delta  across 
which  low  bars  pass  northeastward,  converging  into  a  definite  beach  line. 
At  the  border  of  the  river  they  are  spread  over  a  space  nearly  one-half  mile 
in  width. 

The  beach  enters  Oakland  County  near  the  southwest  corner  of  Farni- 
ington  Township  and  takes  a  somewhat  direct  course  across  that  townshi]), 
jDassing  through  the  northwestern  part  of  Farmington  village  and  leaving 
the  township  in  the  northeastern  part  of  section  12.  It  usually  forms  a 
definite  gravel  ridge  3  to  6  feet  high,  and  30  to  50  yards  or  more  in 
width.  It  lies  along  the  inner  border  of  a  sharjDly  morainic  tract.  To  the 
east  of  it  there  is  a  rapid  descent  to  the  Belmore  beach,  but  the  surface  is 
remarkably  smooth. 

Immediately  northeast  of  the  point  where  the  beach  leaves  Farmington 
Township  there  was  a  bay-like  extension  up  to  and  beyond  the  village  of 
Franklin,  and  in  this  the  beach  is  not  clearly  defined.  East  of  Franklin 
the  shore  follows  the  inner  border  of  the  moraine,  and  is  usually  in  the  form 
of  a  cut  bank,  as  far  east  as  the  meridian  of  Birmingham.  The  second  beach 
runs  parallel  with  it,  scarcely  one-half  mile  distant,  and  presents  usually  a 
gravel  ridge. 

Near  Birmingham  there  is  considerable  complexity  caused  by  a  till 
ridge  and  morainic  hills  which  appear  along  the  borders  of  East  Rouge 
River.  The  till  ridge  at  Birmingham  is  barely  high  enough  to  catch  the 
second  beach  on  its  crest.  Northeastward  along  the  till  ridge,  however,  it 
soon  rises  to  the  level  of  the  upper  beach,  but  the  indications  of  wave  action 
at  that  level  are  exceedingly  faint,  even  where  conditions  seem  favorable  for 
the  development  of  a  beach.  The  lowering  of  the  lake  to  the  level  of  the 
second  beach  seems  to  have  followed  closely  the  withdrawal  of  the  ice  from 
this  till  ridge  and  the  opening  of  the  Imlay  outlet.  Indeed,  it  is  probable- 
that  the  opening  of  this  outlet  is  the  main  cause  for  the  lowering  of  the  lake. 

The  second  beach  from  Birmingham  northward  to  the  Imlay  outlet 
is  usually  a  gravelly  ridge.  It  is  exceptionally  strong  at  Romeo  and  in  the 
vicinity  of  Almont.  It  lies  along  the  inner  face  of  the  till  ridge  just  noted, 
from  near  Birmingham  to  Romeo.  Farther  north  it  traverses  a  tract  of 
weak  and  interrupted  till  ridges.  Its  course  is,  however,  somewhat  direct 
from  Romeo  past  Almont  to  Imlay.  Near  Almont  it  lies  along  the  crest  of 
a  small  till  ridge  that  passes  just  east  of  the  village. 

MON  XLI 46 


722  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Tlie  writei'  has  not  attempted  to  trace  the  beach  beyond  the  Imlay 
outlet.     That  region  is  tinder  investigation  (season  of  1900)  by  Taylor. 

The  portion  of  the  second  beach  which  appears  on  the  border  of  the 
Defiance  moraine  in  northern  Fulton  County,  Ohio,  and  southern  Lenawee 
County,  Mich.,  remains  to  be  described.  The  first  clear  indications  of 
the  beach  were  noted  in  the  vicinity  oi  Wauseon  in  a  cut  bank  about  a 
mile  south  of  the  town.  From  this  point  the  beach  was  traced  southwest- 
ward  along  the  inner  face  of  the  Defiance  moraine  to  within  a  mile  of  the 
south  line  of  Fulton  County,  where  it  was  found  to  cross  over  the  moraine 
and  turn  northward  along  its  outer  or  west  face.  The  point  where  it 
crosses  the  crest  is  about  2  iniles  south  of  Pettis\'ille.  From  this  point 
southward,  as  already  noted,  tlie  moraine  has  a  very  smooth  surface,  while 
to  the  north,  in  the  part  surrounded  by  the  second  Maumee  beach,  it  is 
undulatory. 

From  the  point  where  the  beach  crosses  the  moraine  south  of  Pettis- 
ville  northward  to  Tedrow,  a  distance  of  8  miles,  there  are  frequent 
developments  of  gravel  ridges  which  have  been  opened  extensively  to 
obtain  material  for  the  roads.  One  of  the  gravel  pits  is  a  half  mile  east  of 
Pettisville,  another  a  mile  northeast,  and  still  others  2  to  3  miles  farther 
north.  From  Tedrow  northward  into  Michigan  the  beach  is  very  indistinct, 
owing  probably  to  the  fact  that  there  was  only  a  narrow  bay  back  of  the 
Defiance  moraine. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  moi'aine  the  beach  is  developed  at  frequent 
intervals  as  a  gravelly  ridge  from  Wauseon  northward  into  Michigan,  its 
■course  being  east  of.  north  as  far  as  Winemeg  and  then  nearly  due  north 
across  the  State  line  past  Lyons,  Ohio.  It  is  poorly  developed  for  2  or  3 
miles  in  the  vicinity  of  Black  Creek,  but  finds  its  continuation,  as  above 
noted,  in  the  ridge  that  passes  through  the  southern  part  of  Fairfield,  Mich. 
This  beach  has  been  extensively  opened  for  gravel  about  3  miles  northeast 
of  Wauseon,  on  the  farm  of  Frank  Blair,  and  also  about  a  half  mile  south- 
west of  Winemeg.  From  Winemeg  northward  into  Michigan  the  beach  is 
composed  of  a  very  sandy  gravel  unsuitable  for  road  use. 

Summing  up  the  features  of  the  portion  of  the  Maumee  shore  between 
the  Fort  Wajme  and  Imlay  outlets,  it  may  be  stated  that  the  strength  of 
the  upper  beach  is  on  the  wliole  decidedly  greater  where  it  lies  outside  the 
Defiance  moraine  (from  near  Fayette,  Oliio,  to  the  Fort  Wayne  outlet)  than 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  MAUMEE.  723 

along  the  inner  border  of  that  moraine,  there  being  but  few  points  in  the 
latter  situation  where  it  attains  the  average  development  of  the  former. 

The  difference  in  strength  or  in  continuit}'  was  recognized  by  the 
early  settlers  in  the  location  of  roads.  The  portion  outside  the  Defiance 
moraine,  from  West  Unity,  Ohio,  to  Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  was  largely  used  as 
a  highway  and  known  as  a  "ridge  road,"  but  the  portion  in  Michigan  lying 
inside  the  moraine  was  utilized  only  for  short  distances,  the  gravel  ridges 
being  too  disconnected  to  give  the  beach  nmch  advantage  over  border 
districts.  The  difference  in  strength  may  also  be  appreciated  from  the  fact 
that  the  Maumee  beaches  had  not  attracted  attention  in  Michigan,  while 
the  Behnore  beach  had  been  known  from  the  early  days  of  settlement. 
The  courses  of  the  Maumee  shores  in  Michigan  were  in  large  ])art  first 
determined  by  the  writer  in  1899,  when  he  extended  his  studies  into  that 
region;  but  in  Ohio  and  Indiana  the  Maumee  shores  were  as  early  and  as 
well  known  as  the  Belmore. 

This  difference  in  strength  is  not  due  to  a  more  favorable  situation  for 
the  development  of  a  beach  in  the  part  outside  the  Defiance  moraine,  for  the 
situation  there,  on  the  whole,  seems  less  favorable,  the  slopes  being  in  many 
places  too  gradual  for  effective  wave  action,  a  condition  that  seldom  obtained 
in  the  part  inside  the  Defiance  moraine.  The  difference  seems  largely 
attributable  to  the  greater  time  in  which  Lake  Maumee  washed  the  portion 
of  the  shore  outside  the  Defiance  moraine. 


VARIATION    IN    ALTITUDE. 


It  has  been  known  for  some  years  that  the  shores  of  the  glacial  lakes 
which  occupied  the  basins  of  the  present  Laurentian  lakes  have  been  sub- 
jected to  a  differential  uplift,  which  causes  the  beaches  to  stand  higher  on 
the  northern  and  eastern  borders  of  the  lake  basins  than  on  the  southern 
and  western.  While  uplift  has  probably  produced  the  principal  variation 
in  altitude,  there  are  variations  not  dependent  upon  deformations  of  the 
earth's  crust  which  should  be  mentioned. 

The  lakes  now  occupying  these  basins  show  very  Httle  fluctuation 
tlu-ough  tidal  action,  the  amount  being  but  a  few  inches,  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  glacial  lakes  were  not  affected  to  any  great  degree.  This  factor 
may  therefore  be  dismissed,  as  it  would  cause  no  perceptible  variation  in 
the  altitude  of  the  beaches.     But  fluctuations  through  variations  in  rainfall 


724  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

amomat  to  several  feet,  and  such  fluctuations  are  liable  to  have  been  still 
greater  in  the  glacial  lakei ,  though  there  are  at  present  no  recognized  means 
of  computing  them.  The  present  lakes  show  also  a  marked  fluctuation  or 
disturbance  of  level  tln-ough  the  action  of  wind.  Strong  winds  from  the 
west  have  been  known  to  drive  the  water  from  the  western  into  the  eastern 
end  of  Lake  Erie,  until  the  level  at  Buffalo  became  several  feet  higher  than 
at  Toledo.  No  doubt  disturbances  of  this  sort  affected  the  glacial  lakes, 
there  being  some  evidence  that  the  wind  was  from  the  same  quarter.  It  is 
probable  that  the  combined  influence  of  the  rainfall  and  the  wind  would 
give  Lake  Erie  a  variation  of  12  feet  and  possibly  15  feet  in  level,  and  a 
beach  is  liable  to  be  formed  at  the  highest  as  well  as  the  lowest  level.  The 
writer  found  the  level  of  a  well-defined  storm  beach  at  Westfield,  N.  Y.,  to 
be  12  feet  above  the  ordinary  low-water  level  of  Lake  Erie,  and  this  may 
not  represent  the  maximum  height  attained  by  storm  beaches  in  other  parts 
of  the  shore. 

In  addition  to  these  factors  of  disturbance,  the  glacial  lakes  seem  likely 
to  have  responded  to  the  attraction  of  the  ice  sheet  and  to  have  stood  appre- 
ciablv  higher  near  the  ice  margin  than  at  points  more  remote.  Woodward's 
computations  ^  indicate  that  the  deformation  of  the  lake  surface  may  have 
amounted  to  several  inches  per  mile  in  the  vicinity  of  the  ice  margin.  It  is 
therefore  a  matter  of  some  importance  to  determine  how  much  of  the  north- 
eastward rise  is  due  to  ice  attraction. 

Turning  now  to  the  Maumee  beaches,  it  is  found  that  the  upper  beach 
stands  about  775  to  780  feet  above  tide  in  the  vicinit}^  of  the  Fort  Wayne 
outlet.  Near  the  State  line  of  Ohio  and  Michigan,  50  to  75  miles  from  the 
head  of  the  outlet,  several  observations  unite  in  giving  the  beach  an  altitude 
about  20  feet  higher.  The  Fairfield  (Mich.)  geodetic  station  is  799  feet, 
while  the  railway  stations  at  Fayette  and  West  Unity,  Ohio,  which  stand 
very  near  the  level  of  the  beach  at  those  points,  are  798  and  800  feet, 
respectively,  but  upon  continuing  northeastward  from  Fairfield,  Mich.,  the 
altitude  for  the  next  30  miles  seems  to  become  lower  rather  than  higher. 
The  aneroid  determinations  from  several  railway  stations  sustain  this  view, 
and  an  inspection  of  the  profile  of  the  Toledo  and  Ann  Arbor  Railway  con- 
firms it.  This  railway  profile  shows  the  altitude  to  be  but  790  feet  where  it 
crosses  the  beach,  4  miles  north  of  Milan.     The  altitude  of  the  sand  bar  on 

1  See  Bull.  U.  S.  Geol.  Survey  No.  28. 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  MAUMEE.  725 

Summit  street,  in  Ypsilanti,  is  also  790  feet,  as  determined  by  city  engineer's 
levels.  Farther  north,  near  Plymouth,  the  aneroid  indicates  that  the  altitude 
still  remains  at  790  feet.  The  next  railway  measurement  is  near  Birming- 
ham, 20  miles  north  of  Detroit  and  66  miles  from  Fairfield,  where  an 
electric-railway  survey  shows  it  to  be  809  feet.  Ten  miles  farther  north, 
at  Rochester,  an  electric-railway  survey  gives  it  an  altitude  of  820  feet. 
The  second  beach  there  is  780  feet.  Twenty-five  miles  farther  north,  near 
the  Imlay  outlet,  the  second  beach  has  an  altitude  of  849  feet,  as  determined 
by  Spencer  from  the  railway  station  at  Imlay. -^  The  marked  difiPerential 
uplift  seems,  therefore,  to  set  in  between  Plymouth  and  Birmingham,  about 
latitude  42°  30'. 

The  apparent  exceptional  altitude  near  the  Ohio-Michigan  State  line  is 
a  matter  concerning  which  an  opinion  can  scarcely  be  ventured  in  the 
present  state  of  knowledge.  Had  the  beach  terminated  there  just  outside 
the  Defiance  moraine  some  reason  might  be  found  for  attributing  the 
increase  in  altitude  to  the  attraction  of  the  ice  sheet;  but  the  fact  that  the 
beach  continues  farther  and  seems  to  become  a  little  lower  unsettles  this 
view  to  some  degree.  There  is  need  for  more  accurate  as  well  as  more 
numerous  determinations  of  level  to  make  certain  whether  the  beach 
declines  a  little  in  passing  north  from  Fairfield.  The  altitude  of  the  neigh- 
boring parts  of  the  Belmore  beach  may  prove  of  service  in  settling  the 
question  of  ice  attraction.  Should  the  Belmore  beach  show  a  corresponding 
exceptional  altitude  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Ohio-Michigan  line  it  would 
strongly  oppose  the  view  that  ice  attraction  had  been  influential  in  giving 
the  Maumee  beach  its  altitude,  and  would  indicate  that  crust  warping  was 
the  cause,  for  ice  attraction  can  not  be  supposed  to  have  had  the  influence 
upon  that  part  of  the  Belmore  beach  that  it  might  have  had  upon  this  part 
of  the  Maumee,  as  the  ice  sheet  had  probably  withdrawn  about  to  the  limits 
of  Lake  Huron  and  had  become  greatly  reduced  in  thickness  before  the 
Belmore  beach  was  formed;  but  on  this  beach  careful  measurements  have 
not  been  made.  Until  refined  measurements  have  been  made  on  each  of 
the  beaches  it  seems  hazardous  to  venture  an  opinion  on  this  point. 

The  second  beach  seems  to  stand  about  760  to  765  feet  above  tide  from 
the  Fort  Wayne  outlet  northeastward  to  Brj^an,  Ohio,  and  to  be  no  higher 

lAm.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series,  Vol.  XLI,  1891,  p.  209;  see  also  F.  B.  Taylor:  Bull.  Geol.  Soo.  America 
Vol.  VIII,  1897,  p.  37. 


726  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

in  the  ^^cinity  of  Wauseon  and  Pettisville,  where  it  ci'osses  the  Defiance 
moraine;  but  at  Fairfield,  Mich.,  it  stands  only  20  to  25  feet  lower  than  the 
upper  beach,  or  about  775  feet  above  tide.  Near  Ridgeway  it  seems  to  be 
about  775  feet,  being  only  15  feet  below  the  upper  beach.  At  Birmingham, 
as  already  noted,  it  is  780  feet,  or  29  feet  lower  than  the  neighboring  part 
of  the  upper  beach,  while  at  Imlay  it  is  849  feet. 

THE   SOUTH   SHORE   OF   LAKE   IHAU3IEE. 

In  the  examination  of  this  shore  attention  was  given  principally  to  the 
extent  and  character  of  the  upper  beach.  The  second  beach  seems,  however, 
to  be  developed  along  much  of  the  shore.  From  near  Cleveland  eastward 
into  Pennsylvania,  as  indicated  below,  it  appears  to  be  the  only  beach  of 
Lake  Maumee,  that  part  of  the  lake  basin  having  been  occupied  b}''  the  ice 
sheet  at  the  time  the  upper  l^each  was  forming. 

DETAILED    DESCRIPTION. 

Along  the  south  border  of  the  Fort  Wayne  outlet  east  from  Fort  Wayne 
there  are  two  ridges  of  sand  difiFering  a  few  feet  in  level.  The  lower  and 
more  fragmentary  one  is  utilized  b}^  the  Fort  Wayne  and  Van  Wert  road 
for  a  part  of  the  way  between  Fort  Wayne  and  New  Haven.  The  higher 
one  lies  a  short  distance  south,  along  the  base  of  the  bluff  of  the  outlet.  The 
lower  ridge  is  only  3  to  5  feet  in  height,  but  the  higher  one  is  generally  6 
to  8  feet.  The  lower  ridge  appears  to  be  low  enoug'h  to  connect  with  the 
second  beach,  but  the  hig-her  one  seems  to  be  above  the  level  of  that  beach. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  Sixmile  channel  there  is  a  very  prominent  hook 
where  the  beach  turns  into  the  channel.  A  gravel  pit  exposes  its  structure 
to  a  depth  of  17  feet.  The  upper  5  feet  is  quite  sandy,  but  below  this 
depth  there  is  gravel  which  shows  cross  bedding  with  southward  dip.  The 
beds  also  dip  toward  each  side  of  the  ridge  in  anticlinal  fashion.  The  crest 
of  this  recuiwed  ridge  stands  about  25  feet  above  the  Nickel  Plate  Railway 
station  at  New  Haven,  or  786  feet  above  tide.  It  rises  a  few  feet  above  the 
usual  altitude  of  the  upper  beach  and  probably  stands  at  least  5  feet  above 
the  highest  lake  level. 

From  this  hook  eastward  the  upper  l^each  is  very  sandy  and  in  places 
low  dunes  appear.  Wells  show  the  sand  to  have  a  depth  of  9  to  18  feet. 
The  ridge  rises  abruptly  about  15  feet  above  the  lake  plain  on  the  north, 
and  6  to  8  feet  above  a  sag  on  the  south.     The  sand  ridge  terminates  near 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  MAUMEE.  727 

the  southeast  edge  of  New  Haven,  and  for  2  miles  east  there  is  a  cut  bank 
to  mark  the  position  of  the  shore.  This  bank  is  10  feet  or  less  in  height, 
o-radually  decreasing  in  strength  eastward  iintil  it  fades  out.  A  bar  known 
as  "Irish  Ridge"  sets  in  north  of  the  point  where  this  bank  fades  out  and 
leads  eastward  a  distance  of  3  miles,  from  near  the  center  of  section  10  to 
the  northwest  part  of  section  13,  Jefferson  Township.  It  stands  about  as 
high  as  the  upper  beach,  its  western  end,  near  the  Nickel  Plate  Railroad, 
being  779  feet,  and  it  seems  to  have  in  a  measure  protected  the  shore  back 
of  it  from  wave  action. 

The  beach  reappears  near  a  Catholic  church  about  a  mile  east  from 
where  the  cut  bank  dies  out.  It  consists  of  a  low  gravelly  ridge,  standing 
only  3  to  5  feet  above  the  bordering  plain,  and  is  only  30  to  40  yards  in 
width.  Near  Zulu  it  increases  in  strength  and  stands  in  places  6  to  10  feet 
above  the  plain  north  of  it.  There  is  here  a  thin  gravel  coating  on  the  top 
of  a  cut  bank.  The  beach  runs  south  to  Flat  Rock  Creek  in  section  36, 
Jefferson  Township,  and  there  terminates  abruptly.  There  seems  to  be  no 
trace  of  the  shore  for  aboiTt  2  miles  east  of  this  creek.  The  surface  is  very 
fiat  and  there  was  probably  so  little  depth  of  water  at  the  lake  border  that 
wave  action  was  weak. 

The  beach  reappears  east  of  East  Flat  Rock  Creek,  in  the  southeast 
part  of  section  32,  Jackson  Township.  From  there  to  the  State  line  of  Ohio 
and  Indiana  it  consists  mainly  of  a  low  cut  bank  5  to  6  feet  in  height, 
gravel  deposits  being  meager.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  State  line  a  series  of 
four  nearly  parallel,  low,  gravelly  and  sandy  ridges  are  found  which  differ 
but  little  in  altitude,  and  were  probably  formed  in  succession  from  south  to 
north  at  the  highest  lake  stage,  though  the  northern  one  may  pertain  to  the 
second  beach.  The  northern  ridge  enters  Ohio  in  the  southwest  corner 
section  of  Paulding  County;  the  southern  enters  Ohio  2  miles  farther  south, 
near  the  line  of  sections  6  and  7,  Tully  Township,  Van  Wert  County.  The 
two  southern  ridges  seem  to  be  only  locally  developed,  but  the  two  northern 
are  quite  persistent  for  several  miles  into  Ohio. 

Of  these  two  ridges  the  inner  one  is  the  ^\  eaker  and  is  a  few  feet  lower 
(perhaps  10  feet)  than  the  outer  or  southern  one.  The  space  between  the 
two  ridges  is  a  mile  or  less.  The  northern  one  is  followed  by  tlie  Fort 
Wayne  and  Van  Wert  road  from  the  State  line  to  a  point  IJ  miles  north- 
east of  Convoy.     The  ridge  there  leads  eastward,  while  the  road   turns 


728  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

south  to  the  s<)utheni  ridge.  The  northern  ridge  seems  to  die  out  near  the 
Hne  of  Tully  and  Union  townships,  but  the  southern  is  well  defined  from 
near  Convoy  to  Van  Wert,  and  is  followed  by  the  Fort  Wayne  and  Van 
Wert  road.  The  southern  ridge  from  the  State  line  to  Van  Wert  is  seldom 
less  than  50  yards  and  in  places  is  150  yards  in  width.  It  stands  5  to  10 
feet  or  more  above  bordering  plains  and  in  places  is  sandy.  The  northern 
ridge  is  only  30  to  50  yards  wide  and  is  very  gravelly. 

At  Van  Wert  the  beach  is  only  about  5  feet  high  and  30  yards  in 
average  width,  being  below  its  usual  strength.  The  writer  was  in  the  city 
in  1891  when  pipes  for  waterwc)rks  were  being  laid,  and  found  that  the 
beach  carries  a  clayey  gravel  at  the  surface,  beneath  which,  at  a  depth  of 
2  or  3  feet,  clear  gravel  and  sand  set  in.  There  are  frequent  and  abrupt 
changes  from  sand  to  gravel  and  the  l:)eds  show  plainly  wave  action  from 
the  north. 

About  2  miles  east  from  Van  Wert  the  beach  becomes  exceptionally 
strong  and  continues  so  for  5  miles  in  curving  from  a  north  of  east  to  a 
south  of  east  course.  It  rises  6  to  10  feet  above  the  plain  north  of  it  and 
is  largely  a  cut  bank.  At  Dog  Creek  and  also  at  Little  Auglaize  River 
gravelly  material  brought  in  b}'  the  streams  has  been  worked  upon  by  the 
waves  and  given  a  regular^  front  on  the  lake  ward  side,  standing  about  10 
feet  above  the  lake  bottom. 

On  the  borders  of  Dog  Creek  Vallej'  two  beach  ridges  appear,  which 
are  separated  by  a  space  scarcely  a  half  mile  wide  and  which  become 
united  both  to  the  east  and  west  from  the  creek  valley.  The}'  differ  but 
little  in  altitude,  though  the  south  one  appears  to  be  a  few  feet  the  higher. 
From  Little  Auglaize  River  eastward,  toward  Delphos,  there  are  two  distinct 
beach  lines,  each  of  which  is  weak.  The  northern,  which  is  the  niore 
continuous,  is  followed  by  the  Van  Wert  and  Delphos  road;  the  southern 
leads  southeastward  from  the  Little  Auglaize  River,  along  an  angling  road 
2  miles  to  the  southwestern  part  of  section  26,  Washington  Township, 
where  it  dies  out  in  a  plain;  but  east  of  this  point  two  small  ridges  were 
noted,  one  of  which  crosses  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago 
Railroad  about  a  mile  west  of  the  canal,  while  the  other  lies  south  of  it 
in  section  26. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Delphos  the  shore  is  not  well  defined,  and  Jen- 
nings Creek  does  not  carry  such  a  conspicuous  delta  as  appears  on  Little 
Auglaize  River  and  Dog  Creek. 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  MAUMEE.  729 

Between  Delphos  and  the  Aug-laize  River  there  are  only  faint  devel- 
opments of  the  two  ridges,  but  immediately  east  of  Auglaize  River  both 
ridges  become  strong.  The  southern  or  outer  ridge  comes  to  the  river  at 
the  crossing  of  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wa5-ne  and  Chicago  Railroad,  and  takes 
a  northeastward  course  from  there  to  Gomer.  It  is  a  low  sandy  ridge  5  or 
6  feet  in  height  and  about  100  yards  in  width.  Parallel  with  it  on  the 
north  and  about  a  mile  distant  is  the  second  ridge,  which  is  followed  by  the 
Bucyrus  and  Delphos  road.  It  appears  b}'  aneroid  measurement  to  be 
about  10  feet  lower  than  the  outer  ridge,  and  it  has  about  the  same  strength. 
From  Gromer  to  Columbus  Grove  the  two  ridges  are  well  defined,  though 
the  southern  is  laot  so  continuous  as  the  northern.  The  northern  or  inner 
ridge  leads  through  the  business  part  of  Columbus  Grove  and  the  outer  one 
near  the  southern  limits  of  the  village.  The  southern  ridge  is  poorly  defined 
for  3  miles  east  of  Columbus  Grove,  but  then  reappears  in  considerable 
strength  and  continues  strong  for  about  2  miles  to  Rile}'  Creek,  coming 
to  the  creek  3  nailes  south  of  Pandora.  The  ridge  was  not  found  fartlier 
east,  and  the  lake  shore  probably  returns  northward  to  the  northern  ridge 
at  Pandora.  The  northern  ridge  leads  directly  to  Pandora  from  Columbus 
Grove  along  the  line  of  tlie  Bucyrus  and  Delphos  wagon  road. 

Between  Pandora  and  Findlay  the  beach  is  very  strong  as  far  as 
Benton  Ridge,  there  behig  usually  a  bank  10  to  20  feet  high,  capped  by 
gravel  several  feet  in  depth.  From  near  Benton  Ridge  to  Findlay  the  bank 
is  but  6  to  10  feet  high  and  the  deposits  are  rather  sandy.  This  part  of 
the  beach  borders  a  narrow  bay  south  of  the  Defiance  moraine,  and  in  view 
of  its  situation  is  remarkably  strong. 

North  from  Findlay  the  Defiance  moraine  rises  nearly  50  feet  above 
the  level  of  Lake  Mauinee,  but  within  about  10  miles  west  it  drops  nearly 
to  the  highest  lake  level  and  continues  near  that  level  for  about  10  miles 
farther.  It  is  there  crossed  by  a  beach  which  stands  at  the  level  of  the 
second  beach,  760  or  765  feet  above  tide.  The  upper  beach,  which  is 
about  15  feet  higher,  is  apparently  represented  chiefly  b}-  saiid}^  accumula- 
tions of  irregular  form,  which  follow  the  crest  of  the  moraine  eastward  to 
the  point  where  it  rises  above  lake  level  and  then  pass  eastward  to  Findlay 
along  the  south  face  of  the  morain.e. 

The  second  beach  is  strongly  developed  along  the  south  face  from 
near  Gilboa  northwestward  to  the  place  where  it  crosses  the  crest  2i  miles 
northwest  of  Leipsic.     It  contains  a  large  amount  of  gra^•el  and  has  been 


730  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

opened  for  road  ballast  at  many  points.  The  gravel  pits  show  clearly  that 
the  gravel  was  washed  up  against  the  moraine  from  the  southwest.  Where 
crossbedding  occurs  the  dip  is  uniformly  toward  the  moraine.  The  gravel 
can  not,  therefore,  be  an  outwash  from  the  moraine.  The  form  of  the  beach 
is  also  in  itself  sufficient  evidence  that  the  gravel  is  a  shore  deposit.  In 
the  vicinity  of  the  point  where  the  beach  crosses  the  crest  of  the  moraine, 
and  for  several  miles  eastward  along  the  north  face  of  the  moraine,  a  cut 
bank  10  to  15  feet  high  was  found.  This  in  places  carries  a  gravel  deposit 
which  is  nearly  or  quite  up  to  the  level  of  the  upper  beach,  but  the  base  of 
the  bank  is  as  low  as  the  second  beach. 

The  coiu'se  of  the  beach  is  south  of  east  for  several  miles  from  the 
point  where  it  crosses  the  Defiance  moraine.  It  then  swings  with  the 
moraine  to  a  course  north  of  east  and  leads  through  McComb  and  Van 
Bureu  to  Fostoria.  The  upper  and  second  beaches  were  not  clearly  differ- 
entiated in  this  part  of  the  shore,  though  two  ridges  were  observed  in  the 
interval  between  McComb  and  Van  Buren  which  appear  to  differ  a  few  feet 
in  altitude.  At  A^an  Buren  there  is  a  cut  bank  12  to  15  feet  higli,  the  base  of 
which  seems  to  be  near  the  level  of  the  second  beach  and  the  top  near  the 
level  of  the  upper  beach.  Two  ridges  were  also  observed  west  of  Fostoria, 
the  southern  being  near  the  line  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  and 
the  northern  along  a  wagon  road  about  a  half  niile  north.  These  differ 
apparently  less  than  10  feet  in  altitude,  and  both  lie  near  the  level  of  the 
upper  beach,  775  to  780  feet  above  tide. 

From  Fostoria  the  shore  bears  south  of  east  through  Bascom  to  Tiffin. 
There  are  in  places  two  ridges,  differing  at  most  only  a  few  feet  in  altitude. 
Neither  ridge  is  strong,  the  usual  height  being  3  to  5  feet.  A  cut  bank  of 
similar  height  occurs  along  part  of  the  shore.  The  weakness  of  the  ridge 
in  this  part  of  its  course  seems  larg'ely  due  to  the  direction  it  takes.  It  is 
found  that,  in  general,  the  weakest  part  of  this  and  other  shores  of  the  glacial 
lakes  in  the  Erie  Basin  are  where  the  shore  fronts  toward  the  northeast. 

From  Tiffin  the  shore  takes  a  northeastward  course  into  southeastern 
Sandusky  County,  coming  to  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  Rail- 
way about  3  miles  west  of  Bellevue,  from  which  point  it  turns  eastward  into 
Bellevue.  This  part  of  the  shore  is  inarked  by  a  strong  beach,  as  is  usual 
where  the  shore  fronts  toward  the  northwest. 

To  the  udi'th  and  northeast  of  Bellevue  there  were  small  islands  in  the 


U.  S    GEOLOGICAL    SURVEY 


MONOGRAPH  XLI   PL     XXII 


■1(elleys  Island 


LEGEND 


Area  above 
Lake  Maumee 


B  etweenMaumee  and 
Belraore  beaches 


r 


BetweenBelitiore  and 
Forest  beaches 


Below  the 
Forest  beach 


Shore  deposits, beaches 
spits,  dunes,  etc. 


Glacial  striae 


Altitudes 
above  sea  level 


MAP  OF  BEACHES  NEAR  SAND  US  K\;  OHIO 


BV  FRANK  LEVERETT 
1901 
ScEile 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  MAUMEE.  731 

lake,  one  being-  on  the  line  of  Sandusky  and  Erie  County  about  3  miles 
north  of  Bellevue,  another  1  to  2  miles  south  of  Castalia,  and  a  third  about 
5  miles  northeast  of  Bellevue  immediately  west  and  south  of  Sevenmile 
House.  The  beaches  are  well  developed  on  the  east,  north,  and  west  sides 
of  these  islands,  but  are  rather  obscure  on  the  south  side.  The  accompan}-- 
ing-  map,  PI.  XXll,  shows  the  character  of  the  topography  of  the  region 
between  Bellevue  and  Sandusky,  the  Belmore  and  Forest  beaclies,  as  well 
as  the  Maumee,  being  complicated  because  of  the  uneven  surface  which 
that  region  presents. 

The  shores  were  irregular  along  the  south  border  of  Lake  Maumee  for 
about  3  miles  each  side  of  Bellevue,  where  the  surface  is  rather  uneven 
because  of  low  rock  hills  and  ridges.  A  smoother  tract  sets  in  3  miles  east 
of  Bellevue,  and  the  beach  extends  southeastward  past  Hunts  Corners  to 
Pontiac,  in  northern  Peru  Township.  There  are  sand  dunes  as  well  as 
gravel  deposits  in  this  broken  tract  near  Bellevue.  Sojne  of  these  are  15  or 
20  feet  in  height,  and  they  may  extend  in  places  slightly  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  lake. 

Near  Pontiac  the  shore  turns  eastward  and  crosses  both  branches  of 
Huron  River  about  a  mile  south  of  the  noith  line  of  Peru  Township.  The 
course  is  then  northeastward  through  the  northwest  part  of  Bronson  Town- 
ship into  Norwalk  Township.  The  beach  passes  through  the  extreme  south- 
eastern part  of  the  city  of  Norwalk  and  a  mile  east  of  East  Norwalk.  It 
leaves  Huron  County  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Norwalk  Township  and 
continues  northeastward  through  Berliuville  to  Berlin  Heights.  Thence  its 
course  is  slightl}"  north  of  east  past  Axtel  into  Lorain  County,  about  parallel 
with  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie  and  distant  from  it  scarcely  4  miles.  It  crosses 
Vermilion  River  about  2  miles  below  Birmingham  and  continues  eastward 
across  southern  Brownhelm  and  Amherst  townships  to  the  west  part  of 
Elyna  Township,  passing  about  2  miles  south  of  North  Amherst.  This 
part  of  the  shore  from  Huron  River  northeastward  is  exceptionally  strong. 
It  was  not  only  exposed  to  the  heavy  waves  raised  by  the  west  winds,  but 
carried  a  sufficient  depth  of  water  along  the  shore  to  prevent  the  waves 
from  breaking  until  they  had  reached  the  beach.  There  is  frequently  a  cut 
bank  10  to  15  feet  or  more  in  height,  along  or  near  the  base  of  which  a 
gravelly  beach  appears.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  Huron  River  there  is  a 
space  of  a  half  mile  or  more  between  the  cut  bank  and  the  gravelly  beach, 


732  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

but  the  latter  seems  to  be  of  about  the  same  height  as  the  base  of  the  bank. 
Possibly  the  bank  alone  represents  the  upper  beach  and  the  gravel  deposits 
the  second  beach, 'but  the  difference  in  level  appears  to  be  less  than  is 
generall}^  found  between  the  two  beaches.  However,  only  aneroid  deter- 
minations have  been  made,  and  the  difference  may  be  more  than  it  now 
seems  to  be.  For  2  or  3  three  miles  east  of  Berlin  Heights  there  is  a 
prominent  ridge  of  sandy  gravel  standing  8  to  10  feet  above  the  tract  south 
of  it,  and  still  more  above  that  on  the  north.  This  is  succeeded  toward  the 
east  by  a  cut  bank  that  extends  about  to  Axtel.  Along  this  cut  bank  there 
a  remarkable  number  of  bowlders,  showing,  apparently,  that  the  till  in 
which  the  bank  is  cut  was  very  stony.  From  Axtel  eastward  two  ridges 
appear  which  differ  a  few  feet  in  level,  and  perhaps  represent  the  upper  and 
second  beaches.  They  are  found  both  east  and  west  of  Vermilion  River, 
though  they  are  more -closely  associated  east  of  the  river  than  west. 

Much  of  the  shore  of  Lake  Maumee  from  near  Elyria  to  Cleveland 
was  traced  in  detail  by  A.  A.  Wright,  for  the  Ohio  Geological  Surve}.^ 
The  double  phase  of  the  shore  was  clearly  brought  out  both  to  the  west 
and  east  of  Elyria.  Two  ridges  west  of  Elyria  differing  a  few  feet  in  level 
lead  southward  to  the  West  Branch  of  Black  River,  the  inner  and  weaker 
coming  to  the  river  about  3  miles  south  of  the  Belmore  beach  in  Elyria, 
and  the  outer  about  1^  miles  farther  up  the  river.  The  outer  ridge  is 
^vell  developed  between  the  West  and  East  branches  of  Black  River,  pass- 
ing Patterson  Station  and  coming  to  East  Black  River  opposite  Laporte. 
The  inner  ridge  does  not  appear  l^etween  these  streams,  but  sets  in  on  the 
east  bluff  of  East  Black  River.  Both  ridges  are  nearly  continuous  froin 
East  Black  River  to  Rocky  River.  The  upper  is  known  as  Butternut  and 
the  lower  as  Chestnut  ridge.  They  differ  15  to  20  feet  in  altitude,  the 
upper  being  in  harmouy  with  the  upper  beach  to  the  west,  about  780  to 
785  feet  above  tide,  and  the  lower  with  the  second  beach,  765  to  770  feet. 
The  upper  beach  is  double  for  about  3  miles  northeast  from  Laporte,  but 
the  two  members  seem  to  be  nearly  identical  in  level.  The  upper  beach 
comes  to  the  west  bluff  of  Rocky  River  near  the  junction  of  the  two  forks 
of  that  stream,  3  miles  northwest  of  Berea,  and  follows  nearly  the  bluff  of 
the  stream  northeastward  for  3  miles,  when  it  crosses  to  the  east  side  and 
leads  eastward  with  a  curving  course  convex  to  the  north,  past  West  Park 

'Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  II,  1874;  map  opposite  p.  58. 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  MAUMEE.  733 

Station  on  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  Railway,  to  North  Linn- 
clale.  The  second  beach  comes  to  Rocky  River  immediately  west  of  West 
Park.  Upon  crossing  the  river  it  becomes  a  cut  bank  and  curves  around 
nearlj^  concentric  with  the  upper  beach  to  Big  Creek  at  North  Linndale, 
crossing  Lorain  street  about  a  half  mile  west  of  the  present  city  limits  of 
Cleveland. 

Each  of  the  beaches  is  strong  from  Black  River  to  Rocky  River.  The 
upper  usually  presents  a  cut  bank  5  to  10  feet  high,  though  in  places  assum- 
ing the  form  of  a  gravel  ridge.  The  second  beach  is  commonly  a  g-ravel 
ridge  50  to  100  yards  wide  and  5  to  10  feet  high.  The  course  of  the  electric 
railway  from  Cleveland  to  Elyria  is  such  as  to  give  an  excellent  view  of 
each  of  these  beaches  from  Rocky  River  nearly  to  Ridgeville.  Tt  then  fol- 
lows the  Belmore  beach  to  Elyria. 

From  Big  Creek  at  North  Linndale  eastward  to  Brighton  there  are 
traces  of  both  the  Maumee  beaches.^  The  upper  beach  is  ordinarily  a  wave- 
cut  bench  with  but  little  gravel.  It  leads  through  the  southern  jDart  of 
Brigliton,  passing  near  the  tollgates  on  the  Parma  road  and  the  "Town 
line"  road.  The  interval  between  Brighton  and  the  Cuyahoga  River  is  so 
broken  by  ravines  that  the  course  of  the  upper  beach  was  not  ascertained. 
The  second  beach,  after  crossing  Big  Creek  about  a  mile  east  of  North  Linn- 
dale, is  developed  for  a  mile  or  more  as  a  g'ravelly  ridge.  It  then  becomes 
a  cut  bank,  and  leads  through  the  midst  of  Brighton.  It  leads  southeastward 
along  an  angling  road  to  the  Cuyahoga  River  bluff  near  the  north  edge  of 
Independence  Township. 

Upon  passing  to  the  east  side  of  the  Cuyahoga  and  ascending  the  bluff 
along'  the  ' '  Warner  road "  a  beach  is  found  at  the  top  of  the  bluff  on  the 
north  side  of  a  small  eastern  tributary,  about  one-fourth  mile  south  of  the 
prfesent  limits  of  the  city  of  Cleveland.  The  barometer  indicates  that  it 
has  the  altitude  of  the  second  Maumee  beach.  A  gravel  pit  shows  a  depth 
of  8  or  9  feet  of  fine  gravel.  From  this  point  the  lake  shore  passes  north- 
ward along  the  east  side  of  Mill  Creek,  while  the  "Warner  road"  rises  above 
the  level  of  the  upper  beach.  This  road  comes  down  to  lake  level  again  at 
its  intersection  with  Turney  avenue,  just  south  of  Mill  Creek.  The  city 
levels  make  the  altitude  207  feet  above  city  datum,  or  about  780  feet  above 

'  The  first  tracing  of  the  Maumee  beaches  through  the  city  of  Cleveland  was  by  Upham,  whose 
observations  and  map  are  presented  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  Geological  Society  of  America,  Vol.  VII,  1896, 
pp.  340-345,  plate  15.     The  writer  also  followed  them  through  the  city  as  here  indicated  in  1899. 


734  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

tide.  It  appears,  therefore,  to  be  the  upper  beach.  The  lake  extended  no 
farther  up  Mill  Creek  than  this  road,  for  the  creek  here  comes  out  of  high 
countrv  into  the  old  lake  plain.  From  ]\Iill  Creek  the  old  shore  passes 
northward  near  the  line  of  the  Cleveland  and  Pittsburg  Railroad  to  New- 
burg  station,  where  its  altitude  is  212  feet  above  city  datum,  or  about  785 
feet  above  tide.  It  continues  north  near  the  rolhug  mills  and  crosses  Union 
street  where  Patton  street  leads  north.  The  top  of  the  bank  there  is  210 
feet  above  city  datum.  The  upper  beach  seems  to  be  represented  still 
farther  north  b}^  sand  deposits  near  the  corner  of  South  Woodland  and 
Woodland  Hills  avenues,  as  the  altitude  there  is  208  feet  abo^■e  city  datum. 
Farther  north,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Garfield  monument,  there  is  a  steep 
bank  extending  from  near  the  level  of  the  second  beach  up  to  a  level  above 
the  upper  beach.  The  sandy  deposits  along  the  base  of  this  bank  appar- 
entlv  belong  to  the  second  beach.  The  upper  beach  is  much  weaker  from 
the  terminus  of  the  Cleveland  moraine  at  North  Linndale  eastward  through 
the  city  of  Cleveland  than  it  is  to  the  west,  its  strength  being  less  than  that 
of  the  second  beach.  This  change  in  strength  seems  attributable  to  the 
longer  time  in  which  the  lake  held  this  level  in  the  part  of  the  shore  west 
of  the  terminus  of  the  moraine. 

From  Cleveland  eastward  the  presence  of  the  upper  beach  is  rather 
uncertain.  There  are  indications  of  the  continuation  of  Lake  Maumee  as 
far  east  as  the  vicinity-  of  Girard,  Pa.,  and  the  barometric  determinations 
suggest  a  double  shore  for  a  part  of  the  distance,  with  levels  differing  about 
as  in  the  region  to  the  west.  But  in  the  absence  of  topographic  sheets  or 
accurate  levels  some  uncertainty  is  felt  concerning  the  presence  of  the 
ui)per  beach  east  of  the  vicinity  of  Cleveland.  Possibly  it  extends  no 
farther  east  than  the  terminus  of  the  Euclid  moraine,  10  miles  east  of 
Cleveland. 

Before  continuing  the  description  of  the  Maumee  beaches  to  the  east 
of  Cleveland  attention  sliould  be  called  to  a  prominent  terrace  in  the  east 
part  of  Cleveland,  on  which  the  Garfield  monument  stands,  and  which  has 
been  referred  to  by  Newberry  as  a  lake  terrace.^  This  prominent  terrace, 
whicli  stands  about  2.'i0  feet  above  Lake  Erie,^  or  nearlv  40  feet  above  the 


'Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  1873,  pp.  181-183;  Vol.  II,  1874,  pp.  59-60. 

2  It  is  reported  in  the  Geology  of  Ohio  to  be  210  to  220  feet  above  the  lake,  but  the  city  levels 
show  its  altitude  south  of  the  Garfield  monument,  at  the  intersection  of  Mayfield  road  with  Kent  road, 
to  be  247  feet  above  Cleveland  city  datum,  which  is  near  the  mean  level  of  Lake  Erie. 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  MAUMEE.  735 

highest  shore  of  Lake  Maumee,  is  better,  defined  for  several  miles  east  from 
Cleveland  than  any  terraces  at  levels  corresponding  witli  either  of  the 
sliores  of  Lake  Manmee,  the  width  being  from  an  eighth  of  a  mile  to  nearly 
a  half  mile.  This  terrace  is  as  flat  as  the  bed  of  a  stream,  and  is  usually 
bordered  on  the  southeast  by  an  abrupt  bank.  It  may  have  been  formed 
by  a  stream  passing  westward  between  the  ice  margin  and  the  escarpment 
before  the  ice  sheet  had  withdrawn  from  the  foot  of  the  escarpment.  It  has 
not,  however,  been  examined  with  sufficient  care  to  justify  a  positive 
interpretation  of  such  an  origin. 

For  some  miles  east  from  the  east  part  of  Cleveland  the  escarpment  is 
so  abrupt  that  the  Maumee  shores  are  marked  simply  by  narrow  benches 
cut  in  its  face  at  the  salient  parts  of  the  escarpment.  About  midway 
between  Lake  View  Cemetery  and  the  post-office  at  East  Cleveland  a 
bench  was  found  at  what  appears  by  aneroid  to  be  the  level  of  the  upper 
Maumee  beach.  It  is  much  narrower  than  the  bench  above  it,  just  men- 
tioned, that  leads  westward  past  the  Garfield  monument.  A  similar  narrow 
bench  is  found  at  about  the  same  level  south  of  East  Cleveland.  In  each 
place  there  are  only  scattered  pebbles  on  the  bench,  resting  directly  on  the 
shale.  Between  East  Cleveland  and  Euclid  a  narrow  bench  was  found 
along  the  face  of  the  escarpment,  which  by  aneroid  appears  to  be  at  about 
the  level  of  the  second  Maumee  beach.  It  carries  a  small  amount  of  sand 
and  gravel.  East  of  Euclid  there  are  slight  developments  of  a  bench 
having  apparently  the  level  of  the  upper  beach,  for  it  stands  40  to  50  feet 
above  the  Belmore  beach.  Whether  it  was  formed  by  the  lake  is  not 
certain. 

Near  the  line  of  Cuyahoga  and  Lake  counties  the  escarpment  loses  its 
boldness  and  drift  deposits  of  considerable  thickness  set  in.  The  Belmore 
beach  is  well  developed,  but  the  Maumee  shore  is  rather  weak.  A  gravel 
ridge  was  found,  however,  near  the  l)row  of  the  escarpment  southeast  of 
Wickliffe,  which  seems  to  have  the  level  of  the  second  Maumee  beach. 

From  the  Chagrin  River  eastward  nearly  to  Grrand  River  the  Belmore 
beach  is  cut  into  the  inner  slope  of  the  Euclid  moraine,  and  in  places  has  a 
bank  20  to  40  feet  high,  but  the  Maumee  shore  is  very  weak  and  fragmen- 
tary, though  the  moraine  rises  high  enough  to  catch  it. 

East  of  Grand  River  from  near  Madison  to  tlie  A'icinity  of  Saybrook 
a  distinct  beach  is  found  above  the  Belmore,  having  apparently  the  level  of 


736  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  second  Maumee  beach.  It  is  finely  developed  at  a  cemetery  a  half 
mile  sonth  of  Madison  and  seems  to  be  about  25  feet  higher  than  the 
Belmore  beach.  The  beach  here  is  100  to  150  yards  wide  and  stands 
nearly  10  feet  above  the  plain  north  of  it.  It  has  been  opened  for  gravel 
to  a  depth  of  10  feet.  A  mile  farther  east  it  presents  a  cut  bank  nearly 
10  feet  in  height,  but  from  the  vicinity  of  Unionville  nearly  to  Say  brook 
there  is  usually  a  gravell}-  ridge  3  to  6  feet  or  more  in  height.  For  5 
miles  east  from  Madison  it  stands  but  one-fourth  to  one-half  mile  south 
of  the  Belmore  beach.  The  courses  of  the  beaches  there  diverge,  until 
near  the  corners  of  Geneva,  Saybrook,  Harpersfield,  and  Austinburg  town- 
ships the  Maumee  shore  is  a  mile  south  of  the  Belmore  beach.  From 
these  township  corners  toward  Saybrook  they  converge  and  become  united 
in  a  single  prominent  bank  soutli  of  that  village. 

From  Saybrook  to  Ashtabula  the  bank  is  20  to  30  feet  or  more  in 
height.  Its  base  is  followed  by  the  Belmore  beach,  while  its  top  stands 
near  the  level  of  the  second  Maumee  beach.  There  are  sandy  deposits 
alono-  the  brow,  which  may  perhaps  represent  the  second  Maumee  beach. 
Sand  deposits  were  found,  however,  near  the  standpipe  of  the  Ashtabula 
waterworks  at  a  higher  altitude  thau  the  second  Maumee  beach,  the  altitude 
of  the  standpipe,  as  given  by  levels  at  the  city  engineer's  office,  being  216 
feet  above  the  zero  of  the  Grovernment  gauge  at  Ashtabula  harbor,  and  the 
crest  of  the  sand  ridge  near  it,  2^  feet  higher,  or  about  790  feet  above 
tide.  This  altitude  is  in  harmony  with  that  of  the  upper  Maumee  shore, 
but  is  about  20  feet  above  the  second  Maumee  beach  of  that  region. 
Whether  it  should  be  taken  as  an  indication  that  Lake  Maumee  extended 
to  this  point  at  its  upper  stage  is  not  clear.  Being  composed  entirely  of 
sand,  there  is  a  possibihty  that  it  was  formed  by  wind  action,  in  which  case 
it  may  stand  considerably  above  the  lake  level. 

East  of  Ashtabula  Creek  the  Belmore  beach  is  finely  developed  south 
of  the  Nickel  Plate  Railroad  at  an  altitude  of  170  to  175  feet  above  Lake 
Erie.  South  of  it  there  appears  to  be  wave  cutting  on  the  inner  slope  of 
the  Ashtabula  moraine  at  about  195  feet  above  Lake  Erie,  or  765  to  770 
feet  above  tide.  About  midway  between  Ashtabula  and  Kingsville  sand 
knolls  set  in  at  a  level  190  to  200  feet  or  more  above  Lake  Erie  and  con- 
tinue eastward  to  Kingsville.  They  are  10  to  30  feet  high  and  cap  the 
highest  points  on  the  moraine.     Near  Kingsville  a  well-defined  gravelly 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  MAUMEE.  737 

beach  appears  at  the  north  border  of  the  sand,  at  the  level  of  the  second 
Maumee  beach,  about  190  feet  above  Lake  Erie.  The  sand  knolls  may  have 
been  drifted  back  from  this  beach  by  the  wind,  though  it  is  barely  possible 
that  they  may  represent  the  upper  stage  of  Lake  Maumee,  whose  level  they 
reach.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  remarked  that  whether  or  not  Lake 
Maumee  reached  this  far  east  at  its  highest  stage,  the  streams  and  small 
lakes  held  between  the  ice  margin  and  the  escarpment  to  the  south  are 
likely  to  have  stood  about  as  high  as  the  upper  beach,  and  these  may  be 
responsible  for  some  of  the  sand  dejjosits.  The  gravel  beach  has  been 
opened  for  road  material  in  a  field  north  of  the  Kiugsville  school  building. 
It  extends  as  a  well-defined  gravel  ridge  for  about  1  ^  miles  west  from  Con- 
neaut  Creek  at  Kingsville.  Upon  crossing  Conneaut  Creek  one  finds  the  sec- 
ond Maumee  beach  at  intervals  on  the  inner  face  of  the  Ashtabula  moraine, 
between  there  and  the  Ohio-Pennsylvania  line.  It  is  iisually  simply  a  wave- 
washed  surface  without  a  definite  ridge,  but  occasionally  a  gravel  ridge 
appears.  Such  a  ridge  was  noted  3  miles  west  of  the  State  line,  but  it  is 
there  developed  for  a  distance  of  only  about  1 00  yards  along  the  brow  of  a 
cut  bank  which  extends  down  to  the  level  of  the  Beimore  beach.  A  smooth 
surface,  apparently  wave  washed,  extends  back  in  that  vicinity  100  to  200 
yards  or  more  from  the  brow  of  this  cut  bank.  A  more  prominent  ridge 
was  developed  for  a  distance  of  about  one-half  mile  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
State  line.  Here  also  it  is  at  the  top  of  a  cut  bank  back  of  the  Beimore 
beach.  Its  altitude  as  shown  by  the  Girard  topographic  sheet  is  above  760 
feet.  By  aneroid  it  is  25  to  30  feet  above  the  Beimore  beach,  or  770  to 
775  feet  above  tide.  The  grading  of  the  State  line  wagon  road  has  exposed 
the  Maumee  beach  to  a  depth  of  7  or  8  feet.  The  beach  rises  5  to  6  feet 
above  a  sag  back  of  it,  but  within  100  yards  south  the  Ashtabula  moraine 
sets  in  and  rises  above  the  level  of  the  bank. 

From  the  Ohio-Pennsylvania  line  this  gravel  beach  extends  east  about 
one-fourth  of  a  mile.  Sandy  knolls  and  ridges  then  set  in,  which  continue 
east  about  a  mile  along  or  near  the  brow  of  a  cut  bank  back  of  the  Beimore 
beach.  They  are  10  to  20  feet  high  and  are  confined  to  a  strip  a  half  mile 
or  less  in  width.  The  bank  seems  to  be  continued  past  West  Springfield 
station  in  low  sandy  ridges,  some  of  which,  just  north  of  the  station,  have 
been  opened  for  molders'  sand.     The  altitude  here  is  777  feet. 

From  West  Springfield  eastward  to  Girard  this  beach  is  more  fragmen- 

MON   XLI 47 


738    '     GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

tary  than  to  tlie  west.  There  are,  however,  low  gravelly  ridges  in  the 
vicinity  of  Cross  station  which  seem  to  mark  its  continuation,  and  a  gravel 
deposit  on  the  west  bluff  of  Elk  Creek  opposite  Grirard  seems  also  to  belong 
to  this  beach. 

From  Girard  eastward  the  writer  was  accompanied  by  F.  B.  Taylor 
in  a  search  for  the  second  Maumee  beach.  There  appeared  to  us  to  have 
been  some  wave  action  in  the  southeastern  part  of  Grirard  at  the  inner 
border  of  a  moraine,  but  from  that  j^oint  to  Fairview  beach  phenomena,  if 
present,  are  very  obscure.  At  Fairview  there  is  a  gravel  deposit  at  about 
770  feet  which  is  apparently  a  delta  formed  by  Trout  Run.  It  is  immedi- 
ately back  of  the  Belmoi-e  beach  and  yet  stands  25  to  30  feet  above  it.  It 
may  have  been  formed  in  connection  with  the  Maumee  beach,  but  of  this 
some  uncertainty  was  felt.  This  uncertainty  increased  as  we  passed  east- 
ward to  Swanville,  for  the  morainic  knolls  there  extend  down  to  the  border 
of  the  Belmore  beacla,  and  so  far  as  we  could  detect  show  no  traces  of  wave 
action  at  a  level  corresponding  to  the  Maumee  beach.  Nor  did  we  find  any- 
thing suggesting"  wave  action  above  the  Belmore  beach  between  there  and 
I]rie.  In  the  southwestern  part  of  Erie,  however,  is  a  plain  south  of  tlie 
waterworks  reservoir  at  the  right  altitude  for  the  Maumee  beach,  where 
there  are  traces  of  water  action,  either  by  waves  or  by  a  current.  There 
is  not  a  well-defined  beach,  but  a  flat  tract  which  leads  westward  from  Mill 
Creek  to  Cascade  Creek  has  a  definite  south  border  rising  in  places  like  a 
bank.  It  seems  to  us  not  unlikely  that  glacial  waters  may  have  discharged 
westward  through  this  flat  tract  while  the  ice  sheet  ^vas  occupjning'  a  range 
of  drift  knolls  on  which  the  reservoir  stands.  We  certainly  should  not  cite 
this  place  as  a  clear  indication  of  the  presence  of  Lake  Maumee. 

Continuing  eastward  into  New  York  we  were  unable  t<i  find  any  defi- 
nite shore  line  above  the  Belmore  beach.  There  were  a  few  places  where 
the  drift  siu-face  seemed  to  have  been  subjected  to  leveling  by  water  action, 
but  these  appear  at  various  altitudes  and  are  chiefly  above  the  level  which 
Lake  Maumee  would  have  reached.  They  seem  better  explained  as  the 
work  of  water  escaping  along'  the  ice  front  while  it  was  still  closely  bordering 
the  escarpment.  The  shore  of  Lake  Maumee  appears  therefore  to  terminate 
between  Girard  and  Erie,  Pa.,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  the  lake  had  even  a 
transient  extension  farther  east.  By  the  time  the  ice  sheet  had  withdrawn 
be^^ond  Erie  the  water  had  probably  fallen  to  the  level  of  the  Belmore 
beach,  and  Lake  Whittlesey  had  succeeded  Lake  Maumee. 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  MAQMEE.  739 


VARIATIONS   IN   ALTITUDE. 


There  appears  to  have  been  very  httle  warping  of  the  south  shore  of 
Lake  Maumee  west  of  the  Ohio-Pennsylvania  line.  The  slig-ht  variations 
disi^layed  by  each  of  its  beaches  are  no  greater  than  may  be  found  along 
the  present  shore  of  Lake  Erie;  but  near  the  Ohio-Pennsylvania  line  a 
differential  uplift  had  caused  the  beaches  to  increase  perceptibly  in  altittide 
in  passing  eastward.  This,  however,  affects  only  the  second  beach  of  Lake 
Maumee,  and  that  for  but  a  few  miles.  The  discussion  of  the  uplift  may 
therefore  be  taken  up  to  better  advantage  in  connection  with  the  beaches  of 
Lake  Whittlesey  and  Lake  Warren. 

The  upper  beach  of  Lake  Maumee  stands  about  775  to  785  feet  above 
tide  throughout  its  course  from  Fort  Wayne  to  Cleveland.  The  second 
beach  stands  about  765  feet  above  tide  in  the  same  interval,  but  rises  aboiit 
10  feet  between  Cleveland  and  the  Ohio-Pennsylvania  line,  and  attains  near 
its  terminus  in  northwestern  Pennsylvania  an  altitude  of  about  780  feet. 


RELATION  TO  THE  ICE  SHEET. 


The  dwindling  and  disappearance  of  the  beaches  of  Lake  Maumee  in 
passing  from  northeastern  Ohio  into  northwestern  Pennsylvania,  taken  in 
connection  with  the  fact  that  the  ice  sheet  withdrew  in  that  direction,  makes 
it  practically  certain  that  the  eastern  limits  of  the  lake  were  determined  by 
the  ice  sheet.  It  appears,  also,  that  the  presence  of  the  ice  sheet  in  the  low 
places  on  the  rim  of  the  Erie-Huron  basin  in  Michigan  and  of  the  Ontario 
basin  in  New  York  caused  the  lake  to  rise  to  the  Fort  Wayne  and  Imlay 
outlets.  The  withdrawal  of  the  ice  sheet  from  these  low  places,  as  indicated 
farther  on,  brought  them  into  use  as  outlets  and  thus  allowed  the  lake  level 
to  become  lower.  It  is  probable,  also,  that  the  Lake  Escarpment  morainic 
system  was  in  process  of  formation  during  most  of  the  time  that  Lake 
Maumee  stood  at  the  level  of  the  second  beach,  and  that  the  Cleveland  and 
Defiance  moraines  were  formed  while  it  occupied  the  upper  beach. 

The  strength  of  the  poi'tion  of  the  upper  beach  inside  the  Defiance 
moraine  is  about  as  great  on  the  south  shore  as  the  portion  outside  that 
moraine;  but  on  the  west  shore,  as  already  indicated,  the  j^ortion  inside 
the  Defiance  moraine  is  decidedly  weaker  than  that  outside.  It  is  not 
difficult  to  find  an  explanation  for  the  strength  of  the  portion  of  the  south 
shore  inside  the  Defiance  moraine.     Much  of  this  part  of  the  shore  fronts 


740         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  northwest,  while  outside  the  Defiance  moraine  much  of  the  shore  fronts 
the  northeast.  An  examination  of  the  beaches  has  shown  that  portions 
which  front  the  northwest  are  uniformly  stronger,  other  conditions  being 
equal,  than  those  fronting  the  northeast.  This  is  true  not  only  of  the 
Maumee  beaches  but  of  the  Belmore  beach,  the  beaches  of  Lake  Warren, 
and  the  beach  on  the  present  shore  of  Lake  Erie.  This  seems  to  indicate 
that  heavy  waves  were  chiefly  raised  then,  as  now,  by  the  winds  from  the 
west.  In  addition  to  this  advantage  of  frontage  toward  heavy  seas,  the 
portion  inside  the  Defiance  moraine  had  on  the  whole  deeper  water  near 
the  shore  than  that  outside,  so  that  large  waves  were  less  liable  to  have 
been  broken  at  some  distance  from  the  shore  than  in  the  district  outside 
the  moraine. 

CAUSE  FOR  TWO   BEACHES. 

The  cause  for  the  occurrence  of  two  beaches  in  connection  with  Lake 
Maumee,  as  already  suggested,  is  apparently  found  in  the  opening  of  the 
Imlay  outlet,  which  increased  the  capacity  for  discharge  and  produced  a 
lower  level  than  that  which  prevailed  while  only  the  Fort  Wayne  outlet 
was  in  operation. 


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CHAPTER   XV. 
THE   GLACIAL   LAKE   WHITTLESEY. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

The  name  Lake  Wliittlesey  was  suggested  by  Taylor  in  1897/  for  the 
lake  which  formed  the  Belmore  beach  of  the  Erie-Hm-on  basin.  He  also 
discovered  the  lake's  outlet  across  the  "thumb"  of  Michigan  and  named  it 
the  Tyre-Ubly  outlet.^  He  has  since  shortened  the  name  to  Ubly  outlet. 
The  Belmore  beach  was  named  and  partially  described  by  N.  H.  Winchell 
in  1872,^  but  parts  of  it  had  been  mapped  many  years  earlier.  Bela  Hub- 
bard had  traced  it  for  more  than  60  miles  in  southeastern  Michigan  at  the 
time  his  report  to  Douglas  Houghton  was  prepared  in  1840/  and  he  men- 
tioned its  presence  at  Plymouth,  York,  and  Ridgeway,  Mich.  A  map  in 
the  same  rejDort,  drawn  by  S.  W.  Higgins,  shows  the  position  of  the  beach 
in  Wayne  County,  Mich.  In  a  report  published  the  following  year,^  Hub- 
bard called  attention  to  the  continuation  of  the  mapping  of  this  beach  across 
Macomb  into  St.  Clair  County.  At  a  still  earlier  date  Whittlesey  made 
reference  to  the  lake  ridges  south  of  Lake  Erie  in  an  official  report  published 
for  the  First  Ohio  Greological  Survey,^  but  it  is  not  certain  that  he  had 
attempted  to  trace  their  courses  at  that  time.  A  few  years  later  he  had 
traced  two  or  more  of  the  beaches  from  Erie,  Pa.,  westward  past  Cleveland 
to  the  Vermilion  River,  and  noted  that  from  that  point  they  bear  farther 
inland.'  This  tracing  seems  to  have  included  the  Belmore  beach.  He 
found  difficulty  in  accounting  for  the  beaches,  inasmuch  as  they  occur  above 

1  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  VIII,  1897,  p.  39. 

^  Log.  cit. ,  pp.  40-41. 

'  Proc.  Am.  Ass.  Adv.  Sci.,  Vol.  XXI,  1872,  pp.  177-179. 

*  Third  Ann.  Kept,  of  Dr.  Douglas  Houghton,  pp.  102-111.  Published  as  house  document  No.  8, 
Detroit,  1840. 

5  House  document  No.  27,  pp.  120-122,  Detroit,  1841. 

"  Second  Ann.  Kept.  Geol.  Surv.  of  Ohio,  1838,  p.  55. 

'  Notes  upon  the  drift  and  alluvium  of  Ohio  and  the  West:  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  2d  series.  Vol.  V,  1848, 
pp.  205-217.  On  the  natural  terraces  and  ridges  of  the  countrj^  Ijordering  Lake  Erie:  Am.  Jour.  Sci., 
2d  series,  Vol.  X,  1850,  pp.  31-39.  On  the  fresh- water  glacial  drift  of  the  Northwestern  States:  Smith- 
sonian Oontrib.,  Vol.  XV,  1867,  32  pages. 

741 


742  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  level  of  the  ridge  cut  through  by  the  Niagara  River  near  BufFalo,  and 
also  above  the  divide  at  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan,  for  at  that  time  the 
relation  of  the  lakes  to  the  ice  sheet  was  not  even  dimly  conceived. 

^  The  Belmore  beach  is  the  "third  beach"  of  Gilbert's  series  in  the  Mau- 
mee  basin/  and  is  the  same  to  which  Spencer  applied  the  name  Ridgeway 
in  Michigan.'  The  name  Belmore,  however,  has  priority,  and  has  also  the 
advantage  of  being  less  liable  to  lead  to  confusion  than  Ridgeway.  The 
latter  name  has  been  applied  to  at  least  thirteen  towns  in  the  United  States, 
and  there  is  a  Ridgeway  in  each  of  the  four  States  bordering  Lake  Erie. 
As  a  further  disadvantage  the  name  Ridgeway  is  applied  to  a  town  in  New 
York  that  stands  on  a  different  beach  from  the  one  under  discussion. 

The  course  of  the  Belmore  beach  had  been  mapped  throughout  much 
of  its  extent  from  southern  Michigan  tlii-ough  Ohio  and  northwestern  Penn- 
sylvania to  southwestern  New  York  before  the  writer  began  investigations. 
Attention,  therefore,  has  been  given  chiefly  to  such  portions  as  others  had 
not  attempted.  The  extent  of  the  beach  in  southwestern  New  York  was 
worked  out  in  company  with  F.  B.  Taylor.  Taylor  also  assisted  in  tracing 
the  beach  around  the  part  of  Defiance  Bay  north  of  the  Maumee  River. 

UBLY  OUTLET. 

This  outlet  for  Lake  Whittlesey  having  been  discovered  and  brought 
to  notice  by  Taylor  ^  and  no  opportunity  having  been  afforded  the  writer 
to  examine  the  outlet,  Taylor's  discussion,  both  of  the  outlet  and  of  neigh- 
boring parts  of  the  Belmore  beach,  is  here  presented: 

The  most  northerly  point  of  Spencer's  tracing  [of  the  Belmore  beach]  is  2  miles 
east  of  Emmet,  where  the  altitude  is  770  feet.  From  this  point  it  was  followed  north 
and  then  east  past  Spring  Hill,  2  miles  northeast  of  Avoca,  where  its  altitude  is  about  the 
same.  It  is  a  strong  and  well-formed  beach  and  is  easilj'  followed  to  this  point.  At 
Spring  Hill  it  culminates  in  a  great  blunt  spit  of  gravel  compounded  of  many  beach 
ridges  laid  up  one  against  the  other.  The  head  of  the  spit  projects  toward  the  north- 
east, is  about  iO  rods  wide,  and  at  its  front  stands  about  15  feet  above  the  flats  to  the 
east  and  10  feet  above  those  to  the  northwest.  Two  more  fragments  of  this  beach 
were  found  within  3  miles  northwest  from  the  spit,  both  gravelly  projecting  points. 
Mr.  Gilbert  also  traced  this  beach  from  Emmet  to  Spring  Hill.  North  of  the  spit 
there  is  a  stretch  of  10  miles  or  more  of  very  flat  land  on  which  no  beach  was  seen. 
Four  miles  west  of  Crosswell  a  faint  shore  line  was  found  along  the  base  of  high 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  1, 1873,  pp.  554, 569-570. 

2  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  .Sd  series,  Vol.  XLI,  1891,  pp.  204-208. 
'Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  VIII,  1897,  pp.  39-46. 


OUTLETS  OF  LAKE  WHITTLESEY.  743 

ground  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  north  of  the  corner  at  Buel;  altitude  about  780  feet. 
Again,  on  the  east  slope  of  a  kame-ridge,  3i  miles  west  of  Applegate,  is  perhaps  the 
best  developed  beach  seen  in  Black  River  Vallej^  north  of  Spring  Hill.  Its  altitude  is 
about  77U  feet.  It  is  a  low  ridge  of  fine  sandy  gravel  facing  east  over  flats  30  to  40 
feet  lower  and  3  to  5  miles  wide.  At  a  point  2^  miles  west  and  1  mile  north  of  Apple- 
gate  the  same  faint  beach  was  found  at  the  same  height,  and  it  was  found  again  on  a 
slope  6  miles  west  and  1  south.  There  is  also  a  very  faint  mark  at  the  same  height  on 
the  north  slope  of  this  kame-ridge,  facing  north  over  Elk  Creek  and  the  great  Black 
River  Swamp.  *  *  *  Along  Black  River  from  Carsonville  southward  toward 
Applegate  there  is  an  extensive  gi-avel  plain  30  to  35  feet  below  the  beach.  At  the 
cemetery,  2  miles  south  of  Carsonville,  the  valley  at  the  head  of  the  beach  is  narrowed 
somewhat  where  it  passes  between  the  high  moraine  east  of  Black  River  and  the  kame- 
ridge  which  lies  along  the  south  side  of  Elk  Creek.  From  the  narrows  the  Black 
River  Swamp  extends  northward  over  the  summit  to  Cass  River  at  Tyre  and  Ubly,  a 
distance  of  30  miles.  In  this  stretch  no  beach  or  certain  water  mark  was  found.  The 
Belmore  beach  had,  therefore,  to  be  given  up  without  having  definitelj^  established 
its  connection  b}'  continuous  tracing  with  any  outlet  channel.  The  faint  fragments 
near  Buel  and  Applegate  are  the  only  ones  found  north  of  Spring  Hill  that  could  be 
supposed  to  belong  to  this  beach.  Nevertheless  it  is  clearly  the  correlative  of  the 
Tyre-Ubly  outlet  described  next  below. 

The  Black  River  Swamp  passes  over  the  col  to  the  head  of  Cass  River,  about 
2  miles  east  of  Ubly.  A  low  gravel  bank  on  the  west  side  and  midchannel  bars  on 
the  crossing  east  of  Ubly  indicate  that  the  water  was  at  least  10  or  12  feet  deep  on 
the  col.  This  is  now  about  790  feet  above  sea  level.  The  old  water  level  is  there- 
fore about  800  feet.  On  this  crossing  the  swamp  is  nearlj'  a  mile  and  a  half  wide. 
The  main  channel  passes  northwest  from  the  col  to  a  point  about  a  mile  north  of 
Ubly,  where  it  becomes  much  narrower,  scarcely  more  than  a  half  mile,  and  makes  a 
sharp  bend  to  the  southwest,  in  which  direction  it  continues  17  miles  to  its  terminus, 
about  a  mile  east  of  Cass  City.     Ubly  is  on  the  floor  of  the  channel,  on  the  east  side, 

1  mile  south  of  the  bend.     Two  other  smaller  branch  outlet  channels  cross  cols  about 

2  miles  east  and  southeast  of  Tyre.  At  this  place  they  unite  and  pass  thence  as  one 
channel  close  to  Ubly  on  the  south,  and  join  the  Ubly  channel  at  a  point  a  mile  or 
more  below  the  latter  jjlace.  Tyre  is  about  i  miles  southeast  of  Ubly  and  is  also  on 
the  channel  floor.  Both  channels  possess  distinct  characters  of  water  courses.  The 
Tyre  channel  is  a  bowlderj'  swamp  for  some  distance  above  the  town,  and  at  the 
station  there  is  scarcely  anj^  covering  over  the  underlying  sandstone.  The  strata  are 
bare  in  many  places  and  the  thin  soil  is  very  gravellj'  and  stony.  The  Ubly  chan- 
nel is  floored  almost  entirely  with  beds  of  gravel  above  the  junction  of  the  branches. 
Bowlders  are  numerous  in  some  places,  as  on  the  east  side  a  little  below  the  bend,  1 
mile  north  of  Ubly.  The  gravels  were  observed  at  several  places  to  be  at  least  4  or 
5  feet  deep.  Below  the  bend  the  width  of  the  channel  increases  to  three-fourths  of 
a  mile  to  a  mile,  and  keeps  this  width  to  Cass  City.  From  the  junction  the  floor  of 
the  channel  is  covered  with  great  numbers  of  bowlders  for  the  most  of  the  distance 
down  to  its  lower  end.  The  bowldery  floor,  nearly  a  mile  wide,  is  well  displayed  at 
Holbrook,  about  halfway  down  from  Ubly.  The  floor  a  mile  and  a  half  east  of  Cass 
City  has  an  altitude  of  about  730  feet.     In  its  present  attitude  the  floor  descends 


744  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

about  70  feet  from  the  col  east  of  Ubl}'  to  Cass  City,  about  22  miles,  but  the  descent 
of  the  water  surface  was  probablj'  somewhat  less. 

Cass  City  is  built  upon  a  gravel  plain  about  2  miles  long  east  and  west  and 
nearly  a  mile  wide,  which  from  its  position  strongly  suggests  that  it  maj^  be  a  delta 
of  the  outlet  of  Lake  Whittlesey.  Its  top  level  is  about  750  feet  above  sea  level  or 
20  to  25  feet  above  the  old  channel  bottom.  Thei'e  appeared  to  be  a  fragment  of  the 
same  plain  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  also,  as  though  the  original  deposit  had  been 
cut  in  two. 

The  contemporarj'  position  of  the  ice  front  with  respect  to  this  outlet  is  very 
clearly  marked.  The  last  land-laid  moraine  of  the  Hui'on  lobe  of  the  ice  sheet  lies 
close  to  the  east  side  of  Black  River  all  the  wa}'  northward  from  a  point  6  or  8  miles 
northwest  of  Port  Huron.  Where  the  Black  River  Swamp  is  wide  the  main  crest  of 
the  moraine  is  sometimes  4  or  5  miles  from  the  river,  but  it  is  usually  half  that 
distance  or  less.  The  moraine  is  usually  dual  or  triple  in  form,  with  2  or  3  crests 
or  ridges  running  roughh'  parallel  half  a  mile  to  a  mile  and  a  half  apart,  the  western 
one  being  the  highest.  Toward  Ubly  the  moi'aine  trends  northwest,  and  at  a  point 
about  3  miles  northeast  of  Ubly  it  meets  the  contemporary  moraine  of  the  Saginaw 
lobe  coming  from  the  southwest,  and  the  two  form  a  sharplj^  defined  angle  of  75°. 
The  high  ridges  of  the  two  moraines  do  not  unite,  but  are  cleft  just  in  the  angle.  A 
small  brook,  the  headwaters  of  Willow  River,  drains  a  part  of  the  gravelh'  channel 
bed  at  the  extreme  north  angle  of  the  bend  and  carries  its  waters  away  north  through 
the  narrow  gap  to  Lake  Huron,  near  Grindstone  C.ity.  This  cleft  probably  marks  the 
entrance  of  a  small  glacial  tributaiy  to  the  great  outlet  river  flowing  from  the  ice 
sheet  when  its  front  rested  close  b}"  on  the  main  moraine.  The  bend  of  the  channel 
is  exactly'  in  the  angle  of  the  two  moraines,  but  the  narrowest  point  is  half  a  mile 
farther  west.  The  crest  of  the  Saginaw  moraine  from  the  bend  to  Cass  Citj^  is  80  to 
100  feet  or  more  above  the  channel  floor,  and  the  channel  runs  close  along  its  foot  all 
the  way.  The  inner  angle  of  the  bend  is  held  bj'  a  high,  steep  hill  of  drift,  with  many 
bowlders.  It  is  the  northwest  end  of  a  lower  ridge,  which  seems  to  belong  to  the 
eastern  or  Huron  lobe  of  the  ice  sheet.  This  hill  has  been  cut  awa}'  to  some  extent 
on  its  north  and  west  sides,  leaving  many  bowlders  at  its  base.  The  base  of  the 
moraine  opposite  is  also  quite  steep,  apparenth'  from  the  same  cause.  The  hill  in 
the  angle  evident^  once  extended  a  little  farther  to  the  northwest.  Southwest  of 
T3're  morainic  ridges,  mostly  of  moderate  height,  trend  in  a  general  east-to-west 
course.  One  of  these  lying  next  south  of  the  Tyre  branch  is  high  at  its  west  end, 
like  the  one  north  of  Ubl3%  and  appears  at  one  time  to  have  stood  in  much  the  same 
relation  to  the  river.  It  stands  in  the  angle  where  the  Tj're  channel  turns  southwest 
into  the  main  channel. 

The  Tyre  branch  was  apparently  opened  before  the  Ubly,  and  the  former  served 
as  an  outlet,  while  the  ice  front  of  the  Huron  lobe  still  rested  on  the  morainic  ridge 
which  now  separates  the  two  branches.  A  later  retreat  of  a  mile  or  two  bj^  this  lobe 
left  an  open  space  close  along  the  ice  front  in  the  new  position,  and  this  became  the 
Ubly  branch.  After  the  Ublj"  branch  opened  the  volume  of  discharge  by  the  Tyre 
channel  must  have  been  largely  decreased,  but  the  level  of  the  lake  was  probably  not 
lowered  much,  for  the  heads  of  both  branches  are  nearl}-  at  the  same  level.  Judging 
from  the  compai'ative  magnitude  of  the  moraine  between  the  channels  and  the  later 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  WHITTLESEY.  745 

main  moraine,  it  seems  certain  that  the  early  activity  of  the  Tyre  channel  must  have 
been  quite  short,  as  compared  with  the  later  period  of  their  combined  activity.  In 
no  other  instance  known  to  the  writer  is  the  relation  of  a  great  ice  dam  and  the  outlet 
of  the  waters  which  it  retained  so  close  or  so  clearly  and  unmistakably  shown.  Ten 
miles  north  of  Ubly  the  surface  of  the  thumb  begins  a  gradual  descent  of  200  feet  to 
Lake  Huron.  The  circumstances  in  this  case  are  such  that  there  can  be  no  possible 
doubt  as  to  the  place  of  the  ice  front  while  this  outlet  was  active.  It  was  not  over  a 
mile  or  two  from  Ubly,  and  the  outlet  river  from  the  col  to  Cass  City  flowed  close 
along  the  foot  of  the  ice  front.  This  position  of  the  outlet  was  a  natural  consequence 
of  the  fact  that  the  ice  front  was  retreating  northward  down  a  slope,  which  happened 
to  be  the  lowest  part  of  the  rim  of  the  lake.  For  this  reason  the  outlet  hugged  the 
receding  ice  front,  and  changed  its  place  as  fast  as  lower  points  of  escape  were 
uncovered. 

By  following  the  course  of  the  Saginaw  moraine  to  the  southwest,  curving  back 
to  the  north  on  the  west  side  of  the  valley,  and  the  course  of  the  Port  Huron  moraine 
to  the  southeast,  curving  back  to  the  northeast  in  Ontario,  we  find  the  exact  position 
of  the  great  ice  dam  in  the  basins  of  Saginaw  Bay  and  the  south  arm  of  Lake  Huron. 
It  only  remains  to  locate  the  contemporary  ice  front  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  Erie 
basin  to  know  the  exact  boundaries  of  Lake  Whittlesey. 

THE  BELMORB  BEACH  FROM  THE  UBLY  OUTLET  TO  THE  MAUMEE  , 

RIVIER. 

The  writer  has  examined  the  beach  no  farther  north  than  the  vicinity 
of  Romeo,  Mich.,  but  from  notes  furnished  by  Taylor  its  coiu'se  can  be 
outlined  from  Emmet  to  this  point.  From  Romeo  southvi^ard  the  writer 
has  given  it  sufficient  attention  to  outline  much  of  its  course  from  his 
own  notes,  but  has  received  from  W.  H.  Sherzer,  of  the  Michigan  geological 
survey,  notes  concerning  its  course  in  Washtenaw  County. 

DISTRIBUTION. 

From  Emmet  the  course  is  southward  to  the  vicinity  of  Lenox,  in 
northeastern  Macomb  County.  It  there  curves  around  to  a  course  north  of 
west  past  Armada  to  a  point  about  2  miles  northeast  of  Romeo,  where  it 
swings  southward  and  leads  through  Washington  to  Chnton  River  just 
below  Rochester.  The  village  of  Rochester  stands  Upon  a  delta  which  was 
formed  in  connection  with  this  beach.  The  beach  continues  in  a  course 
west  of  south  for  about  12  miles  from  Rochester,  passing  1 J  miles  southeast 
of  Birmingham.  It  there  curves  abruptly  westward,  forming  an  interesting 
series  of  hooks  in  its  curving  portion  and  crosses  to  the  west  side  of  East 
Rouge  River  about  2  miles  southwest  of  Birmingham.  From  this  point  its 
course  is  southwestward  through  Farmington  to  Plj- mouth,  where  it  crosses 


746  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

West  Rouge  River.  A  complicated  series  of  bars  was  formed  on  the  delta 
of  this  system  opposite  Plymouth  and  extends  the  beach  southward  a  half 
mile  or  more  beyond  the  north  end  of  the  ridge  on  the  west  side  of  the 
stream.     From  Plymouth  the  course  is  west  of  south  to  Huron  River  about 

2  miles  below  Ypsilanti.  This  river  has  a  broad  terrace  at  Ypsilanti  which 
harmonizes  in  level  with  the  beach  and  was  apparently  formed  in  con- 
nection with  it.  The  beach  continues  in  a  southwestward  course  to  Saline 
River  at  Yoi"k  and  thence  past  Ridgeway  to  Raisin  River,  a  mile  west  of 
Lenawee  Junction.  From  this  stream  its  course  is  southward  5  or  6  miles, 
then  southwestward  about  3  miles  to  Black  Creek  near  Jasper.  It  then 
bears  southeastward  into  Ohio,  entering  that  State  about  3  miles  west  of 
Metamora. 

From  the  Ohio-Michigan  line  the  beach  continues  southeastward  orAj 

3  or  4  miles.  It  then  curves  around  to  a  southwest  course  and  leads 
through  Ai  and  Delta  to  Ridgeville  Corners,  where  the  course  changes  to 
the  south  and  the  beach  comes  to  the  Maumee  River  about  4  miles  east  of 
Defiance.  Throughout  its  course  in  Michigan  it  lies  east  of  the  Defiance 
moraine,  but  in  northern  Ohio  it  turns  toward  the  moraine  and  rises  to  the 
crest  near  Ridgeville,  from  which  point  it  follows  the  crest  to  the  Maumee 
River. 

DESCRIPTION    OF    THE    BEACH. 

The  beach  presents  remarkable  uniformity  on  the  western  shore  of  the 
lake.  It  is  commonly  a  low  bank,  4  to  8  feet  high,  with  very  gradual 
slopes  which  are  coated  with  gravel.  The  gravel  extends  up  to  the  tojD  of 
the  bank  and  gives  it  a  relief  of  a  foot  or  two  above  the  plain  back  of  it. 
There  are  very  few  places  in  which  the  beach  differs  markedly  from  this 
type  form,  and  the  gaps  are  remarkably  few  and  small.  Although  a  weak 
feature  so  far  as  dimensions  are  concerned,  its  continuity  and  its  regularity 
are  such  as  to  arrest  the  attention  of  all  who  cross  it. 

The  deltas  formed  where  streams  entered  are  usually  of  gravelly 
constitution  and  are  as  strong  on  this  west  shore  as  in  any  part  of  the  lake 
border,  the  rate  of  fall  in  the  streams  being  rapid  and  much  gravelly 
material  being  formed  along  their  courses. 

The  deltas  are  usually  best  developed  back  of  the  beach,  but  in  places 
they  extend  out  some  distance  into  the  old  lake  bottom.  A  conspicuous 
instance  of  such  an  extension  appears  along  Huron   River.     Sherzer  has 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  WHITTLESEY.  747 

found  a  fine  gravelly  deposit  spread  out  in  fan  shape  to  a  distance  of  fully 
3  miles  below  the  point  where  the  river  crosses  the  beach.  The  distance 
to  which  this  deposit  reaches  seems  greater  than  the  limits  of  transportation 
by  the  river  currents.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  the  material  was 
extended  lakeward  in  connection  with  the  lowering  of  the  lake  to  the  next 
beach. 

VARIATIONS   IN  ALTITUDE. 

This  western  shore  of  Lake  Whittlesey  appears  to  be  nearly  horizontal 
from  the  Maumee  River  northward  to  Birmingham,  Mich.,  or  about  to  latitude 
42°  30'.  The  altitude  of  the  crest  of  the  ridge  is  usually  between  735  and 
740  feet.  Northward  from  latitude  42°  30'  the  rise  is  very  gradual  as  far 
as  Armada  and  Lenox  (about  latitude  42°  50'),  the  altitude  being  between 
745  and  750  feet  at  those  points.  But  at  latitude  43°,  near  Emmet,  the 
beach  is  reported  by  Spencer  to  be  770  feet,  and  at  the  head  of  the  Ubly 
outlet,  40  miles  farther  north,  the  old  water  level  was  found  by  Taylor  to 
be  near  the  800-foot  contour.  The  exceptionally  rapid  rise  between  Emmet 
and  Lenox  may  not  be  entirely  due  to  uplift.  Taylor's  observations  indicate 
that  the  ice  sheet  stood  at  that  time  only  a  few  miles  east  from  Emmet.  Ice 
attraction  may  therefore  be  responsible  for  part  of  the  rise  shown  by  the 
beach.  It  should  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  levels  here  given  are  from 
railway  surveys,  and  a  comparison  of  the  different  surveys  shows  differences 
amounting  sometimes  to  several  feet  in  the  altitude  of  a  given  point. 

•       THE  SHORE  OF  DEFIANCE  BAY. 

In  his  description  of  the  Belmore  beach  in  northwestern  Ohio,  Gilbert, 
after  tracing  the  beach  to  the  Maumee  Valley,  stated  that  a  landlocked 
bay  west  of  it  stretched  up  the  Maumee  Valley,'  but  he  gave  it  no  name  and 
seems  not  to  have  determined  its  full  limits,  nor  does  he  mention  the  occur- 
rence of  a  beach  along  its  shore.  This  beach  apparently  was  not  definitely 
traced  until  1899,  when  the  portion  north  of  the  Maumee  was  worked  out 
by  the  writer  in  company  with  F.  B.  Taylor,  and  the  portion  south  by  the 
writer  alone.  The  name  Defiance  Bay  was  agreed  upon  by  Taylor  and  the 
writer  as  suitable  for  this  extension  of  Lake  Whittlesey,  for  the  double 
reason  that  the  city  of  Defiance  stands  near  its  deepest  portion  and  the 
Defiance  moraine  separated  it  from  the  remainder  of  the  lake. 

1  Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  I,  1873,  p.  554. 


748  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

From  the  Maumee  River  east  of  Defiance  the  beach  which  was  formed 
on  the  east  side  of  Defiance  Bay  follows  nearly  the  crest  of  the  Defiance 
moraine  for  several  miles  to  the  north  and  south  of  the  river,  as  indicated 
on  the  accompanying'  map,  PL  XXIV.  It  is  not  so  regular  and  continuous 
as  the  beach  formed  by  the  lake  in  that  vicinity,  but  its  average  strength 
is  about  as  great.  It  was  favorably  situated  for  receiving-  the  heavy 
waves  raised  by.  winds  from  the  west,  and  this  seems  to  account  for  its 
exceptional  strength  in  that  part  of  its  course.  It  is  very  regular  and  con- 
tinuous for  4  miles  north  of  the  river,  and  ditfers  but  little  from  the  lake 
beach  to  the  east.  It  shows  clearly  by  its  bedding  as  well  as  its  form  that 
it  was  built  by  a  body  of  water  standing  west  of  it.  It  rises  about  6  feet 
above  the  western  base  and  but  2  or  3  feet  above  the  eastern.  Upon 
entering  Adams  Township  it  soon  breaks  up  into  disjointed  ridges,  which 
are  distributed  over  a  space  a  mile  or  more  in  width.  It  then  becomes 
regular  for  a  few  miles,  in  passing  across  western  Henry  County. 

In  Hemy  Coimty  the  lake  beach  turns  northeastward,  while  the  beach 
of  the  bay  continues  north.  The  crest  of  the  Defiance  moraine  soon  rises 
above  the  level  of  the  beaches,  and  they  then  follow  the  slopes.  The  beach 
of  Defiance  Bay  crosses  Brush  Creek  south  of  Archbold  and  continues 
n(irthward  through  the  west  part  of  that  village,  passing  just  west  of  the 
public-school  building.  It  then  turns  east  of  north,  but  becomes  very  faint 
within  3  or  4  miles,  and  finally  merges  into  a  sandy  plain  that  lies  between 
the  Defiance  moraine  and  Bean  Creek  Valley  within  6  or  8  miles  of  the 
Ohio-Michigan  line. 

West  of  Bean  Creek  a  well-defined  beach  was  found  that  crosses  from 
Fulton  into  Williams  County  about  3  miles  east  of  West  Unity,  and  bears 
southwestward  across  Brady  Township  at  a  distance  of  1  to  2  miles  west 
from  Bean  Creek.  It  seems  to  be  at  about  the  level  of  the  Belmore  beach, 
but  it  is  so  much  stronger  tlian  the  remainder  of  the  beach  as  to  raise  a 
suspicion  that  it  was  not  produced  solely  by  the  waves  of  Defiance  Bay. 
However,  no  other  agency  can  as  yet  be  suggested.  Between  this  bank 
and  the  Maumee'  beach  at  West  Unity  there  is  a  tract  of  sharply  undulating 
di'ift,  which  dies  out  in  a  plain.  The  cut  bank  also  loses  strength  and  becomes 
very  faint  in  southwestern  Brady  Township. 

Upon  the  disappearance  of  the  cut  bank  a  strip  of  sandy  gravel  sets  in 
to  inark  the  continuation  of  the  shore.  This  in  places  carries  low  ridges 
2  to  4  feet  high,  but  has  generally  a  nearly  plane  surface.     The  best  defined 


U.  S  .  GEOLOGICAL   SURVEY 


\V<1I.L1.VMS 


MONOGRAPH    XLI   PL,  XXIV 


29  ^    V' 

5 

'            2^ 

Sf 

-■!^ 

30           j 

H        :■ 

r 

:  "N 

:     U 

-'    T,. 

31             f 

r.      _ 

.      ' 

; :  1 1  ■ " " 

:^ ---- 

■"■!  '■' 

L,_;= 

-■': 

Trcsl  of  Defiance  moraine 

outside  or  abiwe  the  Bclmore 

beadi. 


MAP  OF  THE  B  ELM  ORE  BEACH 

OJV    THE 

BORDERS  OF  LAKE  WHITTLE  SEY  AND  DEFIANCE  BAY 
NEAR  DEFIANCE, OHIO 

BY  FRANK  LE\T!;RETT 
1901 
Scale 


Belmore'bPach 


Lake'W'hittlesey 


Defiance  Bay 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  WHITTLESEY.  749 

ridge  noted  crosses  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  Railway  3  J 
miles  east  of  Bryan,  or  about  a  mile  west  of  the  Springfield  and  Pnlaski 
township  line.  This  ridge  continues  from  this  point  southwestward  for 
about  2  miles  to  the  valley  of  Beaver  Creek,  2  miles  directly  east  of  Bryan, 
beyond  which  it  is  not  so  definitely  developed.  This  western  shore  of 
Defiance  Bay  from  the  latitude  of  Bryan  southward  presents  only  patches 
of  sand  and  occasional  slight  traces  of  wave  cutting  to  show  its  position. 
The  plain  on  which  it  was  formed  descends  so  gradually  toward  the  east 
that  there  was  scarcely  sufficient  depth  of  water  to  afford  strong  wave  action. 

The  delta  of  the  Maumee  is  also  ill  defined,  and  apparently  was  spread 
out  as  a  thin  sandy  deposit  extending  from  near  Fairport,  Ind.,  eastward 
about  to  Cecil,  Ohio,  a  distance  by  direct  line  of  nearly  20  miles.  At  Cecil 
the  plain  bordering  the  Maumee  stands  only  about  15  feet  below  the  level 
of  the  beach  and  at  Fairport  scarcely  10  feet  above  it.  The  slope  averages, 
therefore,  but  little  more  than  1  foot  per  mile. 

A  peculiarity  of  drainage  east  of  Fairport  also  seems  to  indicate  that 
the  delta  sets  in  near  that  village.  Sixmile  Creek,  a  tributary  of  Auglaize 
River,  leads  awa}^  from  near  the  south  bluff  of  Maumee  River  like  a  distribu- 
tary of  a  delta,  and  it  is  found  that  a  sag  or  shallow  channel  connects  the 
river  with  the  head  of  the  creek. 

South  from  Maumee  River  the  first  suggestion  of  the  position  of  the 
west  shore  of  Defiance  Bay  was  found  near  Flat  Rock  Creek,  northeast  of 
Payne,  Ohio.  A  low  ridge  strewn  with  bowlders  appears  about  3  miles 
north  of  Payne,  near  the  corners  of  sections  14,  15,  22,  and  23,  Harrison 
Township,  and  leads  southeastward  through  sections  23,  24,  and  25  to  Flat 
Rock  Creek,  near  the  line  of  Harrison  and  Paulding  townships,  and  thence 
to  Worstville  station,  on  the  Nickel  Plate  Railroad.  From  Worstville  it 
bears  eastward  along  the  south  side  of  the  railroad  to  Briceton,  and  there 
takes  a  course  north  of  east  and  is  traceable  as  far  as  section  20,  Jackson 
Township.  This  ridge  has  a  clay  surface,  but  is  known  to  contain  some 
gravel,  there  being  a  pit  opened  in  it  about  2  miles  northeast  of  Briceton. 
Some  hesitancy  is  felt  in  referring  to  this  as  a  shore  feature,  though  it  occurs 
at  abovit  the  level  of  the  Belmore  beach  and  its  size  is  no  greater  than  the 
usual  size  of  that  beach.  It  looks  quite  as  much  like  a  low  glacial  ridge, 
and  the  large  number  of  bowlders  which  it  carries  seems  to  bear  out  this 
interpretation.     It  stands,  therefore,  as  a  rather  questionable  shore  line. 

The  level  at  which  the  Belmore  beach  should  occur  was   crossed  at 


750         GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

many  points  on  the  west  border  of  the  bay  southeastward  from  the  end 
of  this  ridge,  but  evidences  of  strong-  wave  action  were  not  discovered,  and 
but  few  places  wei'e  found  that  even  suggested  a  shore.  It  is  possible 
that  this  part  of  the  bay  was  occupied  by  rushes  or  other  vegetation  which 
protected  the  shore  from  wave  action.  The  bay  probably  extended  up  the 
Auglaize  River  Valley  to  within  3  or  4  miles  of  Fort  Jennings  and  up  the 
Ottawa  River  beyond  Kalida.  There  are  low,  sandy  ridges  setting  in  about 
2  miles  southeast  of  Kalida  and  passing  eastward  into  northwestern  Pleasant 
Township,  which  are  thought  to  have  been  formed  along  or  near  the  shore 
of  this  bay.  The  bay  probably  extended  up  Blanchard  River  2  or  3  miles 
beyond  Ottawa,  but  its  depth  was  scarcely  10  feet  at  the  site  of  that  city. 
North  and  also  northwest  of  the  city  there  are  low,  sandy  ridges  which 
were  probably  formed  by  the  bay.  A  definite  beach  sets  in  about  4  miles 
north  of  Ottawa  near  Brickner  post-office  and  leads  northward  along  or 
near  the  Napoleon  wagon  road  to  the  Nickel  Plate  Railroad.  It  is  there 
near  the  border  of  the  Defiance  moraine,  and  the  Maumee  beach  lies  but  a 
short  distance  northeast  of  it.  It  is  much  weaker  than  the  Maumee  beach, 
being  a  ridge  only  IJ  to  3  feet  in  height  and  a  few  yards  in  width. 

The  course  of  this  beach  was  not  definitely  located  for  3  or  4  miles 
northwest  from  where  it  crosses  the  Nickel  Plate  Railroad.  A  faint  sand 
ridge  was  found  on  the  crest  of  the  Defiance  moraine  in  the  north  part  of  section 
17  and  south  part  of  section  8,  Liberty  Township,  which  probably  belongs 
to  this  beach.  In  the  northwest  part  of  Liberty  Township  a  definite  beach 
was  found  which  leads  from  the  north  part  of  section  7  northwestward  into 
section  1,  Palmer  Township.  It  is  3  to  6  feet  high  and  is  composed  mainlj^  of 
gravel.  Its  form  is  much  like  that  of  the  shore  of  Lake  Whittlesey  to  the 
north,  but  it  faces  southwest  and  was  evidently  formed  from  that  direction. 
From  this  point  northwestward  to  Pleasant  Bend,  short  gravelly  ridges 
appear  at  frequent  intervals  and  there  is  said  to  have  been  a  well-defined 
gravel  ridge  in  the  village,  passing  near  the  Toledo,  St.  Louis  and  Kansas 
City  Railroad  station,  but  it  has  been  removed  for  road  ballast.  Gravel 
has  also  been  obtained  from  this  ridge  on  the  farm  of  John  Burkhardt,  2 
miles  southeast  of  Pleasant  Bend. 

Near  the  line  of  Henry  and  Defiance  counties,  2  miles  northwest  of 
Pleasant  Bend,  a  strong  beach  sets  in  which  leads  northwestward  past 
Ayersville  to  the  Maumee  Valley,  3  miles  east  of  Defiance.     The  shore  of 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  WHITTLESEY.  751 

Lake  Whittlesey  lies  only  1  to  I5  miles  north  of  it,  and  sandy  ridges  fill 
in  part  of  the  interval  between  tlie  two  beaches.  In  the  part  north  of 
Ayersville  the  lake  seems  to  have  washed  the  eastern  face,  while  the  bay 
washed  the  western  face  of  the  ridge.  But  the  lake  subsequently  built  up 
a  beach  farther  east,  leaving  the  western  ridge  to  be  washed  by  the  bay 
alone.  This  interpretation  is  based  upon  the  bedding  of  the  gravel  as  well 
as  the  form  of  the  ridge,  large  gravel  pits  in  the  western  ridge  north  of 
Ayersville  showing  clearly  that  the  waves  came  in  from  the  east.  The  east 
and  west  ridges  became  united  at  the  north  near  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad,  and  from  the  north  end  a  hook  curves  around  to  the  west  and 
south  in  such  manner  as  to  suggest  that  a  current  passed  into  the  bay  from 
the  lake.  ,  Sand  dunes  are  not  confined  to  the  interval  between  the  two 
ridges,  there  being  a  prominent  range  west  of  the  west  ridge  1  to  2  miles 
west  of  Ayersville.  The  complexity  of  the  shore  features  will  be  seen  by 
reference  to  the  map  (PL  XXIV). 

The  altitude  of  the  beach  of  Defiance  Bay  at  Pleasant  Bend  is  shown 
by  the  profile  of  the  Toledo,  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City  Railroad  to  be  742 
feet,  while  the  beach  of  Lake  Whittlesey  at  New  Bavaria  is  shown  by  the 
same  railroad  to  be  about  5  feet  lower.  This  slight  difference  may  prevail 
for  some  distance  southeast  from  Pleasant  Bend,  for  the  bay  beach  stands 
very  near  the  water  parting  on  the  moraine  while  the  lake  beach  is  2  or  3 
miles  north  of  the  water  parting.  The  surface  for  some  distance  north  from 
the  crest  or  water  parting  is,  however,  so  flat  that  ditching  is  necessary  to 
obtain  adequate  drainage,  and  the  fall  can  be  but  a  very  few  feet  between 
these  beaches.  At  Archbold  the  Defiance  Bay  beach  has  nearly  the  same 
altitude  as  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  Railway  station,  or  about 
735  feet.  It  is  as  low  as  the  neighboring  part  of  the  lake  beach.  The  ridge 
crossed  by  the  same  railway  on  the  west  side  of  the  bay  is  shown  by  the 
profile  to  be  173  feet  above  Lake  Erie,  or  very  nearlj-  735  feet  above  tide. 

THE  SOUTPI  SHORE  OF  LAKE  WHITTLESEY. 

DISTRIBUTION. 

From  the  south  bluff  of  the  Maumee  River,  about  3  miles  east  of 
Defiance,  a  well-defined  beach  similar  to  that  north  of  the  river  leads 
southeastward  to  New  Bavaria,  thence  eastward  to  Ridgeland,  thence  south 
of   east    through    Belmore    and    Deweyville   into    northwestern    Hancock 


752  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

County.  It  there  curves  around  to  a  course  north  of  east  and  passes  into 
Wood  County  near  North  Baltimore.  About  a  mile  north  of  North  Balti- 
more it  turns  eastward  and  passes  north  of  Bardstown  and  Bloomdale  and 
leaves  Wood  County  about  4  miles  north  of  Fostoria.  For  3  or  4  miles 
in  the  western  part  of  Seneca  County  it  is  ill  defined  on  account  of  the 
presence  of  rock  hills,  but  near  Amsden  it  reappears  in  strength  and  leads 
northeastward  past  Kansas  about  to  the  county  line.  It  there  curves 
abruptly  to  a  southward  course  and  runs  out  at  a  creek  valley  about  a 
mile  east  of  Kansas. 

Faint  traces  of  the  shore  were  found  near  Angus  and  thence  south- 
eastward along  an  angling  road  to  the  Pan  Handle  Railroad  which  it  crosses 
at  the  township  line  about  3  miles  north  of  Tiftln.  The  beach  then  bears 
eastward  near  the  township  line  to  the  Sandusky  River,  and  after  crossing 
the  river  takes  a  northeastward  com-se,  passing  through  Watson  and  about 
2  miles  south  and  east  of  the  village  of  Greenspring.  It  passes  about  2  miles 
east  of  Clyde  and  enters  Erie  County  5  or  6  miles  north  of  Belle\'T.ie. 
In  western  Erie  County  a  bay  extended  back  to  the  north  edge  of  Bellevue, 
but  the  border  is  indistinctly  outlined  because  of  the  shallowness  of  the 
water  and  the  presence  of  small  islands  to  the  north  and  east.  There  were 
also  islands  immediately  southwest  of  Castalia  which  add  to  the  complexity 
(see  PI.  XXII). 

At  North  Monroeville,  about  6  miles  east  of  Bellevue,  the  lake  shore 
becomes  reduced  to  a  single  definite  ridge  which  leads  southwai-d  into 
Huron  County  past  Monroeville  and  there  curves  around  to  the  east,  cross- 
ing East  Huron  River  about  a  mile  south  of  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan 
Southern  Railway.  Its  course  is  then  northeastward  through  Norwalk  and 
East  Norwalk  into  Erie  County.  For  several  miles  it  lies  near  the  Maumee 
beach  and  passes  with  that  beach  through  the  village  of  Berlin  Heights. 
From  Berlin  Heights  eastward  to  North  Amherst  it  lies  1  to  2  miles  north 
of  the  Maumee  shore.  From  North  Amherst  it  swings  around  southward 
to  the  city  of  Elyria.  It  leads  into  Elyria  from  the  northwest,  but  leaves 
that  city  in  a  course  north  of  east  and,  passing  through  Ridgeville  and 
Dover,  comes  to  Rocky  River  within  a  mile  north  of  the  Maumee  shore.  t 
curves  around  with  that  shore  through  West  Cleveland  and  runs  tln-ough 
the  southwestern  part  of  the  city  of  Cleveland  along  Dennison  avenue. 

Upon  crossing  the  Cuyahoga  Valley  it  passes  northward  through  the 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  WHITTLESEY.  753 

eastern  part  of  Cleveland  into  East  Cleveland  and  thence  takes  a  course 
northeastward  about  parallel  with  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  and  distant  from 
it  but  3  to  5  miles,  through  the  northeast  part  of  Ohio.  It  lies  south  of  the 
Nickel  Plate  and  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  railways,  and  is 
within  view  from  one  or  both  railways  from  Cleveland  eastward  into 
Pennsylvania. 

Li  Erie  County,  Pa.,  the  beach  continues  about  parallel  with  the  shore 
of  Lake  Erie,  passing  through  East  Springfield  and  just  north  of  Girard 
and  Fairview,  and  leading  through  the  southern  part  of  the  city  of  Erie 
and  the  northern  part  of  the  village  of  Northeast. 

At  the  Pennsjdvania-New  York  line  this  beach  stands  between  the 
Nickel  Plate  and  Lake  Shore  railways,  but  soon  passes  to  the  south  of  the 
Nickel  Plate  and  leads  through  the  southern  part  of  JRipley  and  the  extreme 
southern  edge  of  Westfield.  It  passes  south  of  the  villages  touched  by  these 
railways  farther  east,  being  near  the  base  of  the  escarpment.  It  crosses 
the  Dunkirk  and  Allegheny  Valley  Railroad  about  a  mile  east  of  Sheridan 
and  Walnut  Creek,  within  a  mile  of  Forestville.  It  then  swings  northward 
to  Hanover  Center  and  there  makes  an  abrupt  turn  to  the  east  and  con- 
tinues in  that  direction  to  the  valley  of  Cattaraugus  Creek,  which  it  crosses 
about  a  mile  above  Versailles.  An  extensive  gravel  delta  known  as  the 
"Fourmile  level"  was  formed  in  the  Cattaraugus  Valley  above  Versailles  in 
connection  with  this  lake  stage. 

On  the  east  side  of  Cattaraugus  Valley  there  is  some  complexity  because 
of  islands  on  the  border  of  the  lake.  The  most  prominent  extends  from 
the  Indian  Council  House  2  miles  east  of  Versailles  northward  nearly  to 
North  Collins,  a  distance  of  3  or  4  miles.  It  received  the  strong  action  of 
the  waves  and  protected  a  narrow  strip  of  water  back  of  it  from  wave  action. 
A  bar  or  spit  extended  eastward  from  the  north  end  of  this  island,  nearly 
shutting  off  the  passage  back  of  the  island,  as  indicated  in  PI.  XXV. 

From  North  Collins  the  shore  followed  the  base  of  an  escarpment  north- 
ward to  Eden  Center,  where  it  swung  eastward  to  the  west  fork  of  Eighteen- 
mile  Creek.  In  crossing  this  valley  it  turned  northward,  passing  about  a 
mile  east  of  Eden  Valley.  A  small  island  appears  about  1 J  miles  northeast 
of  Eden  Valley,  as  indicated  in  PI.  XXV,  which  was  separated  from  the 
mainland  to  the  south  by  a  narrow  channel  into  which  a  prominent  spit  was 
extended  from  the  island  toward  the  mainland.     East  from  this  island  the 

MON  XLI iS 


754  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

shore  curves  around  from  a  northeastward  to  a  southeastward  course  and 
comes  to  East  Eighteenmile  Creek  Valley  near  the  line  of  Hamburg  and 
Boston  townships.  It  then  passes  northward  toward  Orchard  Park,  crossing 
the  Hamburg  moraine  immediately  south  and  east  of  that  village.  There 
were  small  islands  along  the  south  border  of  the  moraine  (see  PI.  XXV). 

From  Orchard  Park  the  course  was  traced  eastward  by  the  writer  in 
company  with  F.  B.  Taylor  in  the  autumn  of  1899,  and  the  sinuosities  of 
the  shore  shown  in  PI.  XXV  were  mapped  in  considerable  detail.  It  will 
be  observed  that  the  beach  follows  the  inner  slope  of  the  Hamburg  moraine 
in  a  very  winding  course  as  far  as  the  village  of  Marilla,  where  it  appears 
to  terminate.  Its  apparent  terminus  is  south  of  the  western  end  of  the 
Marilla  moraine,  and,  so  far  as  examined,  no  trace  of  it  was  found  on  that 
moraine.  This  negative  evidence,  combined  with  the  fact  that  the  beach  is 
very  weak  from  the  point  where  it  crosses  the  Hamburg  moraine  eastward 
to  Marilla,  led  us  to  conclude  that  the  lake  level  had  dropped  before  the 
ice  sheet  had  withdrawn  from  the  Marilla  moraine. 

VARIATIONS  IN   STRENGTH. 

From  the  Maumee  River  southeastward  as  far  as  the  Sandusky  River 
the  Belmore  beach  is  no  stronger  than  on  the  west  shore  of  the  lake,  and  its 
general  appearance  is  quite  similar  to  that  of  the  west  shore.  The  portion 
between  Fostoria  and  the  Sandusky  River  is  weaker,  on  the  whole,  than 
any  section  of  similar  length  found  on  the  west  shore  of  the  lake,  though 
the  beach  is  well  defined  between  Amsdeii  and  Kansas,  where  its  trend  is 
from  southwest  to  northeast.  The  weak  places  are  found  either  at  hilly 
tracts  or  at  points  where  the  shore  faced  the  northeast. 

East  of  the  Sandusky  River  the  shore  for  about  25  miles  faced  the 
northwest,  and  this  portion  shows  the  effect  of  somewhat  stronger  wave 
action  than  is  commonly  fotind  in  the  portion  already  described.  There  is 
usually  a  cut  bank  standing  10  or  15  feet  above  the  plain  on  its  inner  border 
which  is  in  places  flanked  by  heavy  deposits  of  gravel. 

Among  the  hills  of  western  Erie  County  the  beach  is  very  irregular  in 
strength  and  far  from  continuous;  but  from  North  Monroeville  south  and 
east  to  Norwalk  there  is  a  regular  and  continuous  ridge  similar  to  that  found 
on  the  west  shore  of  the  lake.     Near  Berlin  Heights  the  shore  is  chiefly  a 


U    S    GEOLOGICAL   SURVEY 


MONOGRAPH  XLI  PL    XXV 


PLEISTOCKNK  KV;ATrKES  S()rrHKA.VI  ()].  BUli.ALO,.\E\V  YORK 

BY  FRANK  LKVl-.RFTT 


! J 

OHhvash  ^wlaiHl  line; 
of  glacial  (Iraitia^o 


E 


Shore  rteposiis. 
beaches,  spits,  etc 


1 J 

BodoflMikoWiirreri 
outside  uf  Lake  Eric 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  WHITTLESEY.  755 

cut  bank,  but  eastward  from  there  to  Elpia  and  tlience  to  Cleveland  it  con- 
sists usually  of  a  well-defined  gravelly  ridge  similar  in  strength  to  the  ridge 
which  forms  the  west  shore  of  the  lake.  It  seldom  rises  more  than  10  feet 
above  the  plain  north  of  it,  and  is  usually  but  50  to  100  yards  in  width.  In 
the  western  part  of  Cleveland  it  extends  out  as  a  spit,  15  or  20  feet  high, 
from  the  prominent  point  in  West  Cleveland  a  mile  or  more  toward  the 
Cuyalioga  River.  In  the  eastern  part  of  Cleveland  it  consists  mainly  of  a 
cut  bank. 

From  Cleveland  northeastward  as  far  as  the  vicinity  of  Dunki]-k,  N.  Y., 
the  beach  is  a  A^ery  conspicuous  feature,  often  presenting  a  cut  bank  20 
to  30  feet  or  more  in  height.  As  this  bank  was  cut  in  a  plain  of  gradual 
slope  the  shore  must  have  worked  back  in  some  cases  a  mile  or  more  to 
produce  so  high  a  bank.  The  exceptional  strength  of  this  portion  of  the 
shore  seems  attributable  to  its  frontage  toward  the  heavy  seas  raised  by  the 
winds  from  the  west. 

The  strength  of  the  beach  begins  to  wane  near  the  western  end  of  the 
Gowanda  moraine  south  of  Dunkirk.  The  weakness  on  the  south  side  of 
the  Cattaraugus  Valley  is  not  surprising,  since  that  portion  of  the  shore 
would  be  directly  exposed  only  to  the  waves  produced  by  winds  from  the 
north,  and  sucli  winds  are  less  frequent  and  violent  than  winds  from  the 
west.  But  the  portion  of  the  shore  north  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  had  a  front- 
age directly  toward  the  west,  and  yet  the  strength  of  the  beach  is  far  below 
that  displayed  by  similarly  exposed  parts  of  the  shore  west  of  Dunkirk 
Continuing  northeastward  across  the  Hamburg  moraine  the  shore  becomes 
still  weaker,  and  although  fronting  the  northwest  its  strength  is  even  inferior 
to  that  of  the  portions  of  the  shore  in  Michigan  and  Ohio  which  front  the 
east  and  northeast.  The  beach  is  commonly  a  ridge  only  3  to  6  feet  liigh 
and  50  yards  or  less  in  width.  This  diminution  in  strength,  as  already 
remarked,  fits  in  naturally  with  the  interpretation  that  the  lake  is  of  glacial 
ag-e,  and  that  the  moraines  between  the  lake  escarpment  system  and  the 
Marilla  moraine  are  the  correlatives  of  the  beach. 

VARIATIONS   IN  ALTITUDE. 

The  altitude  of  the  beach  on  the  south  shore  of  Lake  Whittlesey  has 
very  little  variation  from  the  Maumee  River  near  Defiance  eastward  to  the 
vicinity  of  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  a  distance  of  200  miles,  the  lowest  measured 


756  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

altitude  being  731  feet  and  the  highest  742  feet  above  tide.     A  part  of  this 
difference  may  be  due  to  discrepancies  between  railway  surveys  and  a  part 
to  the  difference  in  the  height  to  which  the  beach  was  built  above  mean 
lake  level.     These  elements  of  error  and  of  variation  being  eliminated,  it 
is  doubtful  if  enough  difference  will  remain  to  require  any  crust  warping. 
Eastward  from  Ashtabula,  the  beach  is  found  by  levels  on  the  Girard 
topographic  sheet  to  reach  746  feet  at  the  Ohio-Pennsylvania  line,  748  feet 
near  East  Springfield,  Pa.,  and  752  feet  4  miles  farther  east,  while  levels 
run  by  Taylor  show  it  to  be  765  feet  at  Swanville.     This  gives  the  beach 
a  rise  of  19  feet  in  a  distance  of  about  19  miles.     At  Erie,  10  miles  farther 
east,  the  city  levels  show  the  altitude  to  reach  772  feet,  and  at  Northeast, 
15  miles  farther,  levels  run  by  Gilbert  show  the  beach  to  be  788  feet  above 
tide.     Near  the  Pennsylvania-New  York  line,  about  5  miles  from  North- 
east, the  profile  of  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  Railway  shows 
the  altitude  to  be  onl)^  785  feet,  but  in  the  next  10  miles  to  Chautauqua 
Creek,  south  of  Westfield,  the   beach,  as   shown   by  the  Westfield  topo- 
o-raphic  sheet,  rises  above  the  800-foot  contour.     About  20  miles  farther, 
near  Fredonia,  as  shown  by  the  Dunkirk  topographic  sheet,  the  beach  rises 
above  the  820-foot  contour.     Near  Sheridan,  6  miles  farther,  Gilbert  found 
the  altitude  by  Locke  level  to  be  834  feet.     Six  miles  farther,  near  Han- 
over Center,   the  beach  reaches    the    840-foot    contour.     From    Hanover 
Center  to  Cattaraugus  Creek  the  course  of  the  beach  is  south  of  east,  or 
nearly  at  a  right  angle  to  the  direction  of  uplift,  and  it  holds  a  very  uniform 
level  at  about  840  feet.     It  is  very  nearly  840  feet  on  the  east  side  of 
Cattaraugus  Creek,  near  the  Indian  Council  House,  as  determined  by  spirit 
level  by  Fairchild  from  Lawton  station.     Four  miles  north,  opposite  North 
Collins,  as  determined  by  Locke  level  from  North  Collins  station,  it  reaches 
850  feet,  being  20  feet  above  the  railway  station.     Beyond   this   point 
measurements  were  made  only  with  the  aneroid,  but  these  show  a  strong 
increase,  the  altitude  southeast  of  Hamburg  being  875  feet  and  near  Elma 
station  890  feet.     At  the  supposed  terminus  in  Marilla  the  aneroid  indicates 
an  altitude  of  nearly  900  feet. 

The  rise  of  about  150  feet  between  the  Ohio-Pemisylvania  line  and 
Marilla,  N.  Y.,  is  made  in  a  distance  by  direct  line  of  not  more  than  125 
miles,  and  contrasts  strikingly  with  the  variation  of  less  than  15  feet  in  the 
200  miles  west  from  the  Ohio-Pennsylvania  line. 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  WHITTLESEY.  757 

CAUSE  FOR  THE  LOWERING  OF  THE  LAKE. 

It  is  probable  that  the  lake  level  was  lowered  through  the  opening  of 
lower  passages  than  the  Ubly  outlet,  either  across  or  around  the  north  end 
of  the  thumb  of  Michigan.  Taylor  has  noted  channels  and  scourways 
among  the  morainic  hills  north  of  the  Ubly  outlet  that  seem  to  have  afforded 
outlets  sufficiently  low  and  capacious  to  have  drawn  down  the  lake  level.^ 
As  that  region  is  now  (in  1901)  under  investigation,  the  precise  relations 
will  probably  soon  be  determined. 

1  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  VIII,  1897,  pp.  47-48. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 
THE    GLACIAL   LAKE  WARREN. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Tlie  names  Lake  Warren,  Warren  Waters,  and  Warren  Gulf  have  been 
applied  by  Spencer  to  the  most  extensive  sheets  of  water  in  the  Great  Lakes 
region,  and  have  been  variously  applied  by  other  geologists.  This  has  led 
to  some  confusion,  and  in  order  to  make  the  application  more  specific  Taylor 
has  proposed  to  restrict  the  name  Lake  Warren  to  the  body  of  water  which 
existed  when  the  fourth  beach  of  Gilbert  was  forming.  At  that  time  the 
water  in  the  Erie-Huron  Basin  seems  to  have  had  its  greatest  extent,  and 
this  meets  as  nearly  as  practicable  the  application  made  by  Spencer.  As 
this  restriction  of  the  name  is  a  matter  of  some  consequence,  Taylor's 
reasons  are  here  given  :^ 

When  Dr.  Spencer  had  traced  parts  of  the  Forest,  Arkona,  and  Ridgeway 
beaches  in  Ontario,  he  named  the  water  which  made  them  Lake  Warren,  in  honor 
of  Gen.  G.  K.  Warren,  whom  he  regards  as  ''the  father  of  lacustrine  geology  in 
America."  This  name  was  lirst  published  in  Science  for  January  27,  1888,  page  49 ; 
but  in  this  and  in  all  his  subsequent  publications  relating  to  these  beaches,  Dr. 
Spencer  had  stated  his  belief  that  thej^  are  really  of  marine  origin.  Besides  calling 
the  waters  that  made  these  beaches  Lake  Warren,  he  has  as  frequently  called  them 
Warren  Water  and  Warren  Gulf.  The  current  ideas  of  their  size  and  origin  have 
been  diverse  from  the  beginning,  so  much  so  as  to  make  the  application  of  the  name 
rather  uncertain.  Dr.  Spencer  has  alwaj'S  defined  Lake  Warren  as  covering  the 
whole  of  the  Great  Lakes  area,  and  Upham  and  Lawson  have  supposed  it  to  cover 
all  but  Lake  Ontario.  The  whole  series  of  beaches  has  been  regarded  as  the  work  of 
one  lake  at  as  many  halts  in  the  fall  of  its  level.  This  is  true  in  a  wide  sense,  but 
there  were  so  many  elements  of  change  as  the  waters  fell  that  it  seems  appropriate 
and  necessary  to  consider  the  several  stages  as  separate  lakes  and  give  a  special  name 
to  each.  The  waters  changed  their  shape,  size,  and  level  as  they  fell,  and,  what  seems 
still  more  important,  they  changed  the  place  of  their  outlet  several  times. 

The  need  for  the  restricted  use  of  the  name  Lake  Warren  here  proposed  is  a 
natural  result  of  the  progress  of  discoverJ^  With  the  finding  of  outlets  and  terminal 
moraines  intimately  related  to  the  beaches,  the  moraines  marking  the  place  of  the 
ice  barrier  that  held  the  waters  up,  it  becomes  a  positive  necessity  to  recognize  the 

1  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America.  Vol.  VIII,  1897,  pp.  56-57. 


us.  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 


MONOGRAPH  XLI     PL. XXVI 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  WARREN.  759 

new  facts,  and  this  can  be  done  best,  as  it  seems  to  the  writer,  by  subdivision  and 
restriction  in  nomenclature,  as  is  sometimes  done  in  the  biological  sciences.  The 
whole  series  of  lakes  here  described  might  be  called  the  Warren  lakes.  This  would 
be  one  waj'  of  preserving  Spencer's  nomenclature,  but  in  the  writer's  opinion  this 
use  of  the  name  would  be  unfortunate.  A  collective  name  ought  to  have  some  geo- 
graphic significance.  The  name  Erie-Huron,  which  is  used  here,  serves  this  purpose 
admirably,  and  the  name  Lake  AVarren  may  then  be  applied  in  a  more  restricted 
way  to  that  one  of  the  several  separate  lakes  of  the  series  which  most  closely  corre- 
sponds to  Spencer's  original  idea.  The  Forest  beach  marks  the  widest  extent  of  the 
Erie-Huron  glacial  waters,  and  was  the  last  and  most  extensive  lake  of  the  series. 
It  seems  more  appropriate,  therefore,  to  call  this  stage  Lake  Warren  than  to  apply 
this  name  to  any  of  the  higher,  less  extensive  stages. 

The  Lake  Warren  beaches  as  here  discussed  arid  as  mapped  in 
PL  XXVI,  inckide  the  whole  of  a  complex  series  which  occupy  levels 
about  50  to  76  feet  below  the  Belmore  beach.  The  members  of  this  series 
are  more  distinct  from  Cleveland  eastward  than  around  the  western  end 
of  the  Erie  Basin.  Wind-drifted  sand  greatly  confuses  the  shore  features 
in  the  latter  region. 

Perhaps  the  upper  ridge,  to  which  Spencer  applied  the  name  Arkona 
beach,  is  sufficiently  distinct  from  those  below  it  to  justify  separating  it  from 
the  Lake  Warren  series.  Taylor  has  considered  it  the  product  of  a  distinct 
but  transient  lake,  and  does  not  include  it  in  this  series.  In  southern  Mich- 
igan it  lies  along'  the  outer  border  of  the  same  belt  of  sand  which  in  Ohio 
constitutes  Gilbert's  foui'th  beach,  but  being  composed  usually  of  gravelly 
material,  it  may  be  distinguished  from  the  belt  of  clear  sand  which  it  borders. 
Its  gravelly  ingredient  seems  to  disappear  in  northwestern  Ohio,  so  that  it 
can  not  well  be  separated  from  the  remainder  of  the  sand  belt.  The  Wood- 
land avenue  beach  at  Cleveland  seems  likely  to  be  a  continuation  of  the 
Arkona  beach,  and  the  upper  member  of  the  series  from  Cleveland  eastward 
should  probably  also  be  thus  considered.  The  upper  limits  of  sand  ridges 
in  the  district  south  of  the  western  end  of  Lake  Erie  is  also  about  at  the  level 
of  the  Arkona  beach. 

The  writer  has  examined  this  series  of  beaches  at  but  few  points  in 
Michigan,  and  as  they  are  soon  to  receive  further  study  in  that  State,  the 
description  will  extend  no  farther  north  than  the  Ohio-Michigan  line.  The 
only  detailed  work  which  the  writer  has  attempted  on  these  beaches  is  in 
the  district  between  the  Maumee  and  Vermilion  rivers  in  northwestern 
Ohio  and  in  Erie  and  Genesee  counties,  N.  Y.  The  ]3ortion  north  of  the 
Maumee  had  been  inapped  by  Gilbert,  and  the  portion  between  the  Vermilion 


760  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

River  and  Cleveland  by  A.  A.  Wright,  while  the  portion  between  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  and  Cattaraugus  Creek  in  New  York  has  long  been  known  to 
the  geologists  who  have  made  investigations  in  that  region.  Fairchild 
has  continued  the  examination  of  the  Warren  shore  from  Erie  County, 
N.  Y.,  eastward  beyond  the  Genesee  River,  as  indicated  below.  The  outlet 
of  Lake  Warren  appears  to  have  been  westward  from  Saginaw  Bay  through 
Spencer's  "  Pewamo  Strait"'  to  Lake  Chicago,  in  the  southern  end  of  the 
Lake  Michigan  Basin,  and  thence  through  the  Chicago  outlet  to  the  Illinois 
and  Mississippi  rivers.  But  as  this,  as  well  as  the  part  of  the  beach  in  Mich- 
igan, is  soon  to  be  made  the  subject  of  further  study,  a  description  will  not 
be  attempted  in  this  place. 

DESCRIPTION    OF    THE    BEACHES. 

The  portion  in  Ohio  north  of  Maumee  River  is  reported  by  Gilbert  to 
be  a  broad  belt  of  sand,  chiefly  in  the  form  of  dunes  but  nearly  level  on 
the  inner  margin.  The  altitude  of  the  sand  extends  from  about  90  feet 
above  Lake  Erie  down  to  60  feet,  or  even  lower.  The  western  border  leads 
from  the  Ohio-Michigan  line  near  Sylvania  southwestward  to  Napoleon. 
Gilbert  remarks  that  the  border  is  not  so  definite  as  it  would  need  to  be  to 
admit  of  easy  mapping,  but  stands  near  the  line  just  indicated.  The  inner 
border  of  the  sand  belt  touches  the  Maumee  for  a  short  distance  just  above 
Toledo,  but'for  several  miles  farther  it  lies  2  or  3  miles  back  fi'om  the  river, 
after  which  it  again  extends  to  the  river. 

Sherzer's  studies,  which  have  been  extended  southward  from  Michigan 
a  short  distance  beyond  the  State  line,  have  brought  to  light  a  range  of 
sand  ridges  standing  between  650  and  660  feet,  which  he  considers  the 
Forest  beach.  This  range  has  not  been  examined  by  the  writer,  but  upon 
inspection  of  the  Toledo  topographic  sheet  it  is  found  that  the  rise  is  quite 
abrupt  between  the  640  and  660  foot  contours,  as  if  the  lake  had  cut  back 
its  shore  there. 

In  the  district  between  the  Maumee  and  Sandusky  rivers  there  are 
several  conspicuous  ridges  of  sand  and  belts  of  dunes  whose  altitude  is 
more  than  100  feet  above  Lake  Erie.  The  plains  on  the  border  of  these 
ridges  have  g-enerallj^  an  altitude  about  100  to  115  feet  above  the  lake,  or 
670  to  685  feet  above  tide,  and  the  main  lake  level  appears  to  have  been 

'Am.  Jour.  Sd.,  3d  series,  Vol.  XLI,  1891,  p.  207. 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  WARREN.  761 

between  680  and  690  feet.  This  altitude  harmonizes  more  nearly  with  the 
Arkona  beach  than  with  the  Forest.  There  seems  to  be  no  definite  shore 
in  this  district  below  the  level  of  these  sand  ridges  to  correlate  with  the 
Forest  beach.  The  general  altitude  is  15  to  20  feet  higher  than  Gilbert's 
estimate  of  the  sand  in  the  district  north  of  the  Maumee.  It  is  possible, 
however,  that  the  sand  north  of  the  river  reaches  an  equally  high  altitude, 
Gilbert's  estimates  ha^^ng  been  made  when  there  were  fewer  data  than  now 
concerning  altitudes. 

There  is  a  strip  of  sand  south  of  the  Maumee  River  setting  in  a  mile 
or  so  above  Napoleon  and  leading  nearly  due  east  for  9  or  10  miles.  It 
consists  of  a  series  of  overlapping  ridges  that  trend  west-southwest  to 
east-northeast.  The  well-defined  ridges  are  usually  continuous  for  1  to  2 
miiles,  but  several  are  a  half  mile  or  less  in  length.  The  ridges  are  10  to 
20  feet  in  height  and  50  to  100  yards  or  more  in  width.  The  base  seems 
to  be  nearly  uniform  at  an  altitude  about  680  feet  above  tide.  The  mode 
of  overlapping  is  such  as  to  indicate  that  the  ridges  were  built  up  succes- 
sively in  a  series  from  east  to  west  by  winds  blowing  from  the  west. 

From  the  eastern  end  of  this  system  of  ridges  near  McClure  there  is 
an  interval  of  about  8  miles  to  Weston,  in  which  the  sand  shows  only 
occasional  ridging  but  forms  a  thin  coating  on  the  plain.  The  trend  of 
this  part  of  the  shore  being  southeastward  it  was  unfavorably  situated  for 
the  action  of  the  west  or  strong  winds.  At  Weston  a  prominent  sand  ridge 
sets  in  which  leads  in  an  east-northeast  course  to  Bowling  Green,  a  distance 
of  8  miles,  and  is  continued  in  faint  form  8  miles  farther  in  the  same 
direction  along  the  north  side  of  Portage  River.  The  altitude  of  the  plain 
north  of  this  ridge  is  about  675  feet  above  tide,  and  there  appears  to  have 
been  a  shore  near  the  line  of  this  sand  ridge ;  but  the  ridge  was  evidently 
wind  drifted.  Its  highest  points  rise  above  the  700-foot  contour,  and  one 
dune  in  Bowling  Green  reaches  720  feet. 

There  are  occasional  sand  ridges  north  of  this  main  ridge.  A  conspicu- 
ous instance  is  found  in  a  belt  of  ridged  sand  which  sets  in  near  Craws 
station,  4  miles  north  of  Bowling  Green,  and  leads  west' southwest,  with 
occasional  gaps,  3  or  4  miles.  The  base  of  this  sandy  belt  stands  near  the 
670-foot  contour,  as  shown  by  the  electric  railroad  iDrofile,  and  the  ridges 
rise  5  to  20  feet  above  that  level.  A  sand  bar  seems  to  have  formed  here 
at  about  lake  level  that  was  subsequently  ridged  by  wind.     East  from 


762  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Craws  a  rock  ridge  sets  in  which  stands  8  to  10  feet  above  the  plain  and 
leads  eastward  past  Sugar  Ridge  village.  This  also  received  a  sand 
coating. 

For  several  miles  south  from  Bowling  Green  small  sand  ridges  appear 
which  seem  to  have  been  formed  by  the  wind  from  sand  deposited  in  a 
shallow  bay  that  extended  up  Portag-e  Valley  a  little  farther  west  than  the 
meridian  of  Bowling  Green.  This  bay  must  have  been  very  shallow,  for 
the  railway  altitudes  at  Mermill  and  Mungen  indicate  that  its  bottom  was 
about  685  feet.  From  near  Rudolph,  about  8  miles  south  of  Bowling  Green, 
a  belt  of  sand  leads  eastward  through  Jerry,  and  thence  northeastward 
throug-h  Freeport  and  Bradner  into  the  edge  of  Sandusky  Count}-.  It  is 
about  as  strong  as  the  one  which  passes  through  Bowling  Green,  the  dunes 
being  from  10  to  25  feet  in  height  and  the  belt  of  sand  about  one-fourth 
mile  in  average  width.  The  lake  seems  to  have  extended  southward  on  the 
line  of  Wood  and  Sandusky  counties  nearly  to  Rising  Sun,  for  another  sandy 
belt  sets  in  a  mile  east  of  that  village  which  leads  northeastward  about  to 
Helena.  This  sand  belt  is  in  places  nearly  a  half  mile  in  width  and  has 
been  drifted  into  dunes  10  to  20  feet  in  height.  It  is  the  easternmost  promi- 
nent sand  belt  found  in  the  district  between  the  Maumee  and  Sandusky 
rivers.  A  few  low  sand  ridges  appear  between  Helena  and  Haven  station 
(4  miles  Avest  of  Fremont),  but  they  are  seldom  more  than  10  feet  in  height 
and  but  a  fraction  of  a  mile  in  length. 

A  well-defined  gravelly  beach  leads  past  Haven  station  in  a  course 
from  north-northwest  to  south-southeast.  It  can  be  traced  from  the  south- 
east corner  of  section  2,  Jackson  Township,  to  the  south  side  of  section  13, 
a  distance  of  over  2  miles.  Its  height  is  4  to  8  feet  and  breadth  50  to  75 
yards.  For  about  a  mile  south  from  the  south  end  of  this  beach  no  ridge 
is  found,  but  low  sand  ridges  there  set  in  which  continue  the  shore  in  a 
southeastward  course  to  Sandusky  River  near  the  mouth  of  Wolf  Creek, 
about  6  miles  above  Fremont. 

On  the  east  side  of  Sandusk}-  River  there  is  a  sandy  plain  extending 
from  Fremont  southward  into  the  edge  of  Seneca  County.  A  few  low 
ridges,  5  to  10  feet  high,  are  found  about  6  miles  south  of  Fremont  in  sec- 
tions 33,  34,  and  35,  Ballville  Township,  Sandusky  County,  which  probably 
constitute  the  continuation  of  the  beach.  The  beach  becomes  more  definite 
in  section  19,  Green  Creek  Township,  and  from  that  point  runs  in  an  east- 
northeast  course  to  Clyde.     The  altitude  at  Clyde  is  about  680  feet  and 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  WARREN.  763 

barometric  determinations  give  the  ridges  in  Ballville  Township  a  similar 
altitude.  There  appears  to  be  no  well-defined  lower  shore  north  or  west  of 
Clyde.  Sand  ridges  appear  east  and  south  of  the  village  up  to  an  altitude 
about  710  feet  above  tide.  These,  however,  were  probably  di-ifted  b}?-  wind 
above  the  level  of  the  old  lake. 

From  Clyde  a  very  definite  shore  leads  northeastward  to  Castalia.  It 
presents  usually  a  cut  bank  10  feet  or  more  in  height,  on  whose  face  and 
crest  deposits  of  sandy  gravel  occur.  There  are  also  sandy  ridges  for  some 
distance  south  of  this  old  shore.  Before  reaching  Castalia  the  beach 
comes  to  a  limestone  cliff  and  follows  its  western  base  past  that  villag-e.  At 
the  north  end  of  the  cliff,  about  a  mile  northeast  of  Castalia,  the  beach  turns 
eastward  and  recurves  as  a  spit  along  the  east  side  of  the  cliff. 

From  this  cliff  southeastward  for  several  miles  the  beach  is  ill  defined, 
though  sandy  ridges  near  Blooming^dlle  and  Fronts  station  seem  to  repre- 
sent it  (see  PI.  XXII).  About  a  mile  east  of  Proiits  a  definite  ridge  of 
sandy  gravel  sets  in  which  leads  southeast  another  mile.  Back  of  it 
a  slightly  higher  ridge  appears  and  leads  southward  to  Huron  River, 
passing  just  east  of  the  village  of  Enterprise.  It  crosses  Huron  River 
3  miles  west  of  Milan,  near  the  line  of  Erie  and  Huron  counties.  This 
ridge  is  composed  of  sandy  gravel,  is  3  to  6  feet  in  height  and  50  to  75 
yards  in  width.  It  is  remarkably  regular  for  3  miles  north  from  Huron 
River  and  also  for  a  similar  distance  on  the  east  side  of  that  stream  in 
northern  Huron  County. 

On  Marblehead  Peninsula,  north  of  Sandusky  Bay,  there  is  a  small 
tract  which  stands  sufficiently  high  to  catch  what  appears  to  be  the  Forest 
beach.  Its  altitude  is  very  nearly  100  feet  above  Lake  Erie,  or  670  to  675 
feet  above  tide.  It  is  developed  for  a  distance  of  fully  2  miles,  setting  in 
about  a  mile  east  of  Lakeside  and  following  the  north  border  of  the  penin- 
sula to  that  village,  after  which  it  bears  south  westward  into  the  interior.  It 
is  a  low  ridge,  3  to  5  feet  high,  composed  in  large  part  of  blocks  of  lime- 
stone, but  occasionally  containing  g-ravel.  The  rocky  character  of  this 
beach  is  strikingly  similar  to  that  of  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie  below  it,  where 
the  waves  are  now  piling  up  blocks  of  limestone  derived  from  the  cliffs  of 
the  peninsula. 

The  beach  which  crosses  Huron  River  3  miles  above  Milan  presents  a 
well-defined  gravelly  ridge  as  far  east  as  that  village,  but  is  rather  indefinite 
from    tliere   northeastward  to  Vernnlion    River   because  of  wind   action, 


764  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

there  being  a  belt  of  dunes  at  about  its  level.  From  Vermilion  River  to 
Cleveland  the  main  shore  is  a  remarkably  distinct  and  nearlj^  continuous 
ridge  of  sandy  gravel  which  in  a  few  places  becomes  di-ifted  into  dunes. 
It  crosses  Black  River  about  4  miles  north  of  Elyria  and  leads  tlu-ough  the 
villages  of  Avon  and  North  Dover,  as  indicated  in  the  map  prepared  by 
A.  A.  Wright  for  the  Geology  of  Ohio.^  It  leads  into  Cleveland  from  the 
west  along  or  near  Detroit  street,  and  after  crossing  the  Cuyahoga  River  lies 
near  Euclid  avenue  to  the  east  edge  of  the  city.  From  the  point  where  it 
enters  the  city  eastward  nearly  to  the  Cuyahoga,  there  is  a  bank  10  to  15 
feet  in  height  cut  in  the  till  which  is  capped  by  small  deposits  of  gravel; 
but  from  near  the  river  eastward  it  is  built  on  the  sand  and  gravel  delta  of 
the  Cuyahoga  and  presents  a  smooth  ridge,  standing  slightly  above  the 
plain  south  of  it  and  5  to  10  feet  or  more  above  the  plain  on  the  north. 

There  is  in  Cleveland  a  higher  and  weaker  beach  known  as  the  Wood- 
land avenue  beach,  which  stands  about  20  feet  above  the  main  beach.  Its 
altitude,  as  determined  by  Upham,-  is  115  to  120  feet  above  Lake  Erie  or 
about  690  feet  above  tide,  while  the  main  beach  is  95  to  100  feet  above  the 
lake  or  about  670  feet  above  tide.  The  upper  one  consists  usually  of  a 
well-defined  gravelly  ridge,  3  to  8  feet  in  height  and  50  to  75  yards  in  width, 
but  in  places  is  sandy  and  forms  a  broad  swell,  100  to  200  yards  in  width. 
This  upper  shore  seems  to  have  about  the  altitude  of  the  Arkona  beach, 
while  the  lower  apparently  corresponds  to  the  Forest  beach.  It  is  probably 
the  Forest  beach  that  Wright  mapped  as  the  "North  Ridge,"  from  the 
Vermilion  River  eastward  to  Cleveland,  while  the  Arkona  has  not  been 
mapped  in  that  region. 

The  portion  of  the  shore  from  Cleveland  eastward  to  the  Cattaraugus 
Valley  in  western  New  York  has  received  only  incidental  notice,  but  the 
beaches  are  known  to  be  well  defined  tlu-ougliout  the  entire  interval  of  more 
than  150  miles  and  to  stand  only  2  to  4  miles  back  from  Lake  Erie.  They 
are  more  sandy  than  the  Belmore  beach  and  dunes  are  ver}^  common. 
Usually  there  is  a  single  strong  ridge,  which  is  known  as  the  "north  ridge," 
the  Belmore  ridge  being  called  the  "south  ridge."  But  at  many  points  two, 
and  in  places,  three,  ridges  are  found  whose  levels  differ  but  a  few  feet. 
The  main  ridge  is  commonly  the  lowest  in  the  series,  and  stands  65  or  70 

'Geology  of  Ohio,  Vol.  II,  1874,  p.  58. 

■'  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  VII,  1896,  p.  343. 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  WARREN.  765 

feet  below  tlie  Belmore.  The  remaining  bars  or  beaches  are  variable  in 
altitude  and  in  number,  as  well  as  in  strength,  and  the  causes  or  conditions 
which  produced  them  are  not  at  present  clearl^^  iniderstood.  The  lowest 
or  main  beach  marks  a  well-defined,  long-continued  lake  level. 

The  shore  of  Lake  Warren,  like  that  of  Lake  Whittlesey,  shows  marked 
differential  uplift  in  passing  eastward  from  the  Ohio-Pennsylvania  line.  At 
the  State  Ime  the  upper  ridge  stands  very  near  the  700-foot  contour,  while 
a  lower  ridge  is  shown  by  the  Girard  tojjographic  sheet  to  be  678  feet  above 
tide.  The  latter  is  the  main  beach  between  Cleveland  and  the  State  line 
and  seems  to  be  the  Forest.  Its  altitude  is  less  than  10  feet  higher  than  at 
Cleveland  though  the  distance  from  Cleveland  to  the  State  line  is  nearly 
70  miles. 

From  the  Ohio-Pennsylvania  line  eastward  to  Westfield,  N.  Y.,  a  dis- 
tance of  50  to  55  miles,  the  first  or  uppermost  ridge  rises  42  feet,  or  to 
742  feet  as  determined  by  Locke  level  from  the  railway  station,  while  a 
second  ridge  stands  717  feet  and  a  third  ridge  705  to  707  feet  above  tide. 
At  this  place  the  second  ridge  is  much  weaker  than  the  first  and  third 
ridges,  yet  its  altitude,  if  compared  with  the  first  ridge,  supports  the  view 
that  it  is  the  continuation  of  the  Forest  beach  or  second  ridge  found  at 
the  State  line,  the  interval  in  each  place  being  not  far  from  25  feet.  The 
third  ridge,  though  well  defined  at  Westfield,  with  a  bank  8  to  10  feet  in 
height,  seems  not  to  have  been  developed  extensively  along  the  south  shore 
of  the  lake. 

The  beaches  continue  to  rise  as  far  as  the  vicinity  of  Silver  Creek,  25 
miles  beyond  Westfield,  but  for  a  few  miles  from  that  place  the  shore  bears 
south  of  east  to  Cattaraugus  Creek,  near  Versailles,  and  the  beaches  show 
but  little  change  in  altitude.  For  much  of  the  way  between  Westfield  and 
Cattaraugus  Creek  there  are  only  two  ridges.  The  upper  one  reaches  the 
780-foot  contour  near  Sheridan,  and  the  lower  one  the  760-foot  contour 
about  3  miles  northeast  of  Sheridan,  as  shown  by  the  topographic  sheets. 

The  shore  bears  away  from  Lake  Erie  near  Silver  Creek,  running  iip 
the  south  side  of  Cattaraugus  Creek  to  Versailles,  nearly  10  miles  from  the 
lake.  It  comes  back  only  a  short  distance  on  the  north  side  of  Cattaraugus 
Creek.  The  best  defined  beach  formed  for  a  few  miles  north  of  the  creek 
seems  to  be  a  continuation  of  the  lower  of  the  two  ridges  found  west  of  the 
creek.      It  leads  northeastward  past  Brant  Center,   and  near  Pontiac  to 


766  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Eden,  and  tlience  to  Hamburg.  There  is  a  complicated  series  of  ridges  from 
near  Eden  to  Hamburg  which  apparently  occupy  the  interval  from  the 
lower  up  to  the  higher  ridge.  At  Hamburg  there  are  two  beaches  which 
differ  nearly  20  feet  in  altitude.  The  lower  and  weaker  one,  known  as 
Cooper  ridge,  leads  westward  from  Hamburg  about  2  miles,  directlj^  away 
from  the  upper  beach,  following  the  crest  of  a  ridge  on  the  north  side  of 
Eighteenmile  Creek.  The  upper  or  main  ridge  leads  northeastward  past 
Abbotts  Corners,  Websters  Corners,  Sprhig  Brook,  and  Elma  Center  to 
West  Alden,  crossing  Cazenovia  Creek  at  Spring  Brook,  Buffalo  Creek  at 
its  bend  3  miles  northeast  of  Elma  Center,  and  Cayuga  Creek  about  a  mile 
southwest  of  West  Alden.  On  each  of  these  streams,  as  well  as  on  smaller 
streams,  there  are  prominent  deltas  at  the  points  where  the  beach  crosses, 
and  the  beach  itself  is  exceptionally  strong  throughout  this  part  of  its 
course.  The  lower  ridge  was  traced  only  about  2  miles  northeast  from 
Hamburg  and  is  reported  to  be  ill-defined  between  there  and  West  Alden. 
About  3  miles  southwest  of  West  Alden  weak,  sandy  ridges  were  found 
back  of  the  main  ridge  at  a  slightly  higher  altitude,  but  they  seem  to  be  of 
very  limited  extent  and  their  significance  is  not  clear.  The  main  beach 
from  Hamburg  to  Alden,  like  the  Arkona  beach  of  the  western  end  of  the 
Erie  basin,  stands  only  about  50  feet  below  the  Belmore  beach,  but  it  is  a 
stronger  shore  line. 

At  West  Alden  there  is  a  separation  into  two  distinct  beaches,  one  of 
which  leads  eastward  through  Alden  along  the  inner  face  of  the  Marilla 
moraine  into  Grenesee  County,  where  it  dies  out  in  a  narrow  plain  standing 
between  the  Marilla  and  Alden  moraines.  The  other  beach  bears  north- 
ward through  Alden  Center,  and  thence  northeastward  past  Crittenden,  and 
comes  to  Tonawanda  Creek  at  Indian  Falls.  The  outer  shore  or  beach 
seems  to  be  a  few  feet  higher  than  the  inner,  at  least  railway  levels  at 
Alden  and  Crittenden  bear  out  this  interpretation,  the  altitude  at  Alden 
being  about  12  feet  higher  than  at  Crittenden,  but  at  the  point  of  separation 
near  "West  Alden  there  is  scarcely  5  feet  difi'erence. 

The  outer  beach  is  remarkably  strong  clear  to  its  terminus.  It 
consists  near  Alden  of  a  series  of  overlapping  ridges  trending  northeast  to 
southwest,  which  were  apparently  built  up  in  succession  from  east  to  west. 
They  are  rather  sand}"  but  contain  also  considerable  gravel,  so  that  they 
can  not  be  the  product  of  wind  alone. 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  WARREN.  767 

The  inner  ridge  is  strong  and  nearly  continuous  from  West  Alden  to  a 
point  about  a  mile  east  of  the  Erie  and  Genesee  County  line.  It  there  dies 
out  as  a  ridge,  but  appears  as  a  cut  bank  on  the  western  ends  of  the  Pem- 
broke ranges  of  gravel  hills.  A  ba}^  seems  to  have  extended  back  along 
the  north  side  of  the  north  range  of  hills  nearly  to  East  Pemljroke. 

The  altitude  of  the  beaches  shows  a  marked  increase  in  this  interval 
between  Cattaraugus  and  Tonawanda  Creeks.  From  an  altitude  of  780  feet 
at  Cattaraugus  Valley  the  upper  beach  rises  to  810  feet  at  Hamburg,  840 
feet  at  Elma  Center,  and  fully  860  feet  at  Alden.  The  lower  beach  rises 
froin  760  feet  to  790  feet  between  Cattaraugus  Creek  and  Hamburg.  The 
inner  ridge,  leading  north  from  West  Alden,  is  only  850  feet  at  Crit- 
tenden, but  rises  to  the  880-foot  contour  about  a  mile  northeast  of  Indian 
Falls,  as  shown  by  the  Medina  topographic  sheet.  This  beach  was  traced 
by  the  writer  only  to  the  brow  of  the  Corniferous  escarpment  a  short 
distance  northeast  of  Indian  Falls,  but  it  has  since  been  traced  eastward 
by  Fairchild  beyond  the  Genesee  River.  This  tracing  hj  Fairchild  has 
extended  Lake  Warren  beyond  the  limits  assigned  by  the  writer  in  a  paper 
published  in  1895,^  and  is  marked  by  his  thoi'oughness  and  painstaking 
attention  to  details.  The  following  description  of  the  portion  between 
Tonawanda  Creek  and  the  Genesee  River  is  taken  from  Fairchild's  recent 
paper:^ 

At  Indian  Falls  the  channel  of  Tonawanda  Creek  interrupts  the  beach  for  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile,  but  it  reappears  in  excellent  form  on  the  summit  of  the  hill  at  the 
north  edge  of  the  village.  A  strong  ridge  of  somewhat  angular  gravel  lies  upon  the 
east  side  of  the  road  and  supports  the  house  of  Mr.  C.  T.  Pratt.  The  southern  end  of 
this  bar  turns  west,  crosses  the  road,  and  then  turning  north  runs  along  the  west  side 
of  the  I'oad  to  a  three  corners.  Here  the  bar  swings  eastward,  crosses  the  road  bj^ 
the  house  of  Mr.  Bascom,  then  curving  northward  passes  behind  the  house  of  Mr. 
Peter  Lester.  In  a  short  distance  the  bar  turns  east,  at  which  point  another  branch 
runs  west,  the  latter  crossing  the  road  and  terminating  upon  the  crest  of  the  Cornif- 
erous escarpment.  The  eastward  branch  soon  breaks  into  a  series  of  overlapping 
bars  and  spits  of  good  development.  Turning  northward,  in  about  one-half  mile  the 
beach  crosses  an  east-and-west  road,  l\v  which  is  an  old  gravel  pit  in  the  ridge  and 
soon  drops  over  the  edge  of  the  Corniferous  limestone  a  few  rods  east  of  a  north- 
and-south  road.  For  a  short  distance  the  shore  line  is  a  cliff  in  the  limestone,  but 
quickly  surmounts  the  escarpment  as  a  well-developed  ridge  of  almost  clear  chert. 

1  Correlations  of  New  York  moraines  with  raised  beaciies  of  Lake  Erie:  Am.  Jom-.  Sci.,  3d  Series, 
Vol.  L,  1895,  pp.  1-20. 

■'  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  VIII,  1897,  pp.  274-277. 


768  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  altitude  of  the  Corniferous  escarpment  and  the 
surface  of  the  Warren  waters  were  neai'ly  coincident.  >  From  Indian  Falls  around  to 
northeast  of  Batavia,  a  distance  on  the  shore  line  of  perhaps  20  miles,  the  beach  is 
usually  on  the  crest  of  the  rock  ledge  as  a  ridge  of  nearlj^  clear  chert.  At  a  few 
points  the  rock  was  higher  than  the  water,  and  wave-cut  cliffs  are  conspicuous.  The 
best  cliffs  are  south  of  Smithville,  east  of  Daws  Corners,  and  northeast  of  Batavia. 

From  the  point  last  mentioned  in  the  detailed  description  the  beach  follows  the 
irregular  crest  of  the  rock  escarpment  for  2i  miles,  crossing  several  highways,  as 
shown  in  the  map,  and  terminates  behind  a  rock  hill  near  a  stone  schoolhouse  at 
three  corners.  A  strong  wave-cut  cliff  is  seen  upon  the  west  end  and  north  side  of 
the  hill  which  is  an  outlier  of  the  Helderberg-Corniferous  strata.  About  a  mile 
west  of  the  north-and-south.  Smith ville-Pembroke,  road  the  shore  line  again  becomes 
a  ridge  upon  the  drift-covered  escarpment.  The  beach  then  runs  south  1  mile  and 
after  some  interruption  in  a  kame  area  crosses  at  four  corners  to  the  south  side  of 
the  east-and-west  town-line  road  and  breaks  into  several  bars.  Another  very  heavy 
ridge  is  found  one-fourth  of  a  mile  north  on  land  of  Mr.  Weber  Stevens,  in  an  old 
orchard  on  the  east  side  of  an  old  road.  This  I'idge  of  gravel  runs  east  and  south- 
east 1  mile.  At  the  next  north-and-south  road,  leading  south  from  Oakfield  station 
on  the  W^est  Shore  Railroad,  the  shore  line  is  a  cliff'  in  till,  but  soon  resumes  its  nor- 
mal character  as  a  strong  ridge  of  chert  gravel  along  the  south  side  of  the  east-and- 
west  town-line  road.  For  3  miles  the  beach,  as  embankment  or  cliff,  runs  parallel 
with  the  road,  close  upon  the  south  side,  against  the  north  side  of  the  moraine  or 
drift-covered  terrane.  It  is  generall}'  25  or  30  feet  above  the  highway,  which  lies 
upon  the  lake  floor,  the  latter  stretching  north  as  a  smooth  plain. 

About  a  mile  west  of  Daws  Corners  the  strong  bar  curves  southeast,  then  after 
a  gap  by  stream  erosion  it  swings  b}^  curves  eastward  to  the  Elba-Batavia  road, 
which  it  crosses  about  one-half  mile  south  of  Daws  Corners,  close  to  the  house  of  Mr. 
Sylvester  Strong.  The  bar,  which  here  is  destitute  of  chert,  ends  about  one-half 
mile  east  of  the  road  in  a  heavy  spit  on  the  edge  of  a  broad  stretch  of  low  ground. 
A  wave-swept  plain  of  sand  borders  the  depression  on  the  north  with  low  spits  I'un- 
ning  into  the  depression. 

One-third  of  a  mile  south  the  shore  line  is  conspicuous  as  a  bold  cliff  in  the 
east-and-west  escarpment.  Running  eastward  one-half  mile,  it  becomes  a  bar  and 
then  makes  a  curve  to  northward  lying  on  the  summit  of  the  high,  steep  escarpment 
of  the  Helderberg,  about  one-third  of  a  mile  south  of  the  town-line  road.  At  the 
extreme  northern  point  the  shore  line  is  just  beneath  the  very  top  of  the  escarpment, 
which  is  Corniferous.  From  this  point  the  beach  runs  southeast  1  mile  to  the 
northeast-southwest  road,  at  which  point  the  ridge  has  been  excavated  for  gravel. 
Here  it  is  on  the  top  of  the  escarpment  as  a  good  ridge,  and  so  continues  eastward 
for  one-half  mile,  when  it  falls  below  the  crest  of  the  ledge  and  cvirves  around  to 
southward  as  a  rock  cliff'  for  nearly  2  miles.  The  shore  line  crosses  to  the  east  side 
of  the  north-and-south  town-line  road,  then  after  running  along  the  road  for  about 
one-fourth  of  a  mile  it  lies  in  the  roadway  for  about  the  same  distance,  then  recrosses 
to  the  west  side,  and  in  half  a  mile  becomes  a  well-developed  gravel  ridge.  In  the 
ground  of  Mr.  Charles  Thornwell  it  bears  a  gravel  pit,  visible  from  the  highway. 
Near  the  gravel  pit  the  bar  has  been  cut  by  drainage,  and  south  of  the  gully  a  fine 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  WARREN.  769 

ridge  is  found,  with  north-and-south  direction,  on  the  land  of  Mr.  J.  Miner.     This  is 
about  2i  miles  northeast  of  the  center  of  Batavia  village. 

East  of  Batavia  village  the  moraine,  with  strong  relief,  lies  partially  below  the 
Lake  Warren  level.  The  lake  waters  were  here  entangled  among  the  hills,  and  the 
beach  is  broken  for  2  miles,  but  two  well-defined  wave-cut  cliffs  are  conspicuous. 
These  are  clearly  seen  from  the  main  line  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad,  which, 
eastward  from  Batavia,  traverses  the  moraine  and  descends  rapidly  upon  the  silt 
plain  formed  as  the  floor  of  the  Warren  waters.  The  more  westerly  cliff  is  upon  the 
north  and  east  side  of  a  till  ridge  about  1  mile  southeast  of  the  bar  last  mentioned 
and  about  one-fourth  of  a  mile  east  of  the  railroad.  Well-defined  but  broken  shore 
phenomena  connect  this  cliff'  with  another  cliff'  in  drift  1  mile  farther  eastward.  The 
beach  then  runs  northeast  another  mile,  as  a  good  ridge,  to  a  strong  cliff  in  Cornif- 
erous  limestone,  which  shows  excellently  the  effects  of  heavj^'wave  action  upon  a 
headland.  From  this  cliff  a  nearly  continuous  bar  or  ridge  is  found  for  the  6  miles 
to  Lero3^     *     *     * 

The  beach  passes  through  the  southern  and  higher  part  of  the  village  of  Mor- 
ganville,  and  shows  in  good  form  both  east  and  west  of  the  village. 

The  altitude  of  the  beach  is  here  definitely  known.  One  and  one-half  miles 
northeast  of  Morganville  and  about  half  a  mile  west  of  schoolhouse  No.  3  is  a  station 
of  the  United  States  Lake  Survey,  located  exactly  upon  the  beach  ridge,  with  a 
corrected  altitude  for  surface  of  the  ground  of  880  feet.  Upon  the  west  side  of  the 
north-and-south  road,  by  school  No.  3,  which  is  situated  upon  the  beach,  the  crest  of 
the  beach  is  J:..56  feet  under  the  top  of  rail  of  the  Lehigh  Valley  Railroad  at  the  road 
crossing  one-fourth  of  a  mile  south.  The  altitude  of  rail  is  88i.60,  making  the  crest 
of  beach  880  feet.  One-half  mile  farther  east  the  railroad  crosses  the  beach  by  a 
cutting,  and  the  altitude  is  879  feet. 

Approaching  Leroy,  the  beach  becomes  obscure  upon  a  kame-like  surface 
among  low  drumloids  about  one-fourth  mile  northwest  of  the  railroad  station.  The 
level  of  the  water  surface  passes  through  the  lower  or  northern  part  of  the  village. 
The  next  appearance  of  the  beach  is  a  good  gravel  ridge  about  one  mile  east  of  the 
village,  between  the  Leroy-Caledonia  highway  and  the  three  railroads,  on  the  land 
of  Mr.  A.  H.  Olmstead.  The  ridge  curves  around  northeast  of  the  farmhouse  and 
barns,  and  once  formed  a  hooked  spit  near  the  highway,  which  has  been  cut  away 
for  gravel. 

Across  a  brook  and  upon  the  south  side  of  the  highway  the  beach  reappears 
in  excellent  form  as  a  heavy  gravel  ridge  beneath  the  residence  of  Mr.  Abram 
Van  Valkenburg.  For  about  a  mile  the  ridge  follows  along  the  south  side  of  the 
highway,  slightly  diverging  and  giving  location  for  the  residences  upon  that  side 
of  the  road. 

Eastward  from  here  the  ground  is  lower,  with  long,  drumlin  ridges.  The 
shore  line  is  exceedingly  crooked  and  the  beach  phenomena  obscure  in  the  embay- 
raents,  but  usually  pronounced  at  the  north  ends  of  the  ridges.     *     *     * 

Within  3  miles  of  Caledonia  the  shore  line  is  thrown  rapidly  southward  upon 
the  west  side  of  the  Genesee  Valley  embayment.     The  Warren  waters  occupied  the 
valley  of  the  present  Genesee  River  as  far  south  as  Mount  Morris.     The  accumula- 
tion of  sand  and  silt  either  side  of  the  gorge  ("High  Banks")  west  of  the  village 
MON  XLI 49 


770  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

doubtless  represents  the  delta  deposits  of  the  stream  during  the  Warren  episode, 
before  the  gorge  was  excavated.  The  waters  occupied  the  preglacial  valley  of  the 
river,  now  possessed  bj^  the  Kishawa  Creek  as  far  as  the  \allage  of  Nunda,  and 
numerous  terraces  and  plateaus  in  that  valley  are  thought  to  represent  the  work  of 
those  static  waters. 

Fairchild  also  describes  in  the  same  paper  a  well-defined  beach  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Genesee  Valley  leading  from  near  Geneseo  northeastward  to 
Lima.  Since  publishing  that  paper  he  has  noted  e^^dences  of  the  presence 
of  a  body  of  water  ha-sdng  the  level  of  Lake  Warren  in  the  valleys  of 
several  of  the  Finger  lakes  of  western  New  York. 

In  interpreting  the  lake  history  of  that  region  he  has  called  attention 
to  a  succession  of  lakes  in  these  valleys.-^  The  earliest  lakes  were  formed 
as  the  ice  sheet  first  began  to  recede  from  the  southern  end  of  the  valleys. 
They  seem  to  have  been  very  small  and  of  short  duration.  As  the  ice 
sheet  withdrew  passages  were  opened  between  the  different  valleys  and  a 
common  level  for  several  lakes  was  established  with  an  outlet  across  the 
lowest  pass  to  the  south  at  Horseheads,  N.  Y.  To  the  lake  thus  formed 
Fairchild  had  earlier  applied  the  name  Lake  Newberry,^  though  at  that 
time  he  supposed  it  to  be  a  successor  of  Lake  Warren.  As  the  g'lacial 
retreat  continued  passages  were  opened  between  Lake  Newberry  and  Lake 
Warren,  and  the  former  took  the  level  of  the  latter.  The  Lake  Warren 
waters  appear  to  have  advanced  eastward  with  the  retreat  of  the  ice  to  the 
vicinitv  of  Marcellus,  N.  Y.,  before  a  passage  eastward  to  the  Mohawk 
Valley  became  available.  With  the  opening  of  this  passage  the  lake  level 
was  lowered  and  Lake  Warren  closed  its  history. 

The  channel  near  Marcellus,  which  afforded  a  new  outlet  for  the  lake 
waters,  was  first  brought  to  notice  by  Gilbert  in  connection  with  other 
channels  in  western  New  York,^  but  it  remained  for  Fairchild  to  discuss  the 
relations  to  Lake  Warren.  In  the  more  recent  of  the  two  papers  above 
cited  Fail-child  makes  the  following  statements: 

Two  miles  south  of  Marcellus  village  a  huge  delta  lies  on  the  west  side  of  the 
valley  [Otisco],  at  the  mouth  of  a  great  channel  cut  in  the  Hamilton  shales.  The 
topographic  sheet  gives  the  height  of  the  delta  terraces  as  860  down  to  800  feet. 
The  delta  is  the  debris  derived  from  the  excavation  of  the  gorge  and  dropped  by  the 

1  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  X,  1899,  pp.  27-68. 
2 Ibid.,  Vol.  VI,  189.5,  pp.  462-466. 

'Old  traclis  of  Erian  drainage  in  western  New  York:  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  VIII,  1897^ 
pr>.  285-286. 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  DANA.  771 

powerful  river  in  the  slowly  falling  waters  of  the  Otisco  Valley.  The  gorge  heads  4 
miles  northwest  of  Marcellus,  and  a  mile  west  of  Sheppards  Settlement,  on  limestone, 
with  an  elevation  at  the  intake,  as  given  by  Dr.  Gilbert,  of  812  feet.  Here,  at  the  head 
of  the  eroded  "gulf"  (the  only  local  name),  the  drift  and  shale  are  removed  down  to 
the  hard  limestone  rock  over  considerable  area.  It  is  evident  that  an  enormous  vol- 
ume of  water  escaped  at  this  point.  This  was  the  water  of  Lake  Warren,  which  found 
here  an  outlet  lower  than  its  old  one  westward  across  Michigan  to  the  Mississippi. 
Its  western  flow,  that  had  been  sustained  perhaps  some  thousands  of  j^ears,  was,  bj^ 
the  removal  of  the  ice  dam  in  this  region,  slowl}'  reversed  and  shifted  to  the  east 
toward  the  Mohawk-Hudson.  This  was  the  end  of  Lake  Warren  proper.  For  the 
similar  body  of  water,  but  with  falling  surface  and  diminishing  area,  which  found 
lower  and  lower  outlets  eastward  along  the  ice  front,  we  can  have  no  specific  name, 
but,  using  a  generic  term,  may  speak  of  it  as  the  hyper-Iroquois  waters. 

The  Warren  overflow  into  the  Otisco  Valley  would  have  been  quickly  checked  if 
some  eastward  outlet  were  not  provided.  This  is  found  in  another  rock  gorge,  which 
we  call  the  Cedarvale  channel,  that  leads  southeast  from  Marcellus  to  the  Onondaga 
Valley.  A  great  part  of  the  excavation  of  this  gorge  was  done  pari  passu  with  the 
cutting  of  the  gulf  and  by  the  same  water,  but  the  initial  height  of  the  outlet  must 
have  been  less  than  the  height  of  Lake  W^arren. 

Theoretically  the  Warren  waters  entered  this  region  with  an  elevation  of  more 
than  880  feet.  Evidence  of  erosion  at  near  this  level  appears  in  a  clifl:  on  the  west 
side  of  the  valle}'',  1  mile  south  of  the  intake,  which  has  the  appearance  of  stream 
cutting.  This  is  near  Mud  Pond.  On  the  east  side  of  the  channel,  at  the  east-and- 
west  road,  one-half  mile  below  the  intake,  is  a  gravel  plain  at  880  ±  feet,  which  is 
probabh'  a  flood  plain  of  the  early  river. 

THE   WITHDRAWAL  FKOM  LAKE  WARREN  TO   LAKE   ONTARIO. 

LAKE  DANA    (LAKE  LUNDY?) 

In  falling  from  the  level  of  Lake  Warren  to  that  of  Lake  Iroquois  the 
glacial  waters  appear  to  have  made  brief  halts  at  several  levels  belov^  the 
lower  beach  of  Lake  Warren.  These  halting  places  are  indicated  by  weak 
beaches.  Of  these  temporary  lake  levels  probably  the  most  important  is 
one  which  has  recently  been  given  the  name  Lake  Dana  Ijy  Fairchild.-'  In 
explanation  of  the  halting  at  this  level  Fairchild  has  suggested  the  great 
resistance  to  erosion  offered  by  the  limestone  which  underlies  the  Cedarvale 
channel  near  Marcellus,  it  being  thought  that  the  Cedarvale  channel  was 
utilized  by  the  falling  waters  down  to  that  level.  The  shore  of  this  lake 
has  as  yet  been  but  partly  traced,  the  most  important  section  being  on  the 
west  side  of  the  valley  of  Seneca  Lake  in  the  vicinity  of  Geneva,  N.  Y. 
It  has  there  been  given  the  name  Geneva  because  of  this  relationship  to 

1  Bull.  Geol.  Soc.  America,  Vol.  X,  1899,  pp.  56-57. 


772  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

the  town  site.  Fairchild  states  that  the  coiTelation  of  the  Geneva  beach 
with  the  Cedarvale  channel  is  still  theoretical,  but  that  the  knowledge  of 
the  problem,  tog-ether  with  the  aid  of  the  topographic  sheets,  is  sufficient  to 
give  great  confidence  in  the  accuracy  of  this  correlation.  He  remarks 
further  that  Lake  Dana  existed  perhaps  a  century,  or  several  centuries; 
yet,  as  compared  with  Lake  Warren,  it  had  a  brief  life. 

There  is  but  one  place  in  western  New  York  where  the  writer  has 
noted  evidence  of  a  shore  at  the  Lake  Dana  level.  A  gravel  deposit  at 
West  Seneca,  south  of  Buffalo,  which  seems  to  be  the  product  of  lake  waves, 
stands  about  180  feet  below  the  level  of  the  Forest  beach,  and  is  theoretically 
a  continuation  of  the  Geneva  beach.  It  follows  the  crest  of  a  narro\^'  ridge 
which  rises  just  above  the  620-foot  contour,  while  the  lower  of  the  two 
beaches  on  the  neighboring  part  of  the  shore  of  Lake  Warren,  as  shown 
by  the  Buffalo  topographic  sheet,  stands  near  the  800-foot  contour.  This 
observation  was  made  in  1893,  before  Fairchild  had  found  the  Geneva 
beach,  and  the  ridge  was  traced  only  about  a  mile,  as  it  appeared  at  that 
time  to  have  little  significance. 

In  this  connection  the  "  Lundy  beach"  of  Spencer  should  be  con- 
sidered, since  it  stands  near  the  level  of  Lake  Dana.  The  name  Lundy 
beach  was  applied  by  Spencer  some  years  ago  to  gravelly  deposits  found 
on  the  borders  of  the  Erie  Basin  at  a  level  140  to  155  feet  below  the 
Forest  beach,  which  seemed  to  him  to  mark  the  shore  of  a  lake.^  These 
deposits  are  fragmentary,  and  the  interpretation  of  shore  phenomena  seems 
open  to  question  at  several  of  the  places  cited  by  Spencer,  if  not  at  all  of 
them.  In  view  of  this  uncertainty,  and  also  because  the  level  seems  to  be 
25  to  40  feet  out  of  harmony  with  the  Geneva  beach,  it  hardly  seems 
advisable  to  cite  the  "Limdy  beach"  as  a  feature  of  Lake  Dana. 

Faint  beaches  have  been  noted  in  western  New  York  at  levels  still 
further  out  of  harmony  with  Lake  Dana.  About  4  miles  south  of  West 
Seneca,  on  a  bluff  back  of  Bay  View,  a  cut  bank  was  found  at  a  level  60 
feet  higher  than  the  gravel  deposit  at  West  Seneca,  the  altitude  being 
above  the  680-foot  contoui'.  This  bank,  which  has  also  been  observed  by 
Taylor,  apparently  marks  a  temporary  shore  of  the  lake,  yet  it  harmonizes 
in  altitude  with  neitlier  the  Geneva  nor  the  Lundy  beach. 

A  few  miles  farther  south,  at  North  Evans,  on  the  south  bliiff  of  Eight- 


'  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series,  Vol.  XLVIII,  1894,  pp.  207-212. 


BEACHES  OF  LAKE  DANA.  773 

eeumile  Creek,  and  thence  southwestward  past  Derby,  gravel  ridges  were 
observed  by  the  writer  and  subsequently  by  Taylor  at  an  altitude  of  fully 
700  feet  which  have  both  the  form  and  the  structure  of  a  beach.  These  are 
stronger  as  well  as  more  characteristic  than  any  of  the  supposed  shore 
features  at  the  lower  levels.     (See  note  on  p.  775.) 

Still  other  places  were  noted  where  beaches  occur  between  the  Forest 
beach  and  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie.  One  of  the  best  defined  is  at  the 
mouth  of  Chautauqua  Creek,  north  of  Westfield,  N.  Y.  Taylor  and  the 
writer  found  its  altitude  by  Locke  level  to  be  34  feet  above  the  surface  of 
Lake  Erie  (in  August,  1899),  or  about  606  feet  above  tide.  This  is  136 
feet  below  the  highest  Warren  shore  at  Westfield,  and  about  100  feet  below 
the  lowest.  There  are  several  places  between  Westfield  and  the  mouth 
of  Eighteenmile  Greek  where  a  weak  beach  occurs  at  altitudes  ranging 
from  35  to  60  feet  above  Lake  Erie.  These  were  exannned  by  Taylor  and 
the  writer  in  1899,  and  were  at  first  thought  to  mark  a  single  shore  which 
rises  more  gradually  toward  the  northeast  than  the  shore  of  Lake  Warren. 
But  upon  further  reflection  and  a  correction  of  barometric  determinations, 
by  means  of  the  topographic  maps  of  that  region,  it  seems  quite  as  probable 
that  they  are  merely  incidental  shore  phenomena  of  a  falling  lake. 

In  view  of  the  fragmentary  character  and  the  lack  of  harmony  in 
level  presented  by  these  weak  shore  lines  on  the  borders  of  the  Erie  Basin, 
it  will  probably  be  a  diflicult  matter  to  establish  satisfactorily  the  extent  of 
Lake  Dana  or  the  equivalents  of  the  Greneva  beach. 

The  lowering  of  the  lake  level  from  Lake  Dana  to  Lake  Iroquois 
seems  to  have  been  accomplished  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  ice  sheet  and 
the  uncovering  of  successively  lower  channels  leading  toward  the  Mohawk 
Valley.  Fairchild  states  that  the  district  from  15  miles  southwest  of 
Syracuse  to  12  miles  east  was  apparently  the  critical  region,  because  a 
broad  expanse  of  the  low  Ontario  plain  (400zt;  see  PI.  I)  meets  abruptly 
the  elevated  plateau,  and  here  the  ice  body  lingered  in  its  last  eff'ort  to  dam 
the  Huron-Erie-Ontario  waters  from  the  Mokawk-Hudson  Valley.  But  as 
yet  the  full  succession  of  events  and  the  relationship  of  channels  subsequent 
to  Lake  Dana  have  not  been  determined.  The  history  is  partially  obscured 
in  the  low  Syracuse  district  by  the  changes  in  hydrography  which  have 
occurred  since  the  ice  removal.  These,  as  stated  by  Fairchild,  are  (1) 
the  possible  existence  of  a  pre-Iroquois  water  body  with  elevation  toward 


774  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

500  feet  and  consequent  deltas  and  silting;  (2)  the  primitive  Iroquois  with 
elevation  much  under  440  feet;  (3)  the  rise  of  Iroquois  to  440  feet  and 
consequent  filling  of  former  channels,  and  (4)  the  stream  erosion  subsequent 
to  Iroqaois. 

LAKE   IROQUOIS. 

This  lake,  which  occupied  the  Ontario  Basin  and  discharged  eastward 
past  Rome,  N.  Y.,  into  the  Mohawk  Valley,  will  here  receive  only  a  brief 
notice,  for  the  writer  has  given  but  little  attention  to  its  shores  and  outlet. 
Furthermore,  it  lies  mainly  outside  the  district  under  discussion.  The 
portion  of  its  shore  from  near  Toronto,  Ontario,  around  the  western  end  of 
the  lake  and  along  its  southern  shore  attracted  notice  in  the  early  days  of 
settlement.  It  was  utilized  as  a  trail  by  the  red  men  and  adopted  for  a  high- 
way by  the  early  white  settlers.  The  name  Iroquois,  applied  by  Spencer, 
was  given  it  because  of  its  use  as  a  trail  by  an  Indian  tribe  of  that  name. 
The  beach  as  determined  by  Spencer  has  an  altitude  of  but  362  feet  at  the 
west  end  of  Lake  Iroquois,  near  Hamilton,  Ontario.  Spencer  has  found  a 
marked  rise  on  the  north  shore,  the  altitude  at  Trenton,  Ontario,  about  140 
miles  by  direct  line  from  Hamilton,  being  632  feet.  The  south  shore  shows 
a  gradual  rise  from  Hamilton  eastward  to  the  vicinity  of  Rochester,  its  alti- 
tude there  as  shown  by  the  topographic  sheet  being  about  435  feet,  but  it 
lies  so  nearly  at  right  angles  with  the  axis  of  uplift  from  Rochester  eastward 
to  the  Rome  outlet  as  to  be  nearly  horizontal.  From  the  Rome  outlet  north- 
ward the  rise  is  very  marked,  the  altitude  being  440  feet  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Rome  outlet  and  675  feet  at  Adams  Center,  only  60  miles  to  the  north. 
The  rise  is  thought  by  Gilbert  to  be  even  greater,  for  uplift  was  in  progress 
while  the  beach  was  forming,  so  that  it  presents  a  compound  form  north  of 
the  outlet.  The  upper  members  of  the  compound  beach  join  the  lower 
members  upon  approaching  the  outlet,  but  are  thought  to  pass  below  them 
in  the  part  of  the  lake  which  extended  south  farther  than  the  outlet. 

Lake  Iroquois  was  apparently  held  up  to  the  level  of  the  Rome  outlet 
by  the  body  of  ice  which  still  occupied  the  St.  Lawrence  Valley.  Upon 
the  withdrawal  of  that  ice  the  sea  entered  the  St.  Lawrence  Valley  and  the 
Lake  Ontario  Basin,  there  being  a  beach  containing  marine  shells  exposed 
at  the  eastern  end  of  the  lake.  This  beach  stands  very  nearly  200  feet 
below  the  Rome  outlet.  It  passes  below  lake  level  .near  Oswego,  N.  Y.,  as 
determined  by  Gilbert.     The  discovery  of  a  marine  shore  line  at  this  level 


LAKE  IROQUOIS.  775 

has  recently  been  supplemented  by  Coleman's  discovery  of  fresh- water  shells 
in  the  Iroquois  beach  near  Toronto.  It  now  seems  well  established  that 
Lake  Iroquois  stood  nearly  200  feet  above  sea  level. 

This  determination  is  of  value  in  working  out  the  altitudes  of  the  glacial 
lakes  which  preceded  Lake  Iroquois.  It  follows  that  Lake  Warren,  which 
stood  about  450  feet  above  Lake  Iroquois  had  an  altitude  not  far  from  650 
feet  above  the  sea,  while  Lake  Whittlesey  stood  slightly  over  700  feet,  and 
Lake  Maumee  at  its  highest  stage  stood  about  750  feet.  These  altitudes  are 
but  30  to  40  feet  lower  than  the  present  altitudes  in  the  western  part  of 
the  Lake  Erie  Basin,  and  covering,  as  they  do,  several  lake  stages,  they  bear 
testimony  to  long-continued  stability  in  that  region. 

Note. — In  eastern  Michigan  A.  C.  Lane  has  found  a  well-defined  beach  about 
50  feet  below  the  lowest  of  the  Lake  Warren  beaches,  or  690  to  700  feet  above  tide, 
which  he  has  named  the  Grassmere  beach.  About  20  to  30  feet  below  the  Grassmere 
is  a  fainter  shore  line  which  he  has  named  the  Elkton  beach. ^  W.  H.  Sherzer  has 
recognized  the  Grassmere  beach  in  southeastern  Michigan,  and  has  traced  it  a  short 
distance  into  Ohio.  It  there  stands  between  610  and  620  feet  above  tide,  or  about  40 
feet  above  Lake  Erie.  He  finds  the  lowest  Lake  Warren  shore  to  be  below  the  660- 
foot  contour.^  The  Grassmere  beach  maj^  be  a  continuation  of  the  beach  at  Derby, 
N.  Y.,  noted  on  page  773,  but  as  yet  the  plain  south  of  Lake  Erie  has  not  been  exam- 
ined with  sufficient  thoroughness  to  warrant  an  opinion.  In  eastern  Michigan  and 
in  the  adjacent  part  of  Canada  a  strong  beach  known  as  the  Algonquin  appears  at  the 
south  end  of  Lake  Huron  at  a  level  only  a  few  feet  above  the  present  lake  surface, 
but  northward  it  rises  to  a  much  greater  altitude.^  The  Algonquin  beach  of  the 
Huron  basin,  it  is  thought,  may  be  of  similar  age  to  the  Iroquois  beach  of  the  Ontario 
basin,  but  further  study  is  necessary  to  insure  satisfactory  correlations. 

1  Geol.  Survey  Michigan,  Vol.  VII,  1900,  part  2,  pp.  73-75,  PL  VIII. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  141-143,  PI.  VII. 

'J.  W.  Spencer:  Am.  Jour.  Sci.,  3d  series.  Vol.  XLI,  1891,  pp.  12-21. 


CHAPTEE    XYIL 

SOILS. 

SOURCES   OF   SOIL  IVIATERIAL,. 

The  soils  of  the  glaciated  portion  of  the  Ohio  River  Basin  and  of  the 
Lake  Erie  Basin  are  very  largely  derived  from  the  glacial  drift  and  the 
loess  and  lacustrine  silts  that  cover  the  drift.  The  underlying  rocks  are 
indirectly  a  source  of  much  material,  since  their  decomposed  surface  por- 
tions were  incorporated  in  the  drift,  but  they  constitute  a  minor  source  so 
far  as  direct  contribution  is  concerned. 

The  great  agencies  involved  in  producing  the  soils  of  the  glaciated 
district — the  ice  sheet,  the  glacial  lakes,  and  the  glacial  streams — have  long 
since  ceased  to  operate,  but  modern  streams  are  still  at  work  spreading 
alluvium  over  valley  bottoms  in  their  flood  stages.  The  small  lakes  that 
remain  in  the  depressions  of  the  drift  are  precipitating  marl  deposits  and 
carrying  on  their  borders  a  vegetal  growth  which  will  some  day  yield  a 
rich  soil  as  the  lakes  are  lowered.  Vegetation  has  also  been  em-iching  the 
soil  with  humus  over  much  of  the  plane-surfaced  drift  from  the  time  it  first 
gained  a  foothold  on  the  di'ift  sui-face;  while  organisms  of  various  kinds, 
both  plant  and  animal,  have  united  with  the  atmospheric  agents  to  break 
up  the  soil  and  mix  it  thoroughly. 

The  preceding  discussion  has  shown  that  there  are  wide  diff'erences  in 
the  ages  of  the  drift  deposits,  there  being  deposits  of  Kansan  or  pre-Kansan, 
of  Illinoian,  of  lowan,  of  early  Wisconsin,  and  of  late  Wisconsin  age.  The 
exposed  portion  of  the  oldest  (Kansan  or  pre-Kansan)  drift  in  northwestern 
Pennsylvania  constitutes  but  a  limited  part  of  the  drift  surface,  amounting 
to  but  a  few  hundred  square  miles.  The  Illinoian  drift  of  northwestern 
Ohio  and  southeastei-n  Indiana  extends  over  several  tliousand  square  miles 
outside  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin  drift,  but  it  is  covered  so  deeplv  bv  silt 
of  later  (lowan)  age  that  it  forms  the  soil  only  on  the  valley  slopes  or  in 

776 


SOILS.  777 

places  where  the  uiiderlyiug  silt  has  been  eroded.  The  surface  soil  of  that 
reo-ion  is  mainly  on  the  lowan  silt,  while  the  Sangamon  soil  that  was 
formed  between  the  lUinoiau  and  lowan  stages  of  glaciation  has  been 
buried  beneath  that  silt.  The  early  Wisconsin  drift  within  this  region  has 
a  somewhat  limited  exposure.  The  remaining  part  of  the  drift  surface, 
comprising  a  large  area,  is  therefore  of  late  Wisconsin  age. 

The  unglaciated  portion  of  the  Ohio  River  Basin  is  covered  somewhat 
widely  by  Pleistocene  deposits.  There  are  not  only  the  valley  deposits 
brought  down  to  the  Ohio  from  the  glaciated  districts  by  glacial  and  modern 
streams,  but  also  deposits  on  the  uplands  of  a  fine  silt  apparently  of  lowan 
age.  The  soil  of  the  flat  portions  of  uplands  in  southeastern  .Ohio  and 
even  in  States  south  of  the  Ohio  is  formed  from  this  silt.  Much  of  the 
unglaciated  part  of  the  Ohio  River  Basin  is,  however,  so  broken  that  the 
silt  has  been  removed  and  soil  is  being  formed  from  the  Paleozoic  rock  for- 
mations, as  it  was  before  the  deposition  of  the  silt  or  the  advent  of  Pleisto- 
cene glaciation.  There  are  uneroded  places  in  which  the  residuary  clays 
formed  by  the  disintegration  of  the  rock  surface  may  be  clearly  distin- 
guished in  color  and  texture  from  the  overlying  silt  of  Pleistocene  age 

CLASSES  OF  SOIL. 

There  are  several  modes  of  classification  of  soils  in  use,  based  gener- 
ally on  either  chemical  constitution  or  physical  texture  or  characteristics. 
The  classification  which  seems  best  to  serve  our  purpose  is  based  mainly 
on  physical  characteristics.  The  control  which  the  physical  characteristics 
exert  upon  moisture  and  temperature  has  been  found  by  experimentation 
to  be  far  more  important  than  the  mere  chemical  composition  of  the  soil. 
It  is  found  that  under  favorable  conditions  of  moisture  and  temperature  the 
majority  of  plants  can  readily  gather  sufficient  food  material  from  almost 

any  soil. 

In  the  Erie  and  Ohio  basins  the  following  classes  of  soils  are  present: 
(1)  Residuary  soils,  or  soils  formed  from  the  underlying  rock;  (2)  stony 
clay  soils,  derived  from  the  till  or  bowlder  clay;  (3)  gravelly  or  stony  soils; 
(4)  sandy  soils;  (5)  silts  or  clays  of  fine  texture,  but  more  or  less  pervious 
to  water;  (6)  peaty  soils  with  a  large  amount  of  organic  material.  A 
tabular  statement  is  here  presented  which  shows  the  origin  or  mode  of 
deposition  and  the  areal  distribution  of  the  several  classes  of  soils. 


778  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

Tcible  of  soils  hi  the  Ohio  and  Ei'ie  hmins. 


Eesiduary 


Stony  clay . 


Gravelly,  or  stony. 


Sandy  . 


Silty  or  clayey  , 


Peaty  or  organic 


Decay  of  the  under- 
lying rocks. 


Glacial 


Glacial,  glacial  out- 
wash,  streams,  wave- 
action. 


Glacial   drainage, 
streams,  lakes,  wind. 


In  part  by  slowly 
flowing  waters, 
probably  in  part  by 
wind;  also  as  a 
sediment  in  glacial 
lakes. 


Vegetal  accumula- 
tions and  shell  de- 
posits. 


Areal  distribution. 


Unglaciated  portion  of  the  Ohio  basin,  where  silt  as  well 
as  glacial  material  is  absent,  and  also  on  valley  slopes 
within  the  glaciated  region  where  the  drift  covering  is 
too  thin  to  afford  a  soil. 

On  a  large  part  of  the  moraines,  and  much  of  the  till 
plains  of  Wisconsin  age;  along  valley  slopes  in  the  IIU- 
noian  drift;  very  limited  exposure  on  the  older  drift 
of  northwestern  Pennsylvania. 

On  the  older  drift  of  northwestern  Pennsylvania;  in  inter- 
lobate  moraines  of  Wisconsin  age;  to  a  limited  extent 
as  kames  on  till  plains  and  moraines  of  AVisconsin  age; 
to  a  very  limited  extent  in  the  Illinoian  drift;  as  glacial 
outwash  along  valleys  in  connection  both  with  the 
Wisconsin  drift  and  the  older  drift,  and  as  outwash 
aprons  to  a  limited  extent  on  the  outer  border  of  mo- 
raines; as  stream  deposits  both  along  glacial  and 
modern  drainage  lines;  as  deltas  along  parts  of  the 
shores  of  the  glacial  lakes  where  vigorous  streams 
entered;  as  wave  products  along  parts  of  the  old  lake 
shores. 

The  valley  deposits  vary  in  coarseness  with  the  strength 
of  the  current,  and  contain  much  sand  both  in  tlie 
glacial  and  modern  deposits;  beaches  of  glacial  lakes 
are  composed  largely  of  sand,  and  the  lake  bottoms  are 
covered  to  a  limited  extent  with  sand;  the  beaches  of 
Lake  Warren  are  especially  sandy;  wind  has  drifted  the 
sand  into  dunes  to  a  limited  amount  in  northwestern 
Ohio,  and  in  a  few  places  farther  east,  in  the  area  covered 
by  glacial  lakes. 

Mainly  outside  the  limits  of  the  Wisconsin  drift  through- 
out the  exposed  portion  of  the  Illinoian  drift,  and  on 
flat  portions  of  the  unglaciated  districts  bordering  the 
Ohio,  both  in  valleys  and  on  bordering  uplands;  the 
lower  part  of  the  Scioto  and  Grand  River  basins,  much 
of  the  Jlaumee  basin,  and  flat  areas  in  northern  Ohio, 
also  carry  a  surface  clay  with  few  pebbles,  partly  a  slug- 
gish stream  deposit  and  partly  a  lake  sediment;  silt 
deposits  are  of  limited  extent  in  northwestern  Pennsyl- 
vania and  western  New  York,  chiefly  in  lowlands  and 
valleys. 

Locally  in  the  Erie  basin  and  the  glaciated  portion  of  the 
Ohio  River  basin,  where  drainage  is  imperfect;  the 
most  conspicuous  deposits  are  in  basins  and  lakes  in- 
closed among  the  morainic  knolls,  but  there  are  exten- 
sive peat  bogs  in  northern  Ohio  between  moraines 
where  adequate  drainage  has  not  been  developed. 


SOILS.  779 


RESIDUARY   SOILS. 


The  residuary  soils  sliow  variations  which  correspond  in  a  rude  way 
with  variations  in  the  structure  of  the  rocks  from  which  they  are  derived. 
In  regions  underlain  by  limestone  there  is  usually  a  reddish-brown  clay. 
In  shale  areas  the  residuary  material  is  an  adhesive  clay  varying  in  color 
to  correspond  with  the  underlying  shale  In  sandstone  and  freestone  areas 
the  residuary  material  is  siliceous  rather  than  clayey  or  argillaceous.  It 
often  presents  a  color  and  texture  similar  to  the  deposits  of  lowan  silt  that 
overlie  it  so  that  the  line  of  junction  is  difficult  to  detemiine.  With  proper 
rotation  of  crops  the  residuary  soils  are  usually  productive  and  profitable 
for  agriculture,  though  they  can  scarcely  compete  with  the  soils  formed 
on  glacial  drift.  The  fertility  of  the  unglaciated  tracts  is  also  difficult  to 
maintain  because  of  the  steepness  of  the  slopes  and  the  resulting  great 
erosion. 


STONY-CLAY  SOILS. 


The  soils  formed  on  the  bowlder  clay  or  till  are  iisually  very  produc- 
tive, being  composed  of  a  varied  rock  material,  a  large  part  of  which  is  in 
a  sufficiently  fine  state  of  division  to  be  available  for  plant  food.  In 
physical  constitution  also  it  is  well  calculated  for  agricidture,  being  suffi- 
ciently porous,  as  a  rale,  to  allow  air  and  water  to  penetrate  it  readily. 
Portions  of  it,  however,  have  so  compact  a  texture  that  underdraining  by 
tile  has  been  found  necessary.  In  general  all  grains  and  fruits  suitable  to 
the  latitude  will  flourish,  especially  where  the  surface  is  rolling  or  well 
drained.  It  has  been  found  necessary  to  use  fertilizers  to  insure  a  wheat 
crop  on  laud  that  has  been  in  cultivation  for  periods  of  forty  to  fifty  years, 
and  advantageous  on  ground  which  has  been  under  cultivation  but  a  few 
years,  a  fact  which  testifies  to  the  value  of  certain  chemical  ingredients  to 
the  growth  of  that  cereal.  The  importance  of  the  stony-clay  soil  may  be 
appreciated  from  the  fact  that  it  constitutes  the  soil  of  the  major  part  of 
the  great  agricultural  States  of  Ohio  and  Indiana,  as  well  as  the  most 
productive  portions  of  western  New  York  and  northwestern  Pennsylvania. 

GRAVELLY  OR  STONY  SOILS. 

On  the  older  drift  of  northwestern  Pennsylvania  and  the  gravelly 
portions  of  the  moraines  of  Wisconsin  age  throughout  the  region  under 
discussion  as  well  as  on  the  kames,  the  soil  is  usually  stony.  There  are, 
however,  but  a  few  places  where  there  is  not  a  sufficient  matrix  of  fine 


780  GLACIAL  FORMATIONS  OF  ERIE  AND  OHIO  BASINS. 

material  to  afford  sustenance  to  plants.  Indeed,  the  grains  and  fruits  are 
found  to  flourish  in  this  class  of  soil.  The  gravelly  outwash  aprons  border- 
ing the  moraines  and  the  deposits  along  the  lines  of  discharge  for  glacial 
waters  usually  carry  a  capping  of  loam  from  a  few  inches  to  several  feet  in 
depth,  which  adds  to  their  productiveness.  It  is  only  the  trees  and  the 
deep-rooting  plants  that  extend  down  to  the  gravel.  The  deltas  and  gravelly 
portions  of  beaches  on  the  shores  of  the  glacial  lakes  usually  carry  sufficient 
sand  and  loam  as  a  matrix  to  supply  the  needs  of  plants. 

SANDY    SOILS. 

The  sandy  soils  are  as  a  class  the  least  productive  of  the  whole  series. 
They  are,  however,  confined  to  naiTow  strips  along  valleys  and  to  small 
areas  on  the  borders  of  the  glacial  lakes.  The  most  extensive  tracts  are 
near  the  shores  of  the  glacial  lakes  Maumee  and  Warren  in  northwestern 
Ohio  and  the  neighboring  part  of  Michigan,  and  there  they  cover  but  a  few 
townships.  Elsewhere  they  are  in  narrow  strips,  usually  but  a  fraction  of 
a  mile  and  often  but  a  few  yards  in  width,  that  follow  the  old  shore  lines. 

SILTY    SOILS. 

The  silt}^  soils  display  considerable  variation  in  texture,  some  being 
a  compact  clay  nearly  impervious  to  water,  others  a  loamy  clay  in  which 
water  has  a  moderate  movement,  and  still  others  a  loam  in  which  ^vater  has 
a  free  movement.  The  silt  that  covers  the  lUinoian  drift  in  southeastern 
Indiana  and  southwestern  Ohio  is  nearly  impervious  to  water,  and  its  flat 
areas  are  subject  to  flooding  in  wet  seasons  and  to  baking  in  seasons  of 
drought.  The  term  "slash  land"  has  been  applied  to  these  poorly  drained 
areas.  The  soil  is  in  places  underlain  at  the  depth  of  a  few  inches  by  an 
ochery  clay  or  ferruginous  crust  which  is  exceedingly  refractory  and 
difliicult  to  break  up.  This  ferruginous  crust  is  so  extensive  here  and  also 
in  districts  farther  west  that  it  merits  careful  investigation  as  to  methods  for 
breaking  it  up  and  rendering  more  productive  a  soil  which  seems  otherwise 
well  calculated  for  profitable  agriculture.  The  silt  that  covers  the  Wis- 
consin drift  in  parts  of  the  Scioto,  Grand  River,  and  Maumee  basins  is 
usually  sufficiently  porous  to  permit  water  to  pass  up  or  down  tlu'ough  it. 
Although  the  areas  of  Wisconsin  ch'ift  which  are  covered  with  silt  are 
generally  so  flat  that  some  flooding  occurs  in  wet  seasons,  the  passage  of 
water  tlu'ough  the  silt  is  sufficiently^  free  to  prevent  baking  in  seasons  of 


SOILS.  781 

drought.  The  silt  with  loosest  texture  is  usually  found  on  the  borders  of 
the  valleys.  In  places  its  coarseness  is  such  that  it  might  perhaps  be  better 
termed  a  sand,  though  the  term  loam  is  more  commonly  applied  to  it  by 
the  residents.     Its  texture  is  so  open  as  to  render  it  very  productive. 

The  silt  which  covers  the  residuary  clays  in  unglaciated  parts  of  the  Ohio 
Basin  is  on  the  whole  sufficiently  loose  textured  and  sufficiently  varied  in 
chemical  constituents  to  afford  a  fertile  soil.  It  remains  only  in  small 
patches  on  the  uplands,  but  is  extensively  preserved  in  the  lowlands 
and  abandoned  valleys  of  southeastern  Ohio  and  neighboring  parts  of 
West  Virginia  and  Kentucky. 

PEATY    OR    ORGANIC    SOILS. 

The  peaty  and  organic  soils  occur  in  basins  or  in  ^aoorly  drained  tracts 
where  the  rank  vegetation  becomes  submerged  at  certain  seasons  and  is 
thus  prevented  from  atmospheric  decay.  When  drained,  the  peat  being 
allowed  to  ripen  and  become  warm,  these  bogs  will  in  many  instances 
yield  large  crops  of  potatoes,  onions,  celery,  and  other  garden  truck. 
These  bogs,  which  for  years  stood  as  waste  land,  are  thus  becoming  a 
productive  class  of  soil. 

/  Note. — It  has  been  thought   best   to  attempt   no    special  discussion    in   this 

monograph  of  the  wells  and  other  water  supplies  of  the  region  covered,  for  the 
Survey  has  alread}^  pviblished  several  special  papers  on  these  subjects.  The  water 
supplies  of  Indiana  and  Ohio  have  received  a  general  discussion  by  the  present  writer 
in  Part  IV  of  the  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey, 
and  the  wells  of  Indiana  have  been  treated  in  some  detail  in  Water-Supplj^  and  Irri- 
gation Papei's  Nos.  21  and  26.  Orton  has  discussed  the  rock  waters  and  the  flowing- 
wells  of  Ohio  in  Part  IV  of  the  Nineteenth  Annual  Report,  and  Rafter  has  included 
western  New  York  in  his  discussion  of  the  water  resources  of  New  York  in  Water- 
Supply  and  Irrigation  Papers  Nos.  24:  and  25.  In  addition  to  the  material  in  the 
papers  just  mentioned  many  well  sections  and  other  data  concerning  water  supplies 
may  be  found  in  the  present  report,  chiefly  in  connection  with  the  discussion  of  the 
structure  of  the  drift. 


INDEX 


Abbott,  — ,  statement  by 373 

Aboit,  Ind.,  altitude  at  and  near 548,549 

morainic  topography  near 554 

Ackley ,  Pa. ,  morainic  topography  near -  -         444 

Acmaton,  Pa.,  gravel  terrace  near 346 

Adamsville,  Pa.,  stride  near 464 

Adario,  Ohio,  wells  at -.. ---         558 

Adelphi,  Ohio,  glacial  deposits  near - 259,368 

morainic  topography  near 39''' 

Adrian,  Mich.,proglacial  channel  near 718 

Agosta,  Ohio,  altitude  near -- 549 

wells  at -- -- 559 

Akron,  Ohio,  glacial  deposits  near. 563-564,605 

gravel  plain  near  --. - -- 388 

strise  near.. - - --- 423 

Aladdin,  Pa.,  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of 145 

Albion,  Pa. ,  preglacial  drainage  near 137 

Albion  moraine,  altitude  of,  range  in -         703 

distributionof -- 701-702 

drift  of,  structure  of - ■-  706-707 

inner  border  phenomena  of 707-708 

relation  to  Lake  Warren. -.--■ 707 

topogi-aphy  of - ---  703-706 

Alden  moraine,  altitude  of,  range  in 684 

distribution  of -  -  -  684 

drift  of,  structure  of .- .- ---  685 

cuter  border  drainage  of 685 

relation  to  Lake  Warren .-.         685 

topography  of -. ---  684-685 

Alexandria,  Ind.,  drift  near... 486 

strife  at 487 

Allegheny,  Pa.,  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of 145 

glacial  gravel  at -. 349 

gravel  filling  near,  upper  limit  of 240 

rock  island  at .- -- 84 

section  in ._. 249 

shale  and  gravel  at,  contact  of 143-144 

Allegheny  Coal  Measures,  occurrence  and  char- 
acter of .  - - - 64r-65 

Allegheny  River,  course  and  drainage  area  of 125 

course,  preglacial,  of _ 139-148 

fall  of. -- 98,125-137 

gradation  plain  on 139 

gravel  deposits  in  valley  of 136 

old  divide  on 98-100 

rock  floor  of 137 

valley  of ,  description  of... 138-139 

See  also  Old  Allegheny  drainage  system. 

Allegheny  Valley  Railroad,  profile  along 147 

Alliance,  Ohio,  altitude  at 440 

Alquina,  Ind.,  altitude  at 308 


Alum  Creek,  Ohio,  features  of  valley  of -...-  537 

wells  near... 434 

Alvada,  Ohio,  altitude  at- 583 

Amanda,  Ohio,  wells  at  and  near 412 

Amanda  Township,  Ohio,  strife  in 581 

Anderson,  Ohio,  wells  at 414 

Andersons  Fork,  Ohio,  strife  on 349 

Andover,  Ohio,  altitude  at... 636 

striiB  near 465,467 

Andover  Center,  Ohio,  drift  near 646 

Andrews,  E.B.,  cited 26,106 

reference  to 64 

Angelica  Creek,  N.Y.,  length  of 202 

Anna,  Ohio,  altitude  at... 497 

borings  at- 501 

glacial  channel  near 518 

Appleton,  Ohio,  well  at 408 

Arcanum,  Ohio,  wells  at 370 

Archbold,  Ohio,  beach  near 748 

Area  discussed,  boundaries  of 33-34 

glacial  map  of. 50 

topographic  map  of 22 

Arkwright,  N.  Y.,  altitude  near 657,658 

moraine  near 655 

Arnold,  Pa. ,  glacial  gravel  at 245 

gravel  filling  near,  upper  limit  of 240 

fluvial  plains  at,  height  of 145 

Arthur,  C.  S. ,  fossils  collected  by 516 

Ashland,  Ohio,  altitiide  near 549 

morainic  topography  near... 553,566 

Ashtabula,  Ohio,  beaches  near. 736 

Ashtabula  Creek,  Ohio,  course  of - .  215 

section  on 668 

Ashtabula  moraine,  course  of 653 

topography  of    . 661-662 

Attica,  Ind..  altitude  at 189 

Attica,  Ohio,  altitude  at 583  ■ 

wells  near 598 

Atwater,  C,  reference  to - 34 

Atwater,  Ohio,  wells  near 462 

Auburn,  Ind.,  altitude  near -  549 

drift  at 504 

Auburn  Center,  Ohio,  drift  near 593 

Auglaize  River,  Ohio,  beach  near 739 

course  of  _. 219 

Aurora,  Ind.,  gas  boring  at 267 

section  near 266 

Aurora  Township,  Ohio,  well  in i.  594 

Austin,  Ohio,  till  at 414 

Austintown,  Ohio,  strise  at 46*5 

Ayer  Flats,  Ohio,  glacial  gravel  on 564 

Ayersville,  Ohio,  beach  near 750-751 

783 


784 


INDEX. 


Bainbridge.  Ohio,  bowlder  near 420 

Bainbridge  Center,  Ohio,  well  near 593 

Bainbridge  Township,  Ohio,  strife  in 422, 609 

Balbec,  Ind.,  drift  near ..- 517-518 

morainic  topography  near -- 513-514 

Bald  Knob,  Ohio,  well  on -- 417 

Baldwins  Run,  Ohio,  bowlder  on  _ -         420 

Bangs  station,  Ohio,  wells  at.... 408 

Barclay,  Ohio,  drift  near 645 

Barre  moraine,  altitude  of,  range  in 696-697 

distribution  of 695-696 

drift  of ,  structure  of 700-701 

relation  to  Lake  Warren 701 

topography  o£ - - 697-700 

Bartholemew,  G.  W.,  jr.,  information  furnished 

by 366 

Basil,  Ohio,  section  near -- 410 

Batavia,  N.  Y.,  altitude  near 689 

beach  near ^ "69 

Batavia  Junction,  Ohio,  section  near 282 

Batavia  moraine,  altitude  of,  range  in 689 

distribution  of - 688-689 

drift  of,  structure  of  -  - -  690 

topography  of 690 

Bayard,  Ohio,  altitude  at 440 

morainic  topograjahy  near - 451 

Beach  City,  Ohio,  boring  at  and  near 403 

Bean  Creelj,  Ohio,  beach  near '         748 

Beanblossom  Creek,  Ind.,  drift  in  valley  of,  struc- 
ture of - - --         263 

drift  border  near,  topography  of -  254-255 

Beaver,  Pa.,  gravel  filling  near,  upper  limit  of 246 

terrace  remnants  near 250 

Beaver  Creek,  Ohio,  change  in  course  of 178 

Beaver  Falls,  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of 152 

Beaver  Hi ver,  altitude  in  valley  of 440 

drainage  area  of - 148 

fall  of - 151 

fluvial  plains  on,  height  of 152 

glacial  outwash  in  valley  of 251-252 

gradation  plain  on -  -  -  95-96, 149-150, 449 

gravel  deposit  in  valley  of 450 

outlet  northward  of  Upper  Ohio  through 94-98 

rock  floor  along- 150 

rocks  along,  character  of 96-97 

strife  in  valley  of - - 465 

Bedford  shale,  occurrence  and  character  of 61-62 

Beech  Flats,  Ohio,  drainage  changes  near 26" 

Beechy  Mire,  Ind.,  well  at ---         331 

Bellaire,  Ohio,  gradation  plain  near 93 

gravel  and  sand  near 122 

topography  near.. - -  93 

Belle  Center,  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near 533 

striae  at  and  near 424, 487,  .529 

wells  at  and  near 482,534-535 

Bellefontaine,  Ind.,  wells  near  ., .519-520 

Belief  outaine,  Ohio,  altitude  of  drift  and  rock  sur- 
face near - - 356 

drift  at,  thickness  of 361 

strise  near... - - 380 

wells  at  and  near -. - 367 

Bellevue.Ky.,  drift  near - 258 

Bellevue.  Ohio,  beach  near - 730-731 

strife  at 424,609 

Bellevue.Pa.,  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of -         145 

Bellville, Ohio,  wells  near - 406 

Belmore  Beach,  altitude  of,  variations  in 747 

description  of 746-747 


Belmore  Beach,  distribution  of 745-746 

map  of, near  Defiance, Ohio 748 

section  of -. - 669 

Bemis  Point, N.  Y.,  drift  at -         642 

well  at 453 

Berea,  Ohio,  drainage  changes  near 618 

strife  near-- - 423,609 

Berea  grit,  occurrence  and  character  of 62 

Berlin,  Ohio,  drift,  near-- 404 

Bethel,  Ohio,  bowlders  near  --- 276 

buried  soil  near 273 

section  near ---         273 

Bibliography-- - - 28-19 

Big  Bend,  Pa.,  terrace  at --- ---         472 

wellat  - — --- 469 

Big  Blue  Biver,  Ky.,  gradation  plain  on 115 

Big  Bone  Creek,  Ky.,  abandoned  channel  near   -.  114-115 

Big  Cedar  Creek,  Ind.,  course  of 547 

Big  Sandy  Creek,  Pa.,  morainic  topography  near-         447 

strise  near - - 464 

wells  near - - 459 

Big  Sandy  River,  W.  Va. ,  rock  floor  at,  altitude  of .         105 

Big  Springs,  Ohio,  strife  at  and  near 424, 529 

well  at 535 

Big  Walnut  Creek,  Ohio,  gravel  belt  on 433 

Bingham,  Pa.,  altitude  near - 201 

Birmingham,  Mich.,  altitude  near 725 

beach  near - 721 

Birmingham,  Ohio,  striae  near - ---  423,609 

Bishop,  I.  P.,  cited -- 708 

Black  Fork,  Ohio,  knolls  in  valley  of 566 

strife  near- - --- 423 

Black  River,  Ohio,  beach  near 732-733,743 

course,  present  and  preglacial,  of 217 

topography  near 614 

Blanchard  moraine.    See  Defiance  moraine. 

Blanchard  Township,  Ohio,  strife  in - 581 

Bloomlield  Center,  Ohio, drift  at 645 

Blue  Creek,  Ind.,  course  of 547 

Blue  River,  Ind.,  fall  of ,  rate  of..-- 193-194 

Blue  Eye  Creek,  altitude  near  -- 440 

BluflEton,  Ind.,  altitude  near - 549 

morainic  topography  near 553 

Boardman,  Ohio,  borings  near. .- 462 

Bokes  Creek,  Ohio,  flowing  wells  along  -  -- 537-538 

Bolivar,  Ohio,  topography  near 388 

Bon  Harbor  Hills,  Ky.,  rock  island  at 87 

Bond  Hill,  Ohio,  sand  deposits  near 280, 281 

Borden,  W.  W.,  cited --- - 58 

reference  to - - 28 

Boston  Ledges,  Ohio,  strife  at 423,609 

Botkins,  Ohio,  altitude  of 513 

morainic  topography  near  - 513 

Bowling  Green,  Ohio,  sand  ridges  near 761-762 

Bownecker,  J.  A.,  cited -- 181,183,368,501 

reference  to - --  518,520,576 

Bowser,  Ind.,  altitude  at 497 

Braceville,  Ohio,'  wells  at- —         469 

Braceville  Township,  Ohio,  striffi  in 465 

Brandon.  Pa.,  drift  at  and  near.-- 233 

Bremen,  Ohio,  drainage  changes  near 170-171 

Briggs,  C.ir.,  reference  to - 25 

Brighton,  Ohio,  strife  near 423,609 

Bristolville,  Ohio,  drift  at -- 645 

Broadway,  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near 533 

well  near 535 

Broadway  moraine,  altitude  of,  range  in --         532 

bowlders  on --. - 535-536 

correlation  of 542-543 


INDEX. 


785 


Page. 

Broadway  moraine,  distribution  of - 531-532 

drift  of,  structure  and  thickness  of 53J:-535 

inner  border  phenomena  of  .-- 537-543 

outer  border  phenomena  of  — —  536-537 

relief  of ---- 533 

striae  along,,- o36 

topography  of - -- 5^33-534: 

Broci^port,  N.  Y.,  altitude  near 703 

Brokenstraw  Creek,  Pa. ,  course,  preglacial,  of  —  KO,  143 

drift  near. - 334 

morainic  topography  along -- --  445 

Brookfield,  Ohio,  strise  at 465 

Brookville,  Ind.,  altitude  near.. -.- 308 

boring  at - 385 

glacial  deposits  near --         333 

gravel  knolls  near 313 

rock  floor  at  and  near,  altitude  of 185 

wells  near 335 

Brunswick  Center,  Ohio,  well  at ^15 

Brush  Creek,  Ohio, preglacial  course  of.. 177 

till  on -----         373 

Bryan,  Ohio,  altitude  near 570 

beach  near 717 

shore  line  near 749 

Bryant,  Ind.. altitude  at-.. 513 

Buck  Creek  Valley,  Ohio,  glacial  deposits  in 315 

Buck  Ridge,  Ohio,  bowlder  on 430 

Buckskin  station,  Ohio,  strise  near 434 

Bucyrus,  Ohio,  altitude  near 549 

drift  at  -- 559 

Bufialo,  N,  Y.,  Pleistocene  features  near,  plate 

showing 754 

striseat --- - —  -  708-709 

Buffalo  Creek ,  N .  Y. ,  present  and  preglacial  course 

of.: - 311-313 

Bull  Run,  Ohio, strise  on. 348 

Bunker  Hill,  Ind.,  drift  at 487 

Bunker  Hill,  Pa.,  drift  at 233 

Bunn,  A.  D-,  acknowledgments  to 408 

Burbank,  Ohio,  altitude  at  and  near 549, 569 

morainic  topography  near 571 

Burg  Hill.  Ohio,  striseat 465 

Buried  soil.    See  Soil,  buried. 

Burns,  N- Y.,  altitude  at 303 

Butler,  Ind.,  morainic  topography  near 555 

'   section  at 504 

C. 
Cables,  Ohio,  drift  near 417 

Csesars  Creek,  Ohio,  gravel  beds  on 336-337 

strise  near.. 349,434 

Cambridge,  Ind.,  wells  at _ 334 

strise  near.. 337 

Camden,  Ind.,  sections  near 530 

Camden,  Ohio,  altitude  of  drift  and  rock  surface 

near 356 

drift  at,  thickness  of 361,370 

Campbell,  M.  R.,  cited HI 

Campbellspor t,  Ohio,  well  at 463 

Canal  Fulton,  Ohio,  drift  near .._  403-403 

Canal  "Winchester,  Ohio,  borings  at  and  near 411 

Caneadea,  N.  Y.,  terraces  at,  altitude  of 306 

Caneadea  Creek,  morainic  topography  near 639 

Cannelton,  Ind.,  Tertiary  deposits  near Ill' 

Canton,  Ohio,  altitude  at 441 

bowlder  near 430 

topography  near 388 

MON  XLI 50 


Carey,  Ohio,  strise  near 581 

Carlisle,  Ohio,  altitude  of  drift  and  rock  surface 

near 356 

gravel  plain  near 377 

Carll,J.F.,  cited 63,127, 

139, 133, 137, 138, 140, 143, 329, 453, 454, 455 

reference  to - 37,137,314 

Carroll,  Ohio,  boring  at 411 

striag  near 434 

Carrollton,  Ky.,  drift  ridge  near 357 

rock  island  near 86 

well  at 265 

Cass  City,  Mich.,  beach  near 743-744 

Cassadaga  Valley,  N.  Y.,  altitude  in 626 

drift  in 633,635 

moraine  in 655 

topography  of 664 

Castalia,  Ohio,  beach  near 763 

Catawba,  Ohio,  altitude  near 335 

Catawba  village,  Ohio,  wells  at . . . 416 

Catskill  group.    See  Berea  grit. 

Cattaraugus  Creek,  N.  Y.,  altitude  near 658 

course, present  and  preglacial, of 212-213 

moraine  near    655-656 

till  on 675 

Cedargrove,  Ind.,  boring  at 385 

Celina,  Ohio,  altitude  near 549 

Centerville,  Ind.,  well  at 335 

Centerville,  Ohio,  ridge  near 353 

Centerville,  Pa.,  altitude  at 440 

Chagrin  River,  Ohio,  altitude  near 636 

course  of 315,316 

topography  near 637,660 

wells  near 643 

Chamberlin,  T.  C,  cited 34,50,338,341,299, 

302, 304, 349, 354, 371, 372, 416, 437, 473, 482, 494, 608 

letter  of  transmittal  by 17 

quoted.-... 199,443 

reference  to.. 341,353,384 

work  of 38 

Chamberlin,  T.C.,  and  Leverett,  Frank,  cited 89,95, 

1 3:^124,213 

Chamberlin,  T.  C,  and  Salisbury,  R.  D. ,  quoted 431 

Champion  Center,  Ohio,  drift  at 645 

Chance,  H.  M.,  cited 340,343 

work  of 37 

Chandlers  Valley,  Pa. ,  altitude  at 439 

morainic  topography  near 444 

wells  in 453-454 

Chaplin,  J.  P.,  reference  to 108 

Chardon,  Ohio,  altitude  near : 636 

drift  near '. 645 

strise  near s 433,466 

Charlestown,  Ind.,  wells  at 384 

Charlestown  Center,  Ohio,  altitude  at 441 

Chatfield,  Ohio,  altitude  near. 570 

Chatham  Center,  Ohio,  altitude  near 583- 

wells  at 595 

Chautauqua  Lake,  N.  Y.,  altitude  near 626,657 

drift  near 643 

gravel  plain  near 649 

topography  near 634,635,663 

Chemung  group,  occurrence  and  character  of 59 

Cherry  Creek  quadrangle,  N.  Y.,  map  of  portion 

of 654 

Cherry  Valley,  Ohio,  drift  near 646 

Chester  Township,  Ohio,  strise  in 432,609 


786 


INDEX. 


Chestnut  Ridge,  Ind.,  course  and  character  of  ..-  356-357 

sections  on 364 

wellson 263 

Chewton,  Pa.,  gradation  plain  and  morainic  to- 
pography near. _ 449 

Chicago  Junction,  Ohio,  altitude  near 583 

morainic  topography  near _. 588-589 

wells  at  and  near.. 597-598 

Chili,  IST.  Y.,  topography  near 700 

Chillicothe,  Ohio,  terrace  at ..- 2.59,389-290 

wells  near --. 268 

Chippewa.  Ohio,  altitude  at 569 

Chippewa  Valley,  Ohio,  knolls  near 564 

morainic  topography  in 570-571 

wells  and  section  in 557 

Churchill,  Ohio,  wells  at  and  near --.         469 

Churubusco,  Ind.,  altitude  at --. 497 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  drainage  changes  near 116-118 

drainage  features  near,  map  showing 84 

drift  near ---. 258,277-278 

rock  floor  at,  altitude  of 117 

rock  island  at 85-86 

sectionin 283 

wells  in - 367,&S8-339 

Circleville,  Ohio,  esker  at ---  429-431 

terracesand  gravel  plains  near 397 

wells  and  sections  at ---  412-414 

Clarendon,  N.  Y.,  topography  near 702 

Clarendon,  Pa.,  drift  at - 230 

Claridon,  Ohio,  altitude  at -         441 

Clarion  Eiver,  Pa.,  altitude  near 128 

drainage  area  of - 146 

fall  of - 148 

glacial  deposits  near 242 

gradation  plains  near,  height  of 143-144 

Clarks  Eun,  Pa.,  gravel  deposit  at 450 

Clarks  station.  Pa.,  morainic  topography  near  ..-         447 

Clarksville,  Ohio,  glacial  deposits  at  and  near 350 

Clarksville,  Pa.,  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of 153 

Clay,  analyses  of 298,455 

Claypole,  E.  W.,  cited 403,604 

reference  to - 28 

Clear  Creek,  Ohio  (tributary  to  Hocking  RiverJ, 

drainage  changes  near 170 

drift  near _ 269 

Clear  Creek  Valley,  Ohio  (tributary  to  Little  Mi- 
ami), eskers  in --- 332 

Clear  Fork  of  Mohican  Creek,  Ohio,  changes  in- . .         162 

wells  near -- -- 405,412 

Clearport,  Ohio,  buried  soil  at - 269 

Cleveland,  Ohio,  beaches  near  ._. 733-735,764 

rock  floor  at,  altitude  of .- 595 

Cleveland  moraine,  altitude  of,  range  in... 635-827 

distribution  of - --  619-625 

drift  of ,  structure  of - 641-646 

thickness  of..- - 640 

inner  border  phenomena  of - 650 

outer  border  phenomena  of -  647-650 

relation  to  Lake  Maumee 651 

relief  of 627 

ridges,  postglacial,  along 650-651 

topography  of - --  627-639 

Cleves,  Ohio,  drift  near 278-379 

Clinton,  Ohio,  wells  at  and  near 402 

Clinton  group,  occurrence  and  character  of 54 

Clyde,  Ohio,  .shore  lines  near 763 

Cochranton,  Ohio,  wells  at - 559 

Cochranton,  Pa.,  altitude  at 440 


Page. 

Cochranton,  Pa.,  section  and  wells  at 458 

Coesse,  Ind.,  altitude  at 512 

Coleman,  A.  P.,  cited 303 

CoUamar,  Ind.,  altitude  at 190 

Columbia  Center,  Ohio,  well  at --- --  -         615 

Columbia  City,  Ind.,  altitude  at 190,497 

drift  at 503,523 

Columbiana,  Ohio,  altitude  at 440 

Columbus,  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near 426-437 

strii©  near 424 

wells  at 433-434 

Columbus  Grove,  Ohio,  beach  near —  729 

Como,  Ind.,  boring  at 503 

Concord,  Pa.,  well  near 456 

Conemaugh  Biver,  Pa.,  drainage  area  of 146 

fall  of. 148 

Conemaugh  or  Lower  Barren  Coal  Measures,  oc- 
currence and  character  of  .  _ 65 

Conewango  River,  Pa.,  altitudes  on 439 

course,  pre.glacial,  of .- 140 

drift  on,  thickness  and  character  of 230 

Conewango  Valley,  Pa.,  altitude  in 626 

drift  in -_. 453,623 

gravel  plain  on _ --- 649 

morainic  topography  in 444,635 

wells  in _ - 644 

Conglomerate    Coal    Measures,    occurrence    and 

character  of 64 

Congress,  Ohio,  altitude  near 549 

morainic  topography  near -..         5.51 

Conneaut  Creek,  Pa.,  course,  present  and  pregla- 

cial.of .- - 214-215 

glacial  deposits  in  valley  of 647 

knolls  in  valley  of _ 631 

topography  near - 661-663 

Conneaut  Lake,  altitude  at 636 

drainage,  preglacial,  near 137 

driftnear.. - 646 

Conneautee  Creek,  Pa. ,  topography  near 633 

Conneautville,  Pa.,  altitude  at 626 

drift  at - ----         646 

ConneautvUle  Valley,  altitude  at 626 

Connersville, Ind., altitude  at - 308 

wells  at - 324-335 

Conoquenessing  River,  Pa.,  course,  preglacial  and 

present  of 148 

fluvial  plains  at  mouth  of,  height  of 152 

Cook, Pa. .morainic  features  near 469 

Coopersville,Ohio,  glacial  gravel  at --  289-390 

Coopertown,  Pa.,  drift  at,  thickness  of 457 

Copley,  Ohio,  strise  at 423 

Copley  Marsh,  Ohio,  well  at 403 

Cornif  erous  escarpment,  course  and  character  of  73 

topography  south  of 73-74 

Corniferous  limestone,  occuri-ence  and  character  ■ 

of - - -.      56-57 

Corry ,  Pa. ,  morainic  features  near 469 

strisenear - 464 

wells  at  and  near -- 455-456 

Cortland,  Ohio,  striae  near - 465,467 

Cottage  Grove, Ind.,  well  at 331 

Covington, Ind., altitude  of - 189 

gravel  plain  near -- •-  488-489 

Cos,  E.T.,  cited - -  111,356 

reference  to.. -- 263 

Crane  Township,  Ohio,  strise  in - 424 

Crawfls  College, Ohio,  wells  near - -..         599 

Crawford,  Ohio,  strife  at *24 


INDEX. 


787 


Crawford  shale.    See  Cuyahoga  shale. 

Crestline,  Ohio,  altitude  near 535 

eskernear - - 543 

Creston,  Ohio,  altitude  at 549 

morainic  topography  near - 551 

Cridersville,  Ohio,  wells  near 556 

Crossingyille,  topography  near - 631-633 

Crosswell,  Mich.,  shore  line  near , 742 

Crown  City,  Ohio,  Ohio  Valley  at,  width  of 107 

Cuba,  N.Y.,  altitude  near 202 

Cuba  moraine,  altitude  of ,  range  in 343 

bowlders  on - 347 

distribution  o£ 341-342 

drift  of.  structure  and  thickness  of 344-346 

inner  border  phenomena  of -..-  347-348 

outer  border  phenomena  of -  349-350 

relief  of - - 343-344 

striae  near - 348-349 

topography  of --- 343-344 

Cussewago  Creek,  Pa.,  altitude  near -         626 

topography  near 631-632 

valley-like  lowland  near -. --.         137 

Cuyahoga  Palls,  Ohio,  strise  at , 433 

Cuyahoga  Eiver,  course,  present  and  preglacial,  of         216 

glacial  deposits  in  valley  of ----  401^02,563-564 

gravel  plains  near  .-. --- 388 

morainic  topography  near 550,584-585 

silt  along - 605-606 

wells  near - - ---         643 

Cuyahoga  shale,  occurrence  and  character  of 63-63 

Cyclone,  Ohio,  well  at 469 

Cynthiana,  Ohio,  wells  at  or  near 274 

I>. 

Dalton,  Ind.,  well  at.. 334 

Damascus,  Ohio,  altitude  at 440 

Dana,  Lake,  discussion  of 7717774 

Danville,  Ohio,  wells  and  railway  cut  at 407 

Darby  Creek,  Ohio,  gravel  belt  on 433-433 

Darlington,  Ohio,  well  at --. 406 

Darrtown,  Ohio,  section  near 330 

Davis,  H.  J.,  cited - - 160 

Davis,  W.  J.,  aid  by 83 

Davis,  W.  M.,  cited - 80 

Daws  Corners,  N.  Y.,  beach  near — 768 

Dayton,  Ohio,  altitude  of  drift  and  rock  surface 

near - — 356 

drif t  at,  structurp  of --  363,369 

thickness  of ---         361 

stria)  near - 35,380,381 

topography  of  moraine  near 359 

De  Graff,  Ohio,  drift  at,  thickness  of 361,368 

morainic  topography  near - 478 

wells  at - 482 

Decatur,  Ind.,  altitude  near 570 

driftat -- '  577 

Decker  Run,  Pa.,  well  near 458 

Deer:.eld,  Ohio,  altitude  near 307 

Defiance,  Ohio,  map  of  Belmore  beach  near 748 

Defiance  Bay,  shore  of 747-751 

Defiance  moraine,  altitude  of ,  range  in 583 

distribution  of -- 581-582 

drift  of,  structure  of - -  591-604 

glacial  lakes  near 610-611 

inner  border  phenomena  of 613-619 

outer  border  phenomena  of 610-613 

relation  of  Lake  Maumee  to 611-613 

relief  of 582-583 


Defiance  moraine,  silt  beneath  morainic  deposit 
along  - --- 

strise  along 

topography  of 

Delaware,  Ohio,  drift  near 

strise  at — - - 

Delphos,  Ohio,  beach  near -.- 

Dewey,  C,  cited 

reference  to 

Dicksonburg,  Pa.,  altitude  at 

drift  at.- - - 

knolls  near 

Dog  Creek,  Ohio,  beach  near .-- 

Doylestown,  Ohio,  striae  near 

Drainage  changes,  causes  of 

Drake,  D.,  cited 

reference  to - - 

Drift  border,  discussion  of - 

Drift  sheets,  outline  of 

Drumlin  belt  of  western  New  York,  altitude  of, 
range  in 

distribution  of .- -..■- 

drift  of,  structure  of 

relation  to  Lake  Warren 

topography  ot 

Dry  Brook,  N.Y.,  morainic  topography  near 

Dryer,  C.  R.,cited-- 504,510,545,567,574,711, 

quoted 

reference  to — 

work  of -- - - 

Dublin,  Ind.,  well  at - 

Dudleytown,  Ind.,  wells  at  and  near --  - 

Dunfee  station,  Ind.,  wells  near  .-- 

Dunkard  beds,  occurrence  and  character  of 

Dunkirk,  Ind.,  driftat - 

Dunkirk,  Ohio,  altitude  at  and  near 

glacial  drainage  near 

morainic  topography  near... 

wells  near 

Dunkirk  quadrangle,  N.  Y.,  map  of 

Dutch  Eidge,  Ind.,  altitude  on 

E. 

Eagle,  N.  Y.,  altitude  near 

morainic  topography  near  ..- 

Eagle  Creek,  Ky.,  gradation  plain  near 

Eaglesport,  Ohio,  rock  floor  at,  depth  to 

Early  Wisconsin  drift,  general  statement  con- 
cerning   

in  the  Scioto  lobe 

in  the  Grand  Eiver  lobe -.- 

in  the  Miami  lobe - 

interval  between  late  Wisconsin  drift  and 

Earth  movements,  drainage  changes  caused  by  . . 

East  Akron,  Ohio,  strife  at 

East  Brady,  Pa.,  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of 

glacial  deposits  near 

gravel  filling  near,  upper  limit  of 

East  Fallowfleld  Township,  Pa.,  striae  in 

East  Liberty,  Ohio,  wells  at  and  near 

East  Liberty,  Pa.,  gravel  filling  near ._ 

East  Liverpool,  Ohio,  terraces  near 

East  Mud  Lake,  N.  Y.,  altitude  near 

East  Rochester,  Ohio,  altitude  at. 

East  Springfield,  Pa.,  altitude  near. -. 

East  Sugar  Creek,  Pa. ,  wells  near 

East  White  River,  course  and  character  of  - 

wells  in  valley  of , 


604-607 
607-610 
583-591 
535,536 
424 
728-739 


220-237 
50-53 


515,573 

38,509 

324 


304-339 
352-3.53 
199-300 


464 
418-419 


788 


INDEX. 


Eastman,  Pa.,  altitude  at _ 440 

Easton,W.  Va.,  gradation  plain  at  and  near 91-92 

Eaton,  Amos, reference  to.. 56 

Eaton,  Ind.,  bowlders  near 5U1 

ridges  near 498 

Eaton,  Oliio,  drift  at,  thickness  of 361 

well  at 370 

Eel  River,  Ind.,  course  and  character  of 190-191 

borings  near -. 503 

Edenburg,  Pa.,  rock  floor  near,  height  of 150 

wells  at  - 461 

Edgertou,  Ohio,  pebbles  near 575 

Edinboro.  Pa.,  topography  near 632 

Edinburg,  Ohio,  altitude  at 441 

depth  to  rock  near 97 

strife  at 466 

Eighteenmile  Creek,  N.  Y.,  present  and  pregla- 

oial  course  of - - 213 

Elk  Creek,  Pa.,  topography  near -  661-662 

Elrod,  M.  N.,  reference  to 28 

Elton,  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near 639 

Elyria,  Ohio,  beach  near 732 

Emmet,  Mich., beach  near 742 

Enterprise.  Ohio,  drift  at 576 

Erie,  Pa.,  altitude  at  . . 756 

Erie  glacial  lobe,  moraines  of 619-672 

Erie  quadrangle.  Pa.,  map,  Pleistocene,  of  parts 

of  Girard  quadrangle  and 652 

Erosion  features  in  Ohio  Valley,  relation  of  gla- 
cial deposits  to 118-135 

Esker,  Barre  moraine 695-700 

Circleville,  Ohio ---- 429-431 

East  Pembroke,  N.  Y 686 

Eagle  TowERhip,  N.Y 638 

Fairfield  Township,  Huron  County,  Ohio 597 

Fryburg,  Ind 513 

HartlaDd,Ohio - 615-617 

Holley,  N.  Y  .— 704 

Kinney s  Corners,  Pa  629 

Lackawannock  Creek,  Pa 471 

Leesville,  Ohio.-. 542 

Millers  station,  Pa - - 632 

Muucie,  Ind -- 485,490^94 

Norwalk,  Ohio - - 587-588 

Pickerington,  Ohio -  428-429 

Pinnacle  Hills,  N.  Y 702-705 

Radnor.  Ohio 540-541 

Richland,  Ohio 489^90 

Bichwood,  Ohio -.-         540 

Sheakleyville,  Pa - - 470^71 

Slippery  Rock  Creek,  Pa 448 

Springboro,  Ind 332-333 

Taylor  Creek,  Ohio - -..  538-540 

Tonawanda  Creek,  N.  Y -- 686-687 

White  River,  Ind - 381 

Etna,  Ohio,  wells  near --. 409 

Euclid  moraine,  course  of. 652 

topography  of 660 

Evansburg,  Ohio,  drift  at  and  near 646 

Evansburg,  Pa.,  ridge  near 631 

striffi  near 464 

Everett,  Ohio,  silt  near 605 

Everton.  Ind.,  morainic  features  near 324 


Fairchild,  H.  L.,  cited 72,203,204,207,638,639,770,' 

map  prepared  by _ ; 

quoted 206.671,704-705.767-' 


Fairchild,  H.  L.,  reference  to 308,209,706.709 

work  of--- - - 760 

Fairfield,  Mich.,  altitude  at 724,726 

beach  near _ 718-719 

Fairmouut,  Ind.,  borings  at.. 486 

Fairview.  N.  Y.,  morainic  topography  near 639 

Fallsburg,  Ohio,  till  near .-         270 

Farmdale,  Pa.,  stride  at.. 465 

Farmington.  Ohio,  beach  near 721 

drift  near ,         645 

Farmington  Township,  Ohio,  striee  in 465 

Farmland,  Ind.,  wells  near 485 

Fayette,  Ohio,  altitudeat 734 

Faust  Hill,  Pa.,  description  of 631 

Fillmore,  N.  Y.,  terrace  at,  altitude  of 206 

Findlay.  Ohio,  altitude  near 583 

beach  near 729 

drift  at 598-599 

strise  at 581 

Pindiey  Lake,  N.  "^ .,  morainic  topography  near. . .  634^635 

Fish  Creek,  W.  Va.,  gradation  plain  on 91 

Pishing  Creek,  W.  Va.,  gradation  plain  on 91 

Fitch ville,  Ohio,  knolls  near 597 

Flat  Rock  Creek,  Ohio,  beach  near 727 

Florence,  Ohio,  wells  near 615 

Ford,  Pa.,  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of 145 

glacial  channel  at 244 

gravel  filling  near,  upper  limit  of 310 

Port  Hill,  till  and  section  near 373-374 

Fort   Jefferson,    Ohio,    topography    of    moraine 

near 360 

Fort  Recovery,  well  at 519 

Fort  Wayne,  Ind.,  altitude  near 570 

beach  near 736-737 

glacial  drainage  near 578 

gravel  pit  at,  view  of--. --         578 

morainic  topography  near 573 

outlet  of  Lake  Maumee  near 711-713 

wells  at 577 

Fort  Wayne  moraine, altitude  of,  range  in 569-570 

distribution  of 567-569 

drift  in.  thickness  and  structure  of 574-578 

inner  border  phenomena  of 579-580 

outer  border  phenomena  of 578-579 

relief  of 569 

striie  along 580-581 

topography  of 570-574 

Foshay,  P.  M.,  cited 94 

reference  to 28, 95 

Foshay,  P.  M.,  and  Hice,  K.  R.,  quoted 449-450 

Foster,  J.  W. ,  reference  to .-_ 25 

Fostoria.  Ohio,  beach  near 730 

Fountain  Park.  Ohio,  wells  at 416-417 

Fourmile  Creek.  Ohio,  till  on 330 

Fowke.  G.,  cited 115-116 

Fowke,  G.,and  Tight,  W.G.,  cited 177 

Fowler  Township,  Ohio,  strise  in 465 

Fox  Lake,  Ohio,  drift  near 403 

Foxburg,  Ind..  drift  near 517 

Foxburg,  Pa.,  gravel  filling  near,  upper  limit  of.-         340 

Frankfort,  Ky.,  Tertiary  deposits  near 113 

Franklin,  Ohio,  drift  knolls  near 333-334 

Franklin,  Pa.,  drainage  changes  near,  map  show- 
ing.  136 

drift  at 333-333 

rock  floor  at,  altitude  of 134, 135 

Frederick  town.  Ohio,  drift  at 406 

knolls  near 394,395 

Predonia.N.Y., altitude  near 756 


INDEX. 


789 


Freeburg,  Ohio,  wells  at 

Freedom,  Ohio,  altitude  at  - 

Freedom  Township.  Ohio,  strise  in 

Freeport,  Ohio,  bowlder  near - 

French  Creek,  Pa., altitude  near 

drainage,  preglacial,  near 137,138-139, 

■drift  near 

fall  of,  rate  of 

gravel  on -- - -- 

morainic  topography  in  valley  of -  -  - 

old  valley  near 

strite  near - 

topography  near. 

valley  of,  character  of 

wells  near -- 

Frenchtown,  Ohio,  drift  at 

Fryburg.  Ind.  ,esker  at - -- 

Fulton  County,  Ohio,  deep  wells  in 


633-633 
133 

457-458 


538 


Galena,  Ohio,  wells  at - 

Galilee,  Pa,  altitude  near  - "MO 

Gallon,  Ohio,  altitude  at - 525 

Gambler,  Ohio,  section  near - - *07 

Garland, Pa.. drift  near 234 

Garrett,  Ind.,  drift  at.- 50* 

Garretts  Run, Pa.. glacial  gravel  at --- 344 

Garrettsville,  Ohio,  striaB  near - 466,468 

Gates,  N.Y.,  altitude  near - 703 

Geikie,  James,  cited - —  50 

Genesee  River. N.Y., altitude  in  valley  of.- 636 

course  and  glacial  features  of  201-304 

falls  and  canyon  of,  views  of - 203,304 

glacial  lakes  on 204-206 

hydrography  of  valley  of,  figure  showing 201 

morainal  lakes  on. .- --- .- 306 

tributaries  of,  changes  in  drainage  of --.  207-209 

Genesee  shale,  occurrence  and  chai-acter  of 58 

Geneva,  Ind.,  drift  near --.         560 

Genoa,  Ohio,  striae  at  and  near 434,609,610 

Georgetown,  Ohio,  drift  near,  thickness  of 376 

Germantown,  Ohio,  altitude  of  drift  and  rock  sur- 
face near -- - 356 

drift  structure  near  - - 363-365 

section  near,  view  of  - - 364 

Gilbert,  G.K.,  cited - - ---  69,72, 

574,608, 611, 651, 707, 708, 709, 711, 747 

quoted - 568,576 

reference  to —  70,71,714.758,760,761 

work  of  759 

Gilboa,  Ohio,  beach  near 739-730 

wells  near - 599 

Girard,  Pa.,  beach  near -- 737-738 

Girard  moraine,  course  of - 653-654 

Girard  quadrangle.  Pa.,  map,  Pleistocene,  of  parts 

of  Erie  quadi'angle  and - 653 

Girard  shale,  occurrence  and  thickness  of -..         59 

Glacial  boundary,  discussion  of ---  220-227 

Glacial  succession,  outline  of — 49-50 

Glaciation,  drainage  changes  caused  by- 

Glencoe,  Ky.,  gradation  plain  near 

Gold,  Pa.,  altitude  near 

Gomer,  Ohio,  beach  near -. 

Gordon  Run,  Pa.,  glacial  channel  at 

Gould,  D.  T.,  cited.- - ---. 

quoted -- 

work  of 


Gowanda  moraine,  altitude  of,  range  of 674 

distribution  of - 673-674 

drift  of,  structure  of -- - ---  674-675 

inner  border  phenomena  of - -- 677 

outer  border  drainage  of 675-676 

topography  of - - - ---         674 

Grabau,  A.  W.,  cited -- - --         203 

Grand  River,  Ohio,  altitude  near 626 

beaches  near - -- "35 

course,  present  and  preglacial,  of 215 

rock  in  basin  of.  depth  to 97 

topography  near 74-75,627-638 

Grand  River  glacial  lobe,  altitudes  in 439-141 

correlation  and  position  of -  -  472-474 

bowldersin - -         *63 

drift  in,  structure  and  thickness  of —  453-463 

drumlins  in --  *^1 

early  Wisconsin  drift  of -.- 351 

eskers  in 470^71 

inner  border  phenomena  of --  468-472 

map  of - - - ^■'6 

moraines  of 437^9,469-470 

outwashin - - ---  463^64 

strife  in -.. --- 464-468 

terracesin - ^72 

till  plains  in - - 471-472 

topography  of 441-4.52 

Grand  Prairie  Township,  Ohio,  strise  in --         424 

Grand  Valley,  Pa.,  drift  in-- - 234-335 

Granger,  E.,  cited 25 

reference  to 34,25 

Grants  Bend,  Ky.,  gradation  plain  near 113-114 

Granville,  Ind.,  morainic  topography  near 498 

Grave  Creek,  W.  Va.,  gradation  plain  on  - .--.      91-92 

Gray ville, Ind.,  altitude  of  - - - 189 

Great  Miami  River,  Ohio,  drainage  changes  of —  18.3-184 

drainage  system  of - -- 183-183 

drift  in  valley  of,  thicknessof--- 361 

glacial  deposits  near 322,339,483-484 

gravel  plain  on -- -         377 

rock  island  near  mouth  of -- 86 

strise  near -- - 380,381 

terraces  on - -188 

topography  of  moraine  near.- -  358-359 

Green  River,  topographic  features  near 110 

Greenfield,  Ohio,  drift  at ---- 415 

strias  near - - *24 

Greenleaf, CD.,  information  furnished  by 600 

Greentown,  Ind.,  boring  at -- -         487 

Greenville,  Ohio,  strise  near-- 381 

Greenville,  Pa.,  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of- 152 

stri»  near 464,465,467 

wellsat - - - ■469 

Greenville  Creek,  Ohio,  glacial  deposits  on --.         484 

gravel  plain  on -- ---         ^9 

Greenwich,  Ohio,  altitudes  at  and  near-- 570 

wellsat -- 558 

Gresley,'W.  S.,  cited - 221 

Gustavus,  Ohio,  drift  near - 645 

H. 

Hadley,Ind.,  altitude  near.,- 549 

Hadley  Junction,  Ohio,  rock  floor  at,  altitude  of.-  169 

wellsat - - 410 

Hadley  station,  Pa.,  well  at - 459 

Hagerstown,  Ind.,  gravel  plain  near 379 

wellsat- - 324 


790 


INDEX. 


Hall,  J.,  cited 56,57,58,73 

quoted 79,202,203-204 

reference  to 25,59 

Hamburg,  K.  Y.,  beaches  near 766 

Hamburg  moraine,  altitude  of,  range  in 678 

distribution  of 677-678 

drift  of,  structure  of 679 

outer  border  drainage  of. 679-681 

topography  of 678-679 

Hamersviile.  Ohio,  drift  near,  thickness  of 276 

Hamilton,  Ohio,  buried  soil  near 377 

drainage  changes  near 116-118 

drift  at,  thickness  of 361 

sections  at 318 

strise  near 337 

wells  at  and  near.. 318-319 

Hamilton  group,  occurrence  and  character  of —      57-58 

Hamlet,  N.  Y.,  morainic  topography  near 636 

Hampden,  Ohio,  drift  near. 645 

stria?  near 422 

Hampden  Center,  Ohio,  wells  at 643 

Hanoyer,  Ohio,  drift  surface  near , 260 

glacial  dam  at 286 

Hanover  Center,  N.  Y.,  altitude  near 756 

Harbor  Bridge,  Pa.,  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of...         152 

depth  to  rock  near... —  97 

Harlan,  Ind.,  beach  near... 716 

Harmonsburg,  Pa.,  drift  near 646 

Harper,  Ohio,  section  near.. 366 

Harris,  G.  D.,  cited 453 

Harris  Jownship,  Ohio,  striae  in 610 

Harrison,  Ohio,  drainage  changes  near 116-117 

Harrisville,  Pa.,  altitude  near 440 

wells  near 459 

Harrisville  Marsh, Ohio,  altitude  at.  569 

Hartford,  Ind.,  wells  at 502-503 

Hartford,  Ohio,  wells  at 409 

Hai'tland  esker,  description  of 615-617 

Hartland  Township,  Ohio,  wells  in 615 

Hartstovi'n,Pa.,  knolls  near 630 

Hartsville,  Ohio,  altitude  at 441 

well  at.. -162 

Hartwell,  Ohio,  topography  near 311 

Hartwell  moraine,  altitude  of,  range  in 307-308 

distribution  of 304^307 

drift  of,  structure  and  thickness  of 312-325 

relief  of 307 

topography  of ..-  308-312 

Harveys  station,  Ind.,  altitude  at 308 

Harveysburg,  Ohio,  bowlder  near 325 

Haselton,  Ohio,  boring  at 462 

Haven  station,  Ohio,  beach  near 762 

Hayes,  G.  F.,  reference  to... 25 

Hay  field,  Pa.,  altitude  near... 626 

Haynes,  E.,  analysis  by 502 

Haynes,  Ohio,  bowlders  near 268 

Helderberg   limestone.     See    Lower  Helderberg 
limestone. 

Hempfield  Township,  Pa.,  strise  in 465 

Henrietta,  Ohio,  strise  at 423,609 

Hice,  R.  R.,  Information  furnished  by 150 

reference  to 28 

Hice,  R.  R.,  and  Foshay,  P.  M.,  quoted 449^^0 

Hickory,  Pa.,  pebbles  at 231 

Hicksville,  Ohio,  altitude  near .         570 

beach  near 716,717 

Eiggins,  S.  W.,  work  of 741 

Hlgginsport,  Ohio,  drift  border  near 258 


Hildreth,  S.  P.,  reference  to 24 

Hill,  F.  C,  cited 419 

Hillville,  Pa.,  fluvial  plain  at,  height  of 145 

Hilly  country,  topography  of 77-81 

Hiram,  Ohio,  altitude  at 441 

strise  at 466 

Hocking  River,  Ohio,  changes  in  headwater  por- 
tion of 169-172 

course  and  rate  of  fall  of 169 

Hocking  Valley,  Ohio,  drift  in 269 

drift  surface  in 260 

glacial  outwash  In 288-289 

Hog  Creek,  Ohio,  moraine  near 572 

Hogue  Summit,  Ohio,  altitude  of  drift  and  rock 

surface  near 356 

well  at 366 

HolIey,N.Y.,  drift  near.. 706 

esker  near 704 

Holmesville,  Ohio,  strise  near , 423 

Homer,  Ohio,  well  at 408 

Homerville,  Ohio,  drift  at 161,595 

Homestead,  Pa.,  preglacial  channel  near  .  145,146 

Homewood,  Pa.,  rocks  near,  character  of 96-97 

Homeworth,  Ohio,  altitude  at  and  near 440 

Hopetown.  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near 397 

Horsford,E.  N.,  reference  to 25 

Houghton,  iSr.  Y.,  altitude  near.. 626 

terrace  at,  altitude  of 206 

Hubbard,  B.,  cited 711,741 

Hubbard,  Ohio,  depth  to  rock  at... 97 

strise  near 465 

well  at 469 

Hudson,  Mich,  altitude  near 570 

Hudson  River  group,  occurrence  and  character  of.  54 

Hudson  Township,  Ohio,  strise  in 433,609 

Hulton,  Pa.,  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of 145 

Huuterstown,  Ind.,  boring  near 561 

Huntington,  Ind.,  altitude  at  ,, 189,512 

wells  near 522 

Huntington,  W.  Va.,  rock  floor  near,  altitude  of..  105 

Ohio  Valley  at,  width  of 107 

Huntsburg,  Ohio,  drift  near 645 

Huntsville,  Ohio,  wells  at 482 

Huron  River,  Ohio,  beach  near 732 

morainic  topography  near 587 

valley  of,  character  of. 217 

Hussey,  John,  cited 371 

Hutsonville,  Ind.,  altitude  of 189 

Hydetown,  Pa.,  altitudes  at  and  near    440 

morainic  topography  near 445 

wells  near 456 

I. 

Iberia,  Ohio,  altitude  at 525 

strife  at  and  near —  424,529 

lUinoian  drift,  border  of , 222-226 

lUinoian  drift  sheet,  border  of,  general  statement 

concerning.. 253-270 

composition  of 272 

general  aspects  of 270-285 

outwash  of 285-391 

structure  of  border  of 261-270 

surface  of 271 

topography  near  border, of 254^261 

Imlay,  Mich.,  altitude  at 725 

Imlay  outlet  of  glacial  Lake  Maumee.. 713-714 

Independence,  Ohio,  strise  at 423,609 


INDEX. 


791 


Page. 
Indian  Creek,  Ind.,  morainic  topography  near-.-.         553 

Indian  Falls,  N.Y.,  beach  near ---•         767 

Indian-Kentuck  Creek,  Ind.,  gradation  plain  on  .  -         Hi 

Indiana,  altitude  in --  ^5 

topography  of  eastern -      _     " 

tributaries  of  Ohio  River  in,  character  of 185-186 

Industry,  Pa.,  terrace  near 250 

Ironton,  Ohio,  drainage  features  near,  map  show- 


ing. 


106 


774-7' 


Iroquois,  Lake,  discussion  of- 

Irvine,  Ky.,  Tertiary  deposits  near 11 

Ischua  Creek,  N.  Y.,  course,  preglacial,  of 

morainic  topography  near 

Ithaca,  Ohio,  rock  at,  depth  to 


131 


370 


James,  J.  F.,  cited • 

reference  to.. - ■ 

Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  knolls  near - 

well  at - - 

Jamestown,  Ohio,  wells  in - 

Jamestown,  Pa.,  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of 

striee  at  -- -- ' 

topography  near -- - 

well  at - 

Jackson,  Ohio,  silt  deposits  near 

Jackson  Center,  Ohio,  well  at 

Jacksou  Township,  Ohio,  striaj  in 

Jacksons  Bun,  Pa.,  morainic  topography  near. 

wells  near.- --- 

Jeffersonville,  Ind.,  well  at 

JeDoway,  Ohio,  wells  at 

Jerome.  Ohio,  stria"  at  and  near 

Jerome  Fork,  Ohio,  altitude  on - 

knolls  near - ■  --- 

morainic  topography  near 

Jillson,  B.  C,  quoted - --- 

reference  to - 

work  of 

Johnsons  Creek,  N".  Y.,  course  of  .- -- 

Junction,  Ohio,  strias  near 

till  near - 


116 

338,339 

634 

453 


146, 245 

309-210 

581 


K. 
Kanawha  River,  W.  Va. ,  Ohio  Valley  near,  charac- 
ter of - - 

See  also  Little  Kanawha  River;    Old 
Kanawha  system. 

Kansan  or  pre-Kansan  drift, border  of 

description  of - 

erosion  of - 

general  statement  concerning 

outwash  of - -- - 

Kelleys  Island, Ohio, strife  on --- 

Kennard,  Ind.,  altitude  near --- 

Kennedys  Ledge.  Ohio;,  strife  at --- 

Kennerdell.  Pa.,  gravel  filling  near,  upper  limit  of. 

Kensington,  Pa. ,  glacial  gravel  near 

Kent,  Ohio,  altitude  at - - 

wells  near .- - 

Kenton,  Ohio,  altitude  at 

bowlders  near - 

eskernear - - 

wells  near -- - 

Kentucky  River,  deflection  of 

gradation  plain  on 

rock  island  near  .-- 

Tertiary  deposits  on 


320-333 
228-335 
335-237 


Keystone,  Ind., altitude  at 512 

morainic  topography  near-- - 51* 

Killbuck  Creek,  Ohio,  altitude  in  valley  of 549 

drainage,  preglacial,  near  -- -  165 

glacial  deposi  ts  in  valley  of - 389-390, 404 

moraine  in  valley  of.- --- 385 

morainic  topography  near 551 

King,  A.  T.,  cited - -- 26 

King,  H.,  well  of- - 265 

Kings  Creek,  Ohio.,  topography  near 308 

Kings  Mills,  Ohio,  well  at - 317 

Kingsland,  Ind.,  altitude  near 549 

wells  near,- - - 560 

Kingston,  Ohio,  glacial  deposits  near , 414 

Kingsville,  Ohio,  beach  near ---  736-737 

Kinneys  Comers,  Pa.,  ridge  near 629 

Kinsman,  Ohio,  drift  at  -- - 645 

hiUnear — - -  628 

morainic  topography  near 641 

terrace  near  647 

wellsat  -- - - *69 

Kinzua,  Pa.,  altitude  near  - 128 

Kirkersville,  Ohio,  well  near-.- —  409 

Kittanning,  Pa.,  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of 145 

glacial  deposits  near 244 

gravel  filling  near,  upper  limit  of 240 

Knight  Creek  Valley,  N.  Y.,  glacial  lake  in 208 

Knobstone  escarpment,  character  of 77 


Lackawannock  Creek,  Pa.,  esker  on - 

Lafayette,  Ind.,  altitude  of -- 

Lafontaine,  Ind.,  drift  at 

Lagro,  Ind.,  altitude  at --- 

terrace  at-- 

wells  near 

Lake.    See  next  word  of  name. 

Lake  escarpment  morainic  system,  altitude  of, 

range  in - 

distribution  of-- --■ 

drift  of,  structure  of  ..- -  

inner  border  phenomena  of 671-673 

outer  border  drainage  of 669-671 

relation  to  Lake  Maumee -■  673 

relief  of --- 659 

topography  of - - 6.59-6156 

Lake    Fork   of    Mohican    Creek,    Ohio,   altitude 

near  -- - 549 

drift  uear  --- -- -  404-405 

gravel  plain  on 

knolls  and  terraces  near - 

morainic  topography  near 551 

Lakeview,Ohio,  wells  and  drift  at- -- 

Lakeville,  Ohio,  rook  floor  and  present  surface  at, 

altitude  of - --- 

Lancaster,  Ohio,  drainage  changes  near -. 

drift  surface  near - -- 

moraine  near,  course  of  .- 

pebbles  found  near -- 

rock  floor  at,  altitude  of 

wells  at  and  near 

Lane,  A.  C,  reference  to -- 

Laotto,  Ind.,  altitude  at 

Lapham,  D.,  reference  to 

Lapham,  D.  and  I.  A.,  cited 

Lapham,  I.,  reference  to 

Larue,  Ohio,  altitude  at 


657-659 
651-657 


792 


INDEX. 


Pagf. 
Late  Wisconsin  drift,  interval  'between  early  Wis- 
consin and - 352-353 

Late  Wisconsin  stage,  main  morainic  system  of  .  -  354-474 

minor  moraines  of - 475-709 

Lattas,  Ohio,  drift  knolls  near 397-398 

well  near - 414 

Lawrence  Junction,  Pa.,  altitude  at 440 

Lawrenceburg,  Ind.,  drainage  changes  near 116-117 

gas  boring  and  outcrop  of  clay  at 267 

Le  Boeuf  Creek,  Pa.,  altitude  near 626 

morainic  topography  near -.- 632-633 

Leavenworth,  Ky.,  gradation  plain  near 115 

Lebanon,  Ohio,  altitude  near 307 

bovrlders  near... .- 325 

topography  near 310 

Lees  Creek,  Ohio,  stri»  near .' 348,424 

Leesburg,  Ohio,  striae  near 348,424 

Leesburg,  Pa.,  well  at 460 

Leesville,  Ohio,  esker  near... - 542 

Leetonia,  Ohio,  altitude  at 440 

Leipsic,  Ohio,  beach  near 729-730 

boring  at __...         599 

morainic  topography  near ---         590 

Leroy,  N..Y.,  beach  near - 769 

Leroy  Township,  Ohio,  strise  in --         466 

Lesley,  J.  P.,  cited - 240 

Letart  Falls,  W.  Va.,  terraces  at 107 

Leverett,  F.,  cited.. 50,95,102,292,302,613,688,715 

Leverett,  F.,  and  Chamberlin,  T.  C,  cited 89,9.5, 

123-124,212 

Lewis,  H.  C,  cited -- 437,447,471,473 

workof... -.-- 37 

Lewis,  H.  C,  and  Wright,  G.  P.,  cited —  228,443,444 

Lexington,  Ohio,  knolls  near.. - - --         394 

stride  near - - 423 

wells  at. - -..-- -         405 

Liberty,  Ind.,  section  near --- 331 

wells  at - -         332 

Liberty,  Ohio,  striaB  near  .  _ _  381 

Liberty  Mills,  Ind.,  altitude  at. 190.497 

Licking  River,  Ohio,  drainage  areaof...' 1.53 

Licking  Biver,  Ky.,  gradation  plain  on 113-114 

Tertiary  deposits  on  - --         112 

Licking  Valley,  Ohio,  drift  surface  in -..         260 

glacial  outwash  in  -. -- -  286-287 

morainic  topography  near - 395-396 

wellsin.. .,. - --         409 

Little  Auglaize  Biver,  Ohio,  beach  near 728 

Little  Beaver  Creek,  gravel  plain  in  valley  of 450 

Little  Beaver  River,  Pa.,  course  and  character  of         152 

Little  Blue  Biver,  Ind.,  gradation  plain  on --.         llo 

Little  Brokenstraw  Creek,  Pa.,  course,  preglacial, 

of - - -- - 1« 

morainic  topography  in  valley  of -  -         445 

well  near-- 454 

Little  Kanawha  Biver,  W.  Va.,  Ohio  Valley  near, 

character  of... -         107 

rock  island  at  mouth  of - 85 

Ijittle  Miami  Biver,  Ohio,  course  and  drainage 

area  of - - 180 

drainage  changes  of  - 180-182 

drift  knoll  near 316 

fall  of,  rate  of..- 180 

topography  near.- 309-310 

Little  Mountain,  Ohio,  altitude  of  drift  and  rock 

surface  near — 356 

Little  Pigeon  Creek,  Ind.,  rock  island  at 87 

Little  Sandy  Creek,  Ohio,  morainic  topography 

near  - -.- --         451 


Page 
Little  Scioto  River,  Ohio,  present  and  preglacial 

course  of - 173-174 

Little  Shenango  River,  morainic  topography  in 

valley  of - 447 

well  near 459 

Little  Wabash  Elver,  Ind.,  altitude  of 189 

Little  Walnut  Creek,  Ohio,  wells  on .  - 410 

Littleton,  W.  Va. ,  gradation  plain  at 91 

Lima,  Ohio,  altitude  at - -.    570 

drift  at-- 576 

moraine  near.  _ 572 

strife  at - - 581 

Lime  Lake,  !Sf.  Y. ,  morainic  topography  near 637 

Lindemuth,  A.  C,  cited - 496 

Linesville,  Pa.,  drift  at..- 646 

knolls  near _ - 630 

Locke,  John,  cited ----    25,380 

reference  to 25 

Locke,  Ohio,  well  at... - ---         409 

Lockland,  Ohio,  section  at.. - 320 

Lockport,N.Y.,  topography  near.. 697 

Lockport  limestone,  note  on  use  of  name 55 

Lodi,  Ohio,  altitude  near... 583 

boringat.. 165 

drift  near... 595 

morainic  topography  near 586 

Loess,  age  of 298-299 

characteristics  of 297-29S 

chemical  and  mineralogical  constitution  of  . . .         398 

color  of 297 

deposition  of,  mode  of 399-301 

distribution  of .-  295-298 

texture  of 297-298 

thickness  of 296-297 

Loess  and  associated  silts,  consideration  of 295-301 

Logan,  Ohio,  glacial  gravel  at 288-289 

Logan    conglomerate,    occurrence    and    charac- 
ter of - - 63-64 

Logansport,  Ind.,  altitude  of 189 

London,  Ohio,  borings  at - 435 

wells  at -- - 416 

Loramie  Creek,  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near.  478-479 

Lordstown  Township,  Ohio,  striae  in 465 

LosantviHe,  Ind. ,  drift  at,  thickness  of 371 

Lost  Creek,  Ohio,  beach  near 717 

Lost  River,  Ind.,  character  of 195 

Lottsville,  Pa.,  section  at 454 

Loudonville,  Ohio,  borings  at 405 

rock  floor  and  present  surface   at,  altitude 

of. 164 

Louisville,  Ky.,  altitude  at 440 

gradation  plain  near 115 

Love,  H.,  well  of 264 

Lovett,  Ohio,  section  near 274 

Lowell,  Ohio,  rock  floor  at,  depth  to 156 

Lower    Allegheny    Biver,    fluvial   plains   along, 

height  of 145 

glacial  outwash  in  valley  of 239-249 

gradation  plains  on,  height  of 113-144 

Lower  Barren   Coal   Measures,  occurrence  and 

character  of 65 

Lower  Helder  berg  limestone,  occurrence  and  char- 
acter of 56 

Lower  Ohio  River,  erosion  features  on,  relation  of 

glacial  deposits  to 118-119 

Lower  Ohio  system,  extent  of 109 

Lower  Ohio  Valley,  Tertiary  deposits  in,  grada- 
tion plains  below  the  level  of 113-116 

Tertiary  fluvial  deposits  in .--  111-113 


indp:x. 


793 


Lower  Productive  Coal  Measures,  occurrence  and 

character  of 64-65 

Lowville,  Pa.,  terrace  near 6i8 

Lucas,  Ohio,  rocl;  floor  and  present  surface  at, 

altitude  of - 164 

Lucasville,  Ohio,  glacial  pebbles  near 290 

oxbow  channel  near  ._ 102 

Luke  Chute,  Ohio,  glacial  (deposits  at -  157 

Lundy,  Lake.    See  Dana,  Lake. 

Lynn,  Ind.,wellat - 371 

Lyon,  S.,  cited 1("> 

Lytle,  Ohio,  striae  near - 337 

Lytles  Creek,  Ohio,  buried  soil  on -  345 

strise  in  valley  of 345,424 

m:. 

Macedonia,  Ohio,  wells  at  and  near 594 

Machias,  N.  Y.,  altitude  near --.  626 

moraine  near 625 

morainic  topography  near 638-639 

Macksville,  Ohio,  gravel  near -  597 

morainic  topography  near 588 

Macon,  Mich.,  beach  near - 719 

Mad  Elver,  Ohio,  glacial  deposits  near 315-316 

glacial  outwash  in  valley  of -- 373-377 

topography  near 358 

Madison,  Ind.,  altitude  near 110 

rock  island  near -- 86 

wells  at - 265 

Madisonville,  Ohio,  section  in _ 282 

substrata  at,  change  in 281 

topography  near - 280 

Mahoning,  Pa.,  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of. 145 

Mahoning  Creek,  Pa.,  drainage  area  of 146 

Mahoning    River,  Ohio,    course,  preglacial   and 

present,  of - --  148 

drift  near 461-462 

fall  of - - 151 

gradation  plain  on - 95 

rock  floor  on,  height  of 150 

Mansfield,  Ohio,  altitude  near 385 

bowlders  near  — -  420 

glacial  deposits  near., 563 

moraine  near,  course  of - 383 

morainic  topography  near 392-394 

preglacial  channel  near 163-164 

rock  floor  and  present  surface  at,  altitude  of.  164 

stride  near --- 423 

wells  at  and  near -- - 405 

Mantua,  Ohio,  altitude  at 441 

Mantua  Township,  Ohio,  striae  in.. 423 

Maples,  N.  Y.,  moraine  near 634 

morainic  topography  near 636 

wells  near --- 577 

Marblehead  Peninsula,  Ohio,  beach  on  — 763 

glacial  groove  on,  view  of 608 

strise  on - - 424 

Marcellus,  N.  Y.,  glacial  channel  near 770-771 

Marcellus  shale,  occurrence  and  character  of 57 

Marengo,  Ohio,  altitude  near .525 

wells  at 528 

Maria  Stein,  Ohio,  altitude  at 512 

morainic  topography  near 513 

Marietta,  Ohio,  gravel  deposits  near _ 133 

Marilla  moraine,  altitude  of,  range  in 

distribution  of 

drift  of,  structure  of 


Marilla  moraine,  outer  border  drainage  of 683-684 

relation  to  Lake  Whittlesey -. 683 

topography  of  - - 683 

Marion,  Ohio,  wells  in 544 

Marseilles,  Ohio,  stripe  at  and  near 434,581 

Marshall,  Ohio,  altitude  at 343 

buried  soil  at 344 

wells  at-- — 345 

Martindale  Fork,  Ohio,  gravel  plain  on- 379 

Martinsville,  Ohio,  altitude  near 343 

wells  at-- - --- 345 

Marysville,  Ohio,  altitude  near --- 525 

gravel  plain  near 536-537 

section  at 537 

Massillon,  Ohio,  preglacial  drainage  near 167 

strise  near - 423 

Mather,  W.  W.,  reference  to 25 

Maumee,  glacial  lake,  beaches  of - 714-726 

beaches  of,  variations  in  altitude  of -  723-726 

discussion  of 710-740 

Fort  Wayne  outlet  of - 711-712 

Imlay  outlet  of - 713-714 

mapsot - --.  710-714 

relation  of  Cleveland  moraine  to  ..- 651 

relation  of  Defiance  moraine  to - 611-613 

relation  of  ice  sheet  to - -.  —  739-740 

relation  of  Lake  Escarpment  morainic  system 


to. 


672 


Sixmile  Creek  outlet  of - - 713 

south  shore  of- - - 726-740 

Maumee  glacial  lobe,  moraines  of  - - 545-619 

Maumee-Miami  glacial  lobe,  map  of 304 

minor  moraines  of - - 474r-494 

Maumee  River,  Ohio,  course,  present  and  pre- 
glacial,of.- - 318 

topography  of  basin  of 76 

Maysville,  Mich.,  beach  near--- 716 

McCaslin,  D.,  cited  - -.- 496, .502, 314. .516 

reference  to --.  28 

work  of - -  509 

McConnelsville,  Ohio,  glacial  deposits  near 157 

rock  floor  at,  depth  to -- - —  156 

striated  blocks  near 158 

McCreath,  A.  S.,  analysis  by.. - 4.55 

McGraw,  Pa.,  driftat 231 

McLane,  Pa.,  driftat - 646 

McNalls,  N.  Y. ,  topography  near 697 

Mead ville.  Pa. ,  drainage,  preglacial,  near 137 

drift  at -- 646 

rock  floor  at,  altitude  of 136 

section  near - -- 458 

strife  near - 464 

Mecca,  Ohio,  drift  near 645 

Mechanicsburg,  Ohio,  moramic  topography  near.  ; 

wells  at - - 

Medina,  Ohio,  altitude  near  --- 

drift  at - - 

morainic  topography  near 570-1 

Medina  group,  occurrence  and  character  of 54 

Melmore,  Ohio,  till  at  and  near - 598 

Mercer,  Pa.,  drift  at ---  460 

stride  near 465 

Mesopotamia,  Ohio,  depth  to  rock  near 97 

Mesopotamia  Center,  Ohio,  drift  near ---  645 

Metz,  Ind.,  wells  near 505 

Mexico,  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near 572 

Miami  glacial  lobe,  altitude  of  main  moraines  in  .  356 

bowlders  in 371-373 


71,585 


794 


INDEX. 


Miami  glacial  lobe,  drift  of,  structure  of 362-371 

drift  of,  thickness  of 361-363 

early  Wisconsin  drift  in 304^339 

inner  border  phenomena  of 381-382 

moraines  of  late  Wisconsin  stage  in 354-373 

outwashin 373-380 

relief  of-- 356 

strife  in 380-381 

topography  of -. 357-361 

See  alao  ilauniee-Miami  lobe. 
Miami    River.    See  Great    Miami  River;    Little 
Miami  River. 

Miamisburg,Ohio,  drift  at,  thickness  of 361 

drift  at,  structure  of 369 

gravel  apron  near .--  377-378 

Middle  Allegheny  River,  map  of  drainage  basin  of .         134 

preglacial  course  of - 132-138 

preglacial  drainage  of ,  map  showing 135 

Middle   Bass  Island,  Ohio,  glaciated  surface  on, 

view  of 608 

Middle  Island  Creek,  W.  Va. ,  rock  island  at  mouth 

of --  85 

Middle  Ohio  system,  deiiections  of  drainage  in.--  104-109 
erosion  features  on,  relation  of  glacial  deposits 

to...  — 119-m 

glacial  features  of 100-109 

northward  outlet  of 101-104 

Middle  Creek,  Ind.,  section  near 266 

Middlebranch,  Ohio,  altitude  at  and  near 441 

Middleburg. Ohio,  strias  at -..         424 

wells  at-- -- 417 

Middlepoint,  Ohio,  strife  at 581 

Middlesex,  Pa.,  well  at 469 

Middletown,  Pa. ,  glacial  deposits  near 250 

Middletown,  Ohio,  .strife  near 327 

Midway.  Ohio,  wells  at 415 

Milan,  Mich.,  altitude  near 724 

Milan,  Ohio,  beach  near 763 

Milan  Township,  Ohio,  beach  in - 716 

Mill  Creek,  Ohio,  drift  near 624 

gi'avel  deposits  along 339 

gravel  plain  near - .536-537 

Mill  Creek  Valley,  Ohio,  altitude  in 307 

glacial  deposits  in 317-322 

niorainic  topography  in 635 

section  in - - 319 

topography  of -- 311 

Millbrook,  Ohio,  rock  floor  and  present  surface 

at,  altitude  of - 164 

Milledgeville,  Ohio,  striae  near ..., - 464 

well  at - 415 

Miller,  A.M., cited-.' Ill 

reference  to 112 

Millers  station,  esker-likeridgenear.- 632 

Millersburg,  Ohio,  bowlder  near 4,20 

drift  near --- -- 404 

Mina  Corners,  N.  Y.,  drift  at 646 

Mississinawa  moraine,  altitude  of,  range  in 497 

distribution  of 494^96 

drift  of,  structure  and  thickness  of  - 500-505 

inner  border  phenomena  of 505-506 

outer  border  phenomena  of 506-509 

reUefof - 496 

topography  of 498-500 

Mississinawa  River,  Ind.,  altitude  of  mouth  of  —         189 

course  and  character  of 190 

morainio  topography  near - 480 

Mogadore,  Ohio,  altitude  at  and  near 441 


Mohican  Creek,  Ohio,  changes  in  tributaries  of  ..  162-165 

Monclova,  Ohio,  strife  at 610 

Monongahela  River,  Pa.,  fall  of,  rate  of  ._ 98 

preglacial  channel  of 145-146 

See  also  Old  Monongahela  system. 
Monongahela  Coal  Measures,  occurrence  and  char- 
acter of.--  65 

Monterey. Pa.. iiuvial  plain  at,  height  of 145 

glacial  deposits  near 243 

gravel  filling  near, upper  limit  of 240 

Montezuma,  Ohio,  wells  near 519 

Monument  Hill, Pa., description  of , 84 

Mooresville,  Ohio,  till  near-- - 268 

Morganville,N.Y.,  beach  near -- 769 

Mormon  Bottom,  Ohio,  wells  at  and  near 418 

Morral,  Ohio,  well  at 559 

Moses,  T.F., information  furnished  by 313,314 

Mosquito  Creek,  topography  near,.- 628 

Mosquito  Lake,  Ohio,  altitude  of  drift  and  rock 

surface  near 356 

Moundsville,W.Ya., drainage  changes  near 91-93 

Ohio  River  near,  course  and  width  of 108 

gravel  deposits  near 122 

Mount  Carmel,  Ind.,  altitude  near 308 

drift  near,  thickness  of -.- --  323 

Mount  Eaton,  Ohio,  striae  near 423 

Mount  Gilead, Ohio, altitude  at -- 525 

Mount  Jackson,  Pa.,  wells  at 461 

Mount  Morris,  X.Y..morainal  lake  at. 206 

Mount  Oreb,  Ohio,  section  at 275 

Mount  Pleasant,  Ind.,  water  from,  analysis  of 502 

Mount  Sidney, Ind.,  wells  near. 265 

Mount  Vernon,  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near. .  395 

wells  at - 407^08 

Mount  Victory  moraine,  course  of 543 

topogi-aphy  and  structure  of 544 

Mountville  Township,  Ohio,  strife  in 465 

Muck, buried,  Great  Miami  Valley ,  Ohio __.  318 

Liberty,  Ind , -.:-..  332 

Mount  Oreb,  Ohio - -- 275 

Seymour,  Ind 263 

South  Milan, Ind 284 

Muncie,  Ind.,  drift  near 485 

esker  near 49rM94 

ridge  near... 480 

Munson  Township,  Ohio,  wells  in 593 

Muscatatuck  River,  Ind.,  fall  of,  rate  of 194 

wells  nei  r 265 

Muskingum  River,  Ohio,  glacial  deposits  in  valley 

of  lower ...  157-158, 286-28'f 

preglacial  basin  of,  extent  of 1.58-160 

preglacial  outlet  of 155-156 

present  Une  of  discharge  of 156-157 

rocks  exposed  along,  altitude  near  and  drain- 
age area  of 153 

striated  blocks  near 158 

westward  outlet  of,  drainage  tributary  to 160 

Musson,  J.  J.,  information  furnished  by 368 

N. 

Napoleon,  Ohio,  ridges  near 761 

Nashville,  Ohio,  knolls  near 390 

Natrona,  Pa„  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of 145 

terrace  at 245 

Navarre,  Ohio,  bowlder  near 420 

Needmore,  Ind.,  drift  bordernear,  topography  of.  254-255 

drift  near,  structure  of 263 


INDEX. 


795 


513 


Negley  Ei'.n,  Pa.,  gravel  fiUingnear 3*6 

Nelson  Center,  Ohio,  striae  at - *66 

Neshannock  Valley,  Pa.,  drift  ill  .- --  ^0 

Nettle  Creek,  Ohio,  gravel  plain  along 374 

Nevada,  Ohio,  well  at  -. 559 

New  Berlin,  Ohio,  altitude  at *9^ 

boring  at 501 

New  Berne,  Ind.,  altitude  near 

New  Bremen,  Ohio,  altitude  at 

New  California,  Ohio,  well  at ^'■^ 

New  Carlisle,  Ohio,  altitude  of  drift  and  rook  sur- 
face near  - -- - 356 

drift  near,  structure  of 363 

strisenear  -.- Z*"" 

New  Cumberland.  W.  Va.,  rook  terrace  near.- .-..  94 

New  Galilee. Pa.,  gravel  near - ^^ 

New  Hamburg,  Pa.,  well  at ^--  *69 

New  Haven,  Ind.,  beach  near 71.5-716,737 

boringat- -  - 577 

New  Jasper,  Ohio,  striae  near -- 349,434 

New Knosville,  Ohio,  wells  at  and  near.. 519 

New  Lancaster,  Ind.,  driftnear 51S 

morainic  topography  near... 514 

New  Lisbon,  Ohio,  striae  near - -  *65 

New  London,  Ohio,  altitude  near --  583 

wells  near -  596 

New  Madison,  Ind. ,  altitude  near - 497 

New  Madison,  Ohio,  well  at ; 371 

New  Martinsville,  W.Va., altitude  near 89 

gradation  plain  near. -- 91 

Ohio  Valley  at,  width  of - - 108-109 

NewMoorefield.Ind..  altitude  near - 335 

New  Portage,  Ohio,  strife  near - - 433 

well  at - Wa 

New  Vienna,  Ohio,  altittide  near -- 343 

New  Washington,  Ohio,  altitude  at -  570 

New  Waterford,  Ohio,  altitude  at 44U 

New  York,  western, drumlin  belt  in.. 691-695 

moraines  of - -- 673-* 09 

topography  in - - -  68-74 

strifein. - ^"8 

Newark.  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near 395-396 

wells  and  borings  at  and  near 409 

Newberry.  J.  S.,  cited 431,593,595,617,669,734 

quoted - - -  *03 

reference  to -- -- -- "' 

Newberry  Township,  Ohio,  strife  in 423, 609 

wells  in.- -- 593 

Newburg,  Ohio,  strife  at - 433,433 

NewcastlcPa.  .drift  at 460 

fluvial  plains  at,  height  or -- 153 

gravel  ridge  at 448 

moraine  and  terrace  near 449 

rocksnear,  character  of -  96-97 

terrace  at-- -- 4:73 

Newton,  Ohio,  well  at 537 

Newton,  Pa,  rock  at,  depth  to 334 

Newtown  Mills,  Pa.,  terrace  near 238 

Newville,  Ohio,  strife  near 423 

Niagara  escarpment,  course  and  character  of 70-71 

topography  south  of 71-73 

Niagara  group,  note  on  use  of  name --  55 

occurrence  and  character  of 54-55 

Niagara  River,  Pleistocene  map  of  district  be- 
tween Rochester  and 68 

Niles,  Ohio,  borings  at    - - 461 

North  Bend,  Ohio,  drift  near 278-279 

North  Buffalo,  Pa.,  terraces  near 244 


North  Clymer,  N.  Y.,  drift  at t 

North  Collins,  N.  Y.,  altitude  near 't 

North  Georgetown,  Ohio,  altitude  at i 

North  Linndale,  Ohio,  altitude  near i 

driftnear - ( 

strife  near - 423,  f 

North  Manchester,  Ind.,  altitude  at ---  ' 

borings  near -- ._ .' 

wellsat - i 

North  Paint  Creek,  Ohio,  well  in 

North  Sheldon,  N.  Y.,  strise  near ' 

North  Vernon,  Ind.,  wells  at  -- - I 

Northampton  Township,  Ohio,  striae  in-- 

Northeast,  Pa.,  altitude  near 

Nottingham,  Ind.,  well  at  i 

Norwalk,  Ohio,  beach  near 

conglomerate  near i 

eskernear 587-1 

Norwood,  Ohio,  wellsat 1 

Nova,  Ohio,  altitude  near - 569,; 

well  at — - 

Nnttall,  Thomas,  reference  to 

O. 

Oak  Orchard  Creek,  N.Y.,  course  and  character  of. 

topography  near - 

Oakland  station,  Ohio,  altitude  at  -  -  - 513 

Oatka  Creek,  N.  Y.,  glacial  lake  in  valley  of 308 

preglacial course  of -,-         208 

Oestrich,  J.  C  ,  aid  by 83 

Ogden,  Ohio,  altitude  near -- 343 

strife  near --- 349,424 

Oglesbee,  D.  H.,  information  furnished  by 346 

Ohio,  altitudes  in--- -  66 

topography  of  western 77 

Ohio  City,  Ohio,  altitude  near .570 

drift  at - 576 

Ohio  County,  Ind.,  section  in 383 

Ohio  River,  fall  of,  rate  of 83-84 

rock  islands  in  valley  of 84-87 

size  of  valley  of,  effect  of  rock  resistance  on..  84 

trenching  on- - 123-134 

tributaries  of,  effect  of  drift  on 36 

tributaries  in  Indiana,  character  of 185-186 

See  also  Upper  Ohio  River,  Middle  Ohio 
River,  Lower  Ohio  River. 

Ohio  River  system,  extent  of - 83 

Ohio  shale  series,  occurrence  and  character  of  -  - .      58-61 
Ohio  Valley,  erosion  features  in,  relation  of  glacial 

deposits  to  .- - --- 118-125 

glacial  ontwash  in - - 390-391 

width  and  character  of 107-108 

Oil  City,  Pa.,  glacial  deposits  near 333 

valley  near.-  - -         141 

Oil  Creek,  Pa.,  course,  preglacial,  of 138,139-141 

wells  along 456 

Oil  Creek  Valley,  Pa.,  altitude  in 440 

driftin- -, 235 

morainic  topography  in 445 

Old  Alleghany  drainage  system,  description  of  - .  -  129-148, 
Old  Kanawha  system,  deflections  of  drainage  in-  104^109 

description  of -- 100-109 

map  of - 101 

northward  outlet  of 101-104 

Old  Monongahela  system,  extent  of 98 

features  of-- --- 88-100 

northward  outlet  of - 94-98 


796 


INDEX. 


Old  Moiiongahela  system,  old  divide  and  drainage 

changes  in 88-94 

Olean,  N.  Y..  altitude  near 128 

Olean  quadrangle,  topographic  map  of In  pocket. 

Olentangy  River,  Ohio,  glacial  phenomena  near..         536 

gravel  belt  on _ 433 

One  Leg  Creek,  Ohio,  preglacial  drainage  near...  166-167 
Onondaga  series,  occurrence  and  character  of  —      55-56 

Ontario,  Lake,  altitude  of —  66 

topography  south  of ._ 68-69 

Orange.  Ohio,  drift  near 645 

Orange ville.  Pa.,  striap  near —         465 

Orchard  Park,  N.  Y.,  topography  near 678-679 

Oriskany  sandstone,  occurrence  of 56 

Orton,  E.,  cited ,53,60,62,177,181,267,373,273,293,399, 

310,  311,  815,  325,  348,  365,  368, 371, 501 

quoted  --.  .- -- 434,436,603 

reference  to 66,57,65,301,345,364,427,432 

Osborne,  Ohio,  altitude  of  drift  and  rock  surface 

near 356 

Osgood,  Ind.,  wells  at 284 

Otisco  Valley,  N.  Y. ,  glacial  channel  in 7T0-771 

Otsego,  Ohio,  strife  at 610 

Overman,  H.W.,  cited 177 

Owensboro  quadrangle,  Ohio,  topographic  map 

of --. In  pocket. 

Owl  Creek,  Ohio,  changes  in  basin  of 160-163 

section  on - 407 

wells  near 406 

Oxford,  Ohio,  section  near,  view  of 364 

F. 

Painesville,  Ohio,  section  near 669 

Painesville  moraine,  course  of 652-653 

section  of 669 

topography  of.. 660-661 

Paint  Creek,  Ohio,  drainage  changes  near ,.  268 

morainic  topography  near 398 

preglacial  valleys  near 176-177 

Paintersville,  Ohio,  section  at 346 

Palestine,  Ohio,  altitude  at  and  near 440 

Palmyra,  Ohio,  drift  near.. 406 

stride  at 466 

Panama,  N.  Y.,  morainic  topography  near 634 

stride  near 464 

Panama  station,  N.  Y.,  altitude  at 636 

Pandora,  Ohio,  beach  near 729 

Panther.  Pa.,  gravel  terrace  near 346 

Paris  Crossing,  Ind. ,  section  near 283 

Parker.  Pa.,  iiuvial  plain  at,  height  of. 145 

Parkersburg.  W.  Va.,  Ohio  Valley  near,  character 

of 107-108 


rock  island  near 

Parkman  Township,  Ohio,  strife  in 

Patoka  River,  Ind.,  present  and  preglacial  drain- 
age system  of 

Peat,  buried,  German  town,  Ohio 

North  Bend,  Ohio... ' 

Pembroke  ridges,  altitude  of,  range  in 

distribution  of 

drift  of,  structure  of 

outer  border  drainage  of 

topography  of 

Penhallow,  D.  P.,  cited 

Peninsula,  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near 

strise  at 

Pennline,  Pa.,  knolls  near 


Peorian  soil  and  weathered  zone,  consideration  of  303-303 

Perrysburg,  N.  Y.,  topography  near 664 

Perrysville,  Ohio,  drift  near 405 

rock  floor  and  ijresent  surface  at,  altitude  of.  164 

Peru,  Ind.,  sand  ridge  near 480 

Petroleum  Center,  Pa.,  rock  floor  near,  altitude  of.  141 

Petti.sville,  Ohio,  beach  near 722 

Phillipsburg,  Pa. ,  terrace  remnants  near 2.50 

Phinney.  A.  J.,  cited .58,62,371,490 

reference  to 28,  .56,  .57 

Pickaway  Plains,  Ohio,  morainic  topography  of..  397 

Pickerington,  Ohio,  esker  near 428-429 

Pinnacle  Hills,  N.  Y.,  description  of 704-705 

altitude  of 703 

Piqua,  Ohio,  drift  at,  thickness  of 361 

striae  near. 380 

wells  at 381 

Piracy,  drainage  changes  caused  by 198-199 

Pisgah,  Ohio,  altitude  near 307 

topography  near 310 

section  at 317 

Pithole  Creek,  Pa.,  rock    floor    and    old  divide 

near,  altitude  of 141 

Pittsburg,  Pa.,  altitude  near 128 

fluvial  plains  at,  height  of.. 145 

glacial  deposits  near 347-249 

Plain  City,  Ohio,  well  at 433 

Pleasant  Home,  Ohio,  gravel  plain  at 565 

morainic  topography  near 551-553 

Pleasantville,  Ohio,  wells  at 410 

Plummer,  J.  T.,  cited 26,  326 

Plymouth,  Mich. ,  altitude  near 725 

Plymouth,  Ohio,  altitude  at 570 

morainic  topography  near 571 

wells  at .558 

Pocono  sandstone.    See  Cuyahoga  shale;  Logan 
conglomerate. 

Pohlman.  J.,  cited ,. 211 

Point  Isabel,  Ind.,  boring  at 486 

Point  Pleasant,  "W.  Va.,  Ohio  Valley  at,  width  of.  107 

Polk  station,  Ohio,  altitude  at 549 

Port  Allegany,  N.  Y..  altitude  near 128 

Port  Jetferson,  Ohio,  boring  at „. 381 

morainic  topography  near 478 

well  at 4fi2 

Port  Union,  Ohio,  section  at 319 

Portage,  N.  Y.,  deflection  of  Genesee  River  near.  203-203 

falls  at,  view  of 202 

Portage,  Ohio,  strife  near 423 

Portage  Falls,  N.  Y.,  altitude  near 658 

Portage  group,  occurrence  and  character  of 58-59 

Portage  River,  Ohio,  strise  near 610 

Portage  Township,  Ohio,  strife  in 610 

Portageville,  N.  Y..  morainallake  at 20lj 

Porter,  D. ,  cited 153 

quoted 146 

Porter,  J.  B.,  information  furnished  by 321 

Portland,  Ind.,  ridges  near 498 

section  at 519 

wells  near 520 

Portsmouth,  Ohio,  drainage  changes  near 105 

Pottersburg,  Ohio,  wells  near 527 

Pottersburg  station,  Ohio,  altitude  at 525 

Fottsville    formation,    occurrence    and    charac- 
ter of 64 

Powell,  Ohio,  altitude  near 525 

,    driftat 528 

strife  near 424,639 


INDEX. 


797 


Powell  moraine,  altitude  of,  range  in 535 

bowlders  along 529 

distribution  of - --  524-525 

drift  of.  thickness  and  structure  of 526-528 

outer  border  phenomena  of  .-- 529-530 

relief  of- - 525-526 

strlBB  along - 529 

topography  of.-- 526 

Pre-Kansan  drift.    See  Kansan  drift. 

President,  Pa.,  drift  near 231-232 

Preston,  Ohio,  wells  at 322 

Pulaski,  beach  near - 717 

Put-in-Bay  Island,  Ohio,  striie  near - 424,609 

Pymatuning  Creek,  Pa.,  altitude  in  valley  of 626 

terrace  on ---         W" 

topography  near - - 628-630 

Pymatuning  Swamp,  Pa.,  altitude  at 626 

fluvial  plains  at,  height  of _ 152 

Pyrmont,  Ohio,  wells  at - -         370 

Q. 

Queer  Creek,  Ohio,  rock  floor  at,  depth  to.-. 179 

Quick,  E.  R. ,  inl  ormation  furnished  by  .  -  - -  -  -         325 

Quincy,  Ky.,  oxbow  channel  near - 102 

R. 

Raccoon  Creek,  Ohio,  course  and  character  of 172 

Rafter,  G.  W.,  cited ---         201 

Randall,  Ohio,  altitude  near --  - 626 

well  at 643 

Radnor  esker,  description  of -- - 540-541 

Rattlesnake  Creek.  Ohio,  moraine  near -         384 

Raub.  W.  H,,  information  furnished  by 150 

Ravenna.  Ohio,  altitude  at - 441 

moraiuic  topography  near  .-. 451-452 

Ravens  Rock,  W.  Va..  Ohio  Valley  at,  width  of. . .         108 

Raymiltou,  Pa.,  altitude  at 440 

morainic  topography  near 447 

strisD  near 464 

wells  at  and  near 4.59 

Read,  M.  C,  cited .in,  160, 407,  651 

quoted , liil,  667-668, 669 

work  of ..- 154 

Reading,  Ohio,  topography  near      311 

Redbank,  Pa. .  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of 145 

gravel  filling  near,  upper  limit  of 240 

Redbank  .Junction,  Pa.,  terrace  at 244 

Redbank  River,  Pa.,  drainage  area  of 146 

fall  of - 1+7 

Redkey.  Ind.,  altitude  at 497 

wells  at...'. - - ----         503 

Reesville,  Ohio,  strise  near - •- —  349,434 

Reimerton,  Pa. ,  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of 145 

Reno,  Pa.,  drift  at ..- 232 

rock  shelf  at,  altitude  of 134 

Republic,  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near 589 

striae  near-... 434,609 

Rialto,  Ohio,  wells  at  and  near 319,320 

Richland,  Ohio,  esker  near... 489-4  0 

strise  near. 434,487 

Richmond,  Ind.,  striie  near 326,327 

Richmond,  Ky.,  drift  near 258 

Richwood,  Ohio,  esker  near.. 540 

Riddell,  J.  L.,  reference  to. , 34 

Ridgeville,  Ind..  altitude  near 497 

Ridgeway,  Mich.,  beach  near 719 

Rising  Sun,  Ind.,  rock  floor  at,  altitude  of 117 

well  at - 267 


River  Styx,  Ohio,  glacial  deposits  near 564 

morainic  topography  near  ...' 551 

wells  near 557 

Roanoke,  Ind.,  well  at 522 

Roberts,  T.  P.,  cited 136 

Rochester,  Mich.,  altitude  at 725 

Rochester,  N.  Y.,  falls  at,  view  of 204 

falls  near,  discussion  of 203-204 

knolls  in --. 705-706 

morainal  lake  at - 206 

Pleistocene  map  of  district  between  Niagara 

River  and  .• -. 68 

strisB  near - 709 

Rochester,  Ohio,  wells  near  - 596 

Rochester  shale,  note  on  use  of  name '. 55 

Rock  formations,  outline  of 52-65 

Rock  islands  in  valley  of  Ohio  River 84-87 

Rock  Mills,  Ohio,  strise  at 434 

Rock  Point,  Pa.,  kame  near 449 

strise  near - ^5 

Rockaway,  Ohio,  altitude  near 583 

Rockford,  Ind.,  well  at 576 

Rockland,  Pa.,  gravel  filling  near,  upper  limit  of. .         240   . 

Eockport.  Ind.,  rock  island  near .-  87 

Rocky  Pork,  Ohio,  preglaclal  coui'se  of 177 

Rocky  River,  Ohio,  beach  near 733-733 

I  course,  present  and  pregiacial,  of 316-217 

morainic  topography  near 551 

old  valley  of 617-619 

topography  near 614 

Roundhead,  Ohio,  wells  at  and  near 534 

Eoyalton,  N.  Y.,  topography  near 697-698 

Rush  Creek,  Ohio,  drainage  changes  on 170-171 

Russell,  I.  C,  cited - 3*3,492 

Russell  Center,  Ohio,  strise  near... 432,609 

Russell  Township,  Ohio,  strise  in 432, 609 

Russellburg,  Pa.,  altitude  at  and  near 439 

morainic  topography  near — 444 

Russellville,  Ohio,  bowlders  near. 376 

Ryan,  John,  aid  by 83 

Ryle,  W.  T.,  reference  to 366 

S. 

Saegerstown,  Pa.,drift  at... 646 

rook  at,  altitude  of 139 

Safford,  J.  M.,  cited HI 

St.  Albans,  W.  Va.,  rook  floor  at,  altitude  of 105 

St.  Bernard,  Ohio,  sections  at  and  near 280 

St.  Johns,  Ohio,  altitude  at 513 

drift  at 517 

morainic  topography  near 513 

St.  Johns  moraine.    See  Salamonie  moraine. 

St.  Joseph  River,  Ind.,  course  and  rate  of  fall  of. .  319 

St.  Lawrence  River  system,  discussion  of 200-219 

St.  Marys,  Ohio,  altitude  near '...  .549 

drift  near 556 

St.  Marys,  W.Va.,  Ohio  Valley  at,  width  of 108 

rock  island  near - 85 

St.  Marys  m  oraine.    See  Fort  Wayne  moraine. 

St.  Marys  River,  Ohio,  course  and  rate  of  fall  of  . .  318-219 

St.  Paris,  Ohio,  altitude  of  d  -if t  and  rock  surface 

near 356 

borings  at 361,368,369 

knoll  at,  structure  of 363 

Salamanca,  N.Y.,  altitude  near 128 

Salamonie  moraine,  altitude  of, range  in 513 

distribution  of 509-511 

drift  of ,  thickness  and  structure  of 515-522 


798 


INDEX. 


Salamonie  moraine,  inner  border  phenomena  of  -.  522-523 

outer  border  phenomena  of 523 

relief  of -.- _ 511 

topography  of _ 513-515 

Salamonie  River,  Indiana,  altitude  of  mouth  of . . .         189 

course  and  character  of 189 

Salem,  Ind., altitude  at _ 440 

section  near 331 

Salina  formation,  occurrence  and  character  of  . . .  55 

Salisbury.  E.D.. cited 2.53,372 

reference  to.. 298 

Salisbury,  B.  D. .  and  ChamberUn,  T.  C. ,  quoted 421 

Salt  Creek,  Indiana,  course  and  character  of  valley 

of 195 

Salt  Creek,  Ohio,  drainage  changes  in  basin  of 178-180 

drainage  systems  of __ 178 

drift  in  valley  of _ 259 

drift  border  in  valley  of , topography  of... 255 

glacial  deposits  in  valley  of  .-- 268 

glacial  outwash  in  valley  of.. 289 

"Sandstone  country,"  boundaries  of 67 

Sandy  Creek  Valley,  Pa.,  altittide  in 440 

eskers  in 470-471 

Sandy  Creek  Valley,  Ohio,  glacial  outwash  in 285-286 

Sandy  Lake,  Ohio,  well  at 462 

Sandy  Lake,  Pa.,  altitude  at ., 440 

well  at __.         4.59 

Sandusky, N.Y.,  gravel  pit  at 642-643 

Sandusky,  Ohio,  beaches  near,  map  of 730 

morainic  topography  near 637 

striatiou  at 25,423,609 

Sandusky  River,  Ohio,  altitude  near 570 

course  and  character  of  valley  of 218 

morainic  topography  near 589 

Sangamon  soil  and  weathered  zone,  discussion  of.  293-294 

Sardinia,  Ohio,  section  near _ 374 

wells  at 375 

Savannah,  Ohio,  wells  at  and  near 558 

Savannah  Lake,  Ohio,  altitude  at 569 

Saybrook,  Ohio,  beaches  near 735-736 

Scioto  glacial  lobe,  altitude  of,  range  in 385 

bowlders  in 420-423 

drift  of,  structure  and  thickness  of 399-422 

early  Wisconsin  drift  in... 340-350 

inner  border  phenomena  of 436-436 

main  moraines  in,  distribution  of 383-385 

map  of. 340 

minor  moraines  ot... 534-545 

relief  of 38B-387 

strisein 423-425 

topography  of 387-399 

Scioto  Marsh,  Ohio,  altitude  at... 549 

Scioto  River,  Ohio,  course  and  tributaries  of 174-176 

gravel  deposits  on 119-120,433 

striae  on 424,  ,539 

terraces  and  gravel  plains  along 397 

topography  of  basin  of 75-76 

Scioto  Valley,  Ohio,  glacial  outwash  in 289-390 

preglacial  drainage  in 103-104 

wells  in 368 

Scottsburg,  Ind. ,  section  at 284 

Seal,  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near 571 

Sedan, Ind., altitude  at .512 

Selma, Ind., ridge  near 479 

section  at 485 

Seneca  Township,  Ohio,  strife  in 424 

Seville,  Ohio,  knolls  near 564 

wellsnear 557 


Sevenmile  Creek,  Ohio,  gravel  terraces  and  till 

plain  near 378-379 

topography  near 358-359 

Sewickley, Pa ,  terrace  near.. 349 

Seymour, Ind... section  at 263 

Sharon, Ohio, fluvial  plains  at, height  of... 152 

striae  near 433,465 

Sharon  Furnace, Pa.,  well  at 469 

Sharonville,  Ohio,  section  at 320 

topography  near _ 311 

well  near _ 317 

Sharpsburg,  Pa., fluvial  plains  at,  height  of 145 

Sharpsvil'e,  Pa.,  terrac  IS  at 473 

well  at 469 

Sheakleyville,  Pa.,  eskers  near 470-471 

Sheffield,  Pa.,  glacial  outwash  near 338 

Shelby,  Ohio,  altitude  near 535 

wellsat 5.59 

Sheldon  Center,  N.  Y.,  striae  near 708 

Shenango  River,  Pa.,  altitude  near 626 

fall  of 151 

gradation  plain  and  abandoned  valley  on 95-96 

rocks  along,  charactei^  of. 96 

terraces  near 473 

topography  near 629 

Sheridan,  N.  Y.,  altitude  near 756 

Sherzer,  W.H.,  cited 608 

reference  to 760,775 

Shiloh,  Ohio,  altitude  near 549 

wells  at  and  near 558 

Shreve,  Ohio,  rock  floor  and  present  surface  at, 

altitude  of 164 

Sidney,  Ohio,  boring  and  section  at 483 

Siebenthal,  C.  E.,  cited. 265 

reference  to 83 

Silt.    .Sec  Loess. 

Silver  Creek,  Ohio,  altitude  near 497 

bowlderson.   535 

morainic  topography  near 533 

Silver  Creek  quadrangle,  I^.  Y.,  map  of  portion  of         654 

Sims,  Ind.,  boring  at 486 

Sixmile    Creek,  Ohio,  outlet    of   Lake    Maumee 

tnrough 713 

Slab  Creek,  Pa.,  altitude  near 657 

Slippery  Rock  Creek,  Pa.,  morainic  topography 

near 447 

preglacial  course  of 148 

Smith  Mills,  N.  Y.,  terrace  near 676 

Smiths  Roads,  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near    .  550 

Snodgrass  Run,  Pa.,  striae  near 461 

Soils,  classes  of 777-781 

sources  of  material  for .,  776-777 

SoU,  buried.  Bethel,  Ohio 373 

Clearport,  Ohio 269 

Hamilton,  Ohio  -. 377 

Indiana,  T.  3,  R.  3  W.,  sec.  13 283 

T.  5,  R.  13  E.,  sec.  4 383 

Liberty,  Ind.. 381 

Marshall,  Ohio 345 

Martinsville,  Ohio 345 

Pisgah,  Ohio 317 

Sardinia,  Ohio 275 

Wilmington,  Ohio 345 

Soils,  gravelly,  discussion  of 779-780 

Soils,  peaty  or  organic,  discussion  of.... 781 

Soils,  residuary,  di.scussion  of 779 

Soils,  sandy,  discussion  of 780 

Soils,  silty,  discussion  of 780-781 


INDEX. 


799 


Soils,  stony-clay,  discussion  of ''''9 


Solon  Center,  Ohio,  strise  j 


432,609 


Solon  Township,  Ohio,  strife  in 432,609 

South  Bass  Island,  Ohio,  strife  at - 809 

South  Cattaraugas  Creek,  N.  Y.,  moralnic  topog 

raphy  near ^" 

South  Charlestown,  Ohio,  well  at *16 

South  Euclid,  Ohio,  striffi  near 433 

South  Milan,  Ind.,  section  at 284 

South  Newberry,  Ohio,  wells  at  and  near... 593 

South  Solon,  Ohio,  wells  at .--         ^l-S 

South  Whitley,  Ind.,  wells  near 532 

South  Woodbury,  Ohio,  bowlders  near 535-536 

Spangler  Hills,  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near . .         426 

Spartansburg,  Pa.,  wellsatand  near 455,456 

Spencer,  J,  W.,  cited - 94,772,775 

reference  to -- 28,95,7.58 

Spencer  Center,  Ohio,  cutting  at 596 

Speneerport,  N.  Y. ,  topography  near 703 

Spencerville,  Ohio,  altitude  near -- 570 

drift  at - - 576 

section  near - - 5(7 

Split  Eock,  Ind.,  structure  of  drift  border  near  ..         262 

Spout  Spring  Station,  Ohio,  drift  near 415 

Spring  Creek  Station,  Pa,,  altitude  at 440 

drift  at,  thickness  of - 455 

morainic  topography  near - 445 

Spring  Hill,  Ohio,  altitude  of  drift  and  rock  sur- 
face near - -- --- ^56 

beach  near '42 

section  near.. - 367 

Spring  Valley,  Ohio,  altitude  in 307 

gravel  plain  near - -- 336 

Springboro,  Ind.,  drift  near --- 846 

eskersnear- .- 332-333 

Springfield,  Ohio,  altitude  near 307 

glacial  deposits  near -- 314-315 

topography  near 308-309 

Springfield  Township,  Ohio,  section  in. 268 

Springport,  Ohio,  strise  near 337 

Steamburg,  N.  Y.,  altitude  near --- 128 

Sterling,  Ohio,  borings  and  section  at -. 557-558 

knolls  near ■ 564 

Steubenville, Ohio, rock  islandat 84-85 

Stevenson,  .J.  J.,  cited-- 94,240 

reference  to.- - - 27 

Stillwater  River,  gravel  plain  near 

Stockport,  Ohio,  glacial  deposit  near 

Stoddard,  O.N.,  cited-- 

Stoneboro,Pa.,wellat 

Stowe  Township,  Ohio,  striae  in 

Strasburg,  Ohio,  altitude  at - 

Streetsboro  Center,  Ohio,  wells  at  and  near 

Styx.    See  River  Styx. 

SufBeld,  Ohio,  altitude  at 

Sugar  Creek,  Ohio,  borings  in  valley  of 

gravel  plain  in  valley  of 

Sugar  Creek,  Pa., altitude  near 

drift  near 

morainic  topography  near -. 

striaj  on - 

Sugar  Creek  Township,  Ohio,  striae  in 

Sugar  Grove,  Ohio,  drainage  changes  near 

rock  floor  at,  altitude  of 

rock  shelves  at 

Sugar  Lake,  Pa.,  well  near 

Sullivan,  Ohio,  altitude  near — 

drift  at 


457 


Sulphur  Springs, Ohio,  wells  at.- 559 

Summit, Ind., altitude  at.--.- -- 512 

Summit  station,  Ind.,  altitude  at 497 

Summitville,  Ind., boring  at --- - ^S6 

Simbury,  Ohio,  altitude  at - 525 

striae  at  and  near 424,529 

wells  at  -- - - - 528 

Sutton,  G.,  cited - 263 

Swamp  Creek,  Ind.,  gravel  plain  near 508 

Swan ville.  Pa.,  altitude  at -- 756 

Swayzee,  Ind. .drift  at - - 487 

Switzer,  Ind.,drittat -- 487 

Switzerland  County,  Ind.,  section  in - 283 

Sycamore  Corners,  Ind.,  boring  at --  487 

Sylvania,  Ohio,  striae  at - 810 

Sylvania  sandstone,  occurrence  of  --- 56 

Symmes  Creek,  Ohio,  drainage  changes  near 173 

T. 

Tadmor,  Ohio,  till  near 369 

Tarentum,  Pa.,  fluvial  plains  at,  height  of 145 

Taylor,  F.B.,  aid  by 738,742,747 

cited  556,619,713,741 

quoted - — 742-745,758-7.59 

reference  to - -- 28 

Taylor  Creek,  Ohio,  esker  near -  538-540 

Teays  Valley,  W.  Va.,  abandoned  channel  in 105-106 

loess  in 297 

rock  floor  of,  altitude  of 105 

Tedrow,  Ohio,  beach  near.- - - 723 

Templeton,  Pa. ,  gravel  filling  near,  upper  limit  of .         240 

terrace  at - 244 

Terre  Haute,  Ind.,  altitude  of 189 

Tertiary  deposits  in  Lower  Ohio  Valley 111-113 

Thomas,  B.  F.,  reference  to -- 25 

Thompson  Township,  Ohio,  striae  in 465 

Thompsons,  Pa. ,  column  at,  height  of 134 

Thompsons  Ledge,  Ohio,  striaa  at  -  - 465 

Thorpe,  Ind.,  altitude  near  -- 335 

Thurston,  E.  H.,  information  furnished  by 324 

Tidioute,  Pa. ,  altitude  near --         138 

drift  at  and  near.- - -         231 

rock  shelf  at,  altitude  of -■  134 

Tiffin,  Ohio,  beach  near - 730 

Tiffin  Elver,  Ohio,  course  of, - - 219 

Tight,  W.  G.,  cited -- -  155,171,177,270,408 

reference  to .  - 28,160,170,173 

work  of- 108,154 

Tileton,  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near --         478 

Time  relations,  outline  of - ---      49-50 

Tionesta  Creek,  Pa.,  glacial  outwash  in  valley  of-  2,38-239 

preglacial  course  of.-- -•  131,140 

Tippecanoe,  Ohio,  wells  at  and  near -  -  369 

Tippecanoe  River,  Ind.,  course  and  chai-acter  of-         191 

Titusville,  Pa.,  drift  near ----  234,235 

old  divide  near , ---         140 

valley  floor  at,  altitude  of --- - 140 

Todd,  J.  H.,  cited -- 183 

work  of - - 154 

ToddsFork,  Ohio,  terrace  at  - - 349-350 

Tomlinson  Run,  W.  Va.,  terraces  near 250-351 

Tonawanda  Creek,  N.  Y.,  course  and  character  of-         210 

glacial  lake  near -- 210-211 

Tonawanda  Swamp,  N.  Y.,  altitude  of 689 

Toronto,  Ohio,  glacial  gravel  near  - 131-132,240,251 

Toronto  formation.    See  Peorian  soil. 

Townsend  Township,  Ohio,  striae  in 433, 609 


800 


INDEX. 


TownyiUe,  Pa.,  morainic  topography  near 446 

well  at-_ - 457 

Transfer,  Pa.,  well  at 469 

Trenton  limestone,  occurrence  of 53-54 

Troy,  Ohio,  drift  at,  thickness  of 361,369 

gravel  plain  near 377 

strise  near 38(1 

True,  H.  K,  aid  by 156,157 

Truukeyville,  Pa.,  bowlder  at 231 

Turtle  Creek,  Ohio,  altitude  near 307 

glacial  deposits  in  valley  of 316-;317 

topography  along 310 

Tuscarawas  River,  Ohio,  drainage  area  of -.-         153 

glacial  deposits  in  valley  of 403-403 

preglacial  drainage  system  of 165-168 

topography  near - ..,  388-389 

Twin  Creek,  Ohio,  drift  structure  near 363-365 

Twinsburg.  Ohio,  striae  at 423,609 

wells  near 594 

XJ. 

Ubly  outlet  of  Lake  Whittlesey,  description  of.  .  742-745 

CJdden,  J.  H  ,  cited •      299 

Ulysses,  Fa.,  altitude  near 201 

Union,  Ind.,  altitude  at 477 

drift  near 484 

wells  near _ 382 

Union,  Pa.,  drift  near _ 646 

morainic  topography  near 633 

Union  County,  Ohio,  profile  of  ridge  in 329 

Union  moraine,  altitude  of,  range  in 477 

distribution  of - 475-477 

drift  in,  structure  and  thickness  of 481-487 

inner  border  phenomena  of 489-494 

outer  border  phenomena  of _ 488-489 

relief  of 477 

strise  in 487 

topography  of 478^81 

Uniondale.  Ind.,  drift  near 560-561 

Upham,  W.,  cited 372,704 

reference  to 28,758 

Upland.  Ind..  altitude  at 407 

morainic  topography  near 499 

Upper  Allegheny  River,  preglacial  course  of 129-132 

Upper  Ohio  region,  preglacial  drainage  of,  figure 

showing 89 

Upper  Ohio  River,  drainage  system  of,  map  of--  .  90 

erosion  features  on,  relation  of  glacial  deposits 

to-- 121-125 

glacial  features  in  basin  of 88-100 

glacial  outwash  in  valley  of 249-251 

northward  outlet  of 94-98 

old  divide  near 88-94 

trenching  on 123-124 

Upper    Productive    Coal    Measures,  occurrence 

and  character  of 65 

Upper  Sandusky,  Ohio,  strife  near 581 

Urbaua,  Ohio,  altitude  near 307,335 

gravel  plain  near 374-375 

section  at 314 

striai  near, 328 

wells  at  and  near 313,314 

Utica,  Pa.,  altitude  at 440 

rock  floor  at,  altitude  of 135-136 

Utica,  Ind.,  well  at 265 

Utica,  Ohio,  wells  at  and  near 409 

Utica  shale,  occurrence  of 53-54 


Valonia,  Pa.,  well  at.. 457 

Van  Buren,  Ind.,  altitude  near 497 

beach  near 730 

wells  at .--- ,.- 503 

Van  Campens  Creek  Valley,  N.  Y.,  glacial  lake  in.  208 

Van  Wert,  Ind.,  beach  near 728 

Veatch,  A.  C,  cited 87 

Venango,  Pa.,  drift  at 646 

Venango  sands,  occurrence  and  character  of 59-60 

Venice,  Ohio,  altitude  near 307 

Vermilion  River,  Ohio,  course  and  character  of 

valley  of .—  317 

morainic  topography  near 587 

striae  near 607 

Vernon  Township,  Ohio,  striae  in 465 

Verona,  Pa.,  gravel  terrace  near 246 

Versailles,  Ohio,  altitude  near 497 

Versailles,  Ind.,  gravel  plain  near 508 

wells  at .-  284 

Vevay ,  Ind. .  drift  filling  nea  r 257-258 

well  at .^... 265 

Vienna  Cross  Roads.  Ohio,  borings  at. 416 

Vincennes,  Tnd.,  altitude  of 189 

Wabash,  Ind.,  terrace  at. 506 

Wabash  moraine,  altitude  of,  range  in 548-549 

distribution  of 545-547 

drift  of,  structure  of 555-561 

thickness  of - 555 

inner  border  phenomena  of 561-562 

outer  border  phenomena  of 563-566 

relief  of 548 

topography  of 550-555 

Wabash  River,  altitudes  along .189 

course  of 187, 547 

drainage  area  of 186 

fall  of ,  rate  of .-  187-188 

morainic  topography  near 515 

.  section  on -         521 

terraces  on 506-507 

Wadsworth,  Ohio,  striae  near 423 

wells  near. 557 

Wallen.lnd.,  altitude  near 549 

Walhonding  River,  Ohio,  drainage  area  of..-. 153 

Walnut  Bend ,  Pa. ,  glacial  gravel  at 232 

Walnut  Creek,  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near  ..  437,662 

Walnut  Creek,  Ohio,  stride  on 539 

Walnut  Hills,  Ohio,  rock  island  at. 85-86 

Wampum, Pa.,  drift  at 461 

Wapakoneta,  Ohio,  altitude  at. 549 

Warder,  R.B.. reference  to - 28 

Warren,  reference  to -  2^^ 

Warren,  Ind.,  altitude  near 513 

morainic  topography  near 514 

Warren,  Pa.,  drift  near 330-331,233-234 

Warren,  glacial  lake,  discussion  of 758-775 

map  of 758 

relation  to  Albion  moraine , 707 

relation  to  Alden  moraine 685 

relation  to  Barre  moraine 701 

relation  to  drumlin  beltin  western  New  York.  694-695 

withdrawal  of  waters  from 771-775 

Warsaw,  Ky.,  gradation  plain  near. 114 

Washington,  Ohio,  wells  at 415 


INDEX. 


801 


Page. 

Waterford,  Pa.,  drift  at - 646 

morainic  topography  near --.  632-633 

Waterlime  formation,  occurrence  and  character 

of - --- •'55 

Waterloo,  Ind.,  rook  fioor  at,  altitude  of 133-134 

section  at -         504 

wellnear. -----         334 

Wattsburg,  Pa.,  drift  at 646 

Wauseon,  Ohio,  beach  near 722 

drift  near - .-- 603 

morainic  topography  near  - 590-591 

Waverly.  Ohio,  preglacial  drainage  at 101-102 

rock  floor  at,  altitude  of  -. 101 

Waverly  shale,  occurrence  and  character  of 61-62 

Wawpecong,  Ind.,  drift  at - 487 

Wayne  Center,  Ohio,  drift  at ---  645,646 

Wayne  County,  Ind.,  morainic  features  in 306 

Wayneshurg,  Ohio,  terrace  atl - 286 

Waynesville,  Ohio,  altitude  near - 307 

bowldernear - --         325 

striae  near - - 327 

Weavers  station,  Ohio,  striae  near 381 

Weibels  Corners,  Ind.,  well  at 332 

Wellington,  Ohio,  well  near -- 596 

Well,  flowing,  Adario,  Ohio 558 

Bangs  station,  Ohio 408 

Belle  Center,  Ohio ----  482,534 

Bokes  Creek,  Ohio  - 537-538 

Chardon,  Ohio 643 

Chicago  Junction,  Ohio 598 

Clinton,  Ohio 402 

Cochranton.Ohio - 559 

Columbus,  Ohio - 434 

Corry,Pa -- 455^56 

Dunkirk,  Ohio 576 

East  Liberty,  Ohio --  418 

Fountain  Park,  Ohio-- - - 416-417 

Ithaca,  Ohio 370 

Jelloway,  Ohio - 406 

Mount  Vernon,  Ohio.- 407 

Paintersville,  Ohio 346 

Seymour,  Ind  - - - --_         263 

Sterling,  Ohio - 557 

Sulphur  Springs,  Ohio - - 5.59 

Utica.Ohio 409 

Woodstock,  Ohio - 417 

Welshfield,  Ohio. stride  near __         466 

West  Alden,  N".  Y..  beaches  near - 766 

West  Alexandria,  Ohio,  bowlders  near 371 

West  Amherst,  Ohio,  striie  at- _ 423,609 

West  Andover,  Ohio,  knoll  near  - 630 

West  Elkton,  Ohio,  glacial  outwash  near-- ---         378 

West  Farmington,  Ohio,  drift  near .  - 645 

West  Leipsic,  Ohio,  wells  a  t  and  near 599 

West  Liberty,  Ohio,  altitude  near 307,356 

gravel  plain  near _. 374 

wellsatand  near _  313,367,368,417 

West  Mansfield,  Ohio,  morainic  topography  near-         .533 

wells  at -  ., 527,535 

West  Milton,  Ohio,  striae  near 381 

West  Mud  Lake,  N.  Y.,  altitude  near 657 

topography  near 664 

West  Salem,  Ohio,  altitude  near .  - 549,569 

well  at - ...- 5,58 

West  Seneca,  N.  Y.,  gravel  deposit  at 772 

West  Shelby,  N.  Y.,  topography  near 698 

MON  XLI 51 


629 


122 


West  Sister  Island,  Ohio,  striiB  on.. 424,608,609 

West  Unity,  Ohio,  altitude  at 724 

beach  near.. 717,718 

West  Valley,  N.Y.,  morainic  topography  near 636 

West  White  River,  Ind.,  course  and  character 

of ,....  191-192 

Westerville,  Ohio,  wells  at  and  near 433, 528 

Westfleld,  N.  Y.,  altitude  near 756 

beach  near _. 773 

Westford,  Pa.,  drift  at 646 

ridge  near 

Westminster,  Ohio,  altitude  near 

Weston,  Ohio,  sand  ridge  near _ 

Wheeler,  N.  P.,  information  furnished  by 

Wheelersburg,  Ohio,  abandoned  channel  at  - . 

drainage  changes  near 

Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  gradation  plain  near 

gravel  and  sand  near 

White,  I.  C,  cited 58.9.5, 

98, 105, 152, 240, 249, 445, 455, 456, 457, 460, 461, 472, 667 

quoted 96-97 

reference  to 28 

work  of - 37 

White  River,  Ind.,  altitude  of  mouth  of 189 

Whitehouse,  Ohio,  striae  at. 610 

Whiteoak  Creek,  Ohio,  drift  on,  thickness  of 276 

Whitewater  River,  Ind.,  altitude  near 308 

drainage  changes  of 185 

gravel  plains  on  tributaries  of-. .379-380 

present  drainage  system  of 184^185 

Whittlesey,  C,  cited 26,431,741 

reference  to 25 

Whittlesey,  glacial  lake,  Belmore  beach  of 745-747 

Defiance  Bay  of 747-751 

discussion  of 74I-757 

map  of 740 

relation  to  Marilla  moraine .  - 683 

south  shore  of 751-757 

Ubiy  outlet  of 742-745 

Williams,  E.  H.,  cited 243,253 

Williams  Center,  Ohio,  beach  near 717 

Williamsburg,Ohio,rock exposures anddrift near.  375-276 

Williamsfield  Center,  Ohio,  drift  near 646 

Wills  Creek,  Ohio,  drainage  area  of 153 

Wilmington.  Ohio,  striae  at 434 

wells  at 345-346 

Wilson  Mills,  drift  near 645 

Winchell,  N.H..  cited 496,527,528,544.545,567,610,741 

quoted  530-531,540^541,542 

reference  to 533 

workof 509 

Winchester,  Ohio,  boring  near 382 

drift  at,  thickness  of 276 

Winchester,  Ind.,  wells  near 485 

Windsor  Corners,  Ohio,  drift  at. 645 

Windsor  station,  Ohio,  strife  near 423 

Wisconsin  drift,  border  of  - 226-337 

.See  Early  Wisconsin  drift;    Late  Wisconsin 
drift. 

Woodcock  Creek,  Pa. .  preglacial  course  of 139 

Woodward  Hollow,  N.  Y.,  topography  near 665 

Wooster,  L.  C,  cited 393 

Wooster,  Ohio,  drift  near 404 

preglacial  channel  near 163-164 

rock  floor  and  present  surface  at,  altitude  of  .         164 
Worthington,  Ohio,  altitude  near .535 


802 


INDEX. 


Wright,  A.  A.,  cited 253.732 

workof 760 

Wright,  G.  F..  cited -... 105, 

224, 240, 241. 242, 260, 277, 29B,  363, 393, 4.50 

quoted - -..  327,389,414 

reference  to 28,223,224,238,250,330,396,397,407,420 

worliof - 27 

Wright,  G.  ¥..  and  Lewis.  H.  C,  cited 228,443 

Wrightsville,  Pa.,  altitude  at  and  near 439 

Wyandot,  Ohio,  well  at 550 

Wyoming.  Ohio,  section  at 320 


Xenia,  Ohio,  altitude  near 307,343 

drift  knoll  near  - 316 

gravel  apron  near. 336 

striae  near... 424 


Page. 

Xenia,  Ohio,  topography  near 309 

well  near 346 

Yellowsprings,  Ohio,  altitude  near 307 

topography  near 309 

Yorkshire.  Ohio,  drift  at 502 

Yuungstown.  Ohio,  borings  near  .,  462 

strise  at  - 465 

Ypsilanti,  Blich.,  altitude  at 725 

beaohnear 720 

Z. 

Zanesfield,  Ohio,  wells  at  and  near 417-418 

Zanesville,  Ohio,  glacial  out  wash  near 373-374 

morainic  topography  near 554 

Zulu,  Ind.,  beach  near 727 


PUBLICATIONS  OF  UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY. 

[Monograph  XLI.J 

The  serial  publications  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey  consist  of  (1) 
Annual  Reports,  (2)  Monographs,  (3)  BuUefins,  (i)  Mineral  Resources,  (5)  Water- 
Supply  and  Irrigation  Papers,  (6)  Top  igraphic  Atlas  of  United  States — folios  and 
separate  sheets  thereof,  (7)  Geologic  Atlas  of  United  States — folios  thereof.  A  circu- 
lar giving  complete  lists  may  be  had  on  application.  The  complete  list  of  monographs 
follows : 

MONOGRAPHS. 

I.  Lake  Bonneville,  by  Grove  Karl  Gilbert.     1890.     i°.     xx,  438  pp..  .51  pis..  1  map.     Price,  $1.. 50. 

II.  Tertiary  history  of  theGrand  Canon  district,  with  atlas,  by  Clarence  E.  Duttou,  Capt.,  U.  S.  A. 
1882.     i'=>.     xiv,  264  pp.,  42  pis.,  and  atlas  of  24  sheets  folio.     Price,  $10.00. 

III.  Geology  of  the  Comstock  lode  and  the  Washoe  district,  with  atlas,  by  George  F.  Becker. 
1882.     4>^.     XV,  422  pp.,  7  pis.,  and  atlas  of  21  sheets  folio.     Price,  .$11.00. 

IV.  Comstock  mining  and  miners,  by  Eliot  Lord.     1883.     4'^.     xiv,  451  pp.,3jil8..    Price,  $1.. 50. 

V.  The  copper-bearing  rocks  of  Lake  Superior,  by  Roland  Duer  Irving.  1883.  4^.  xvi,  464 
pp.,  15  11.,  29  pis.  and  maps.     Price,  $1.85. 

VI.  Contributions  to  the  knowledge  of  the  older  Mesozoic  flora  of  Virginia,  by  William  Morris 
Fontaine.     1883.     4^.     xi,  144  pp.,  54  11.,  54  pis.     Price,  $1.05. 

VII.  Silver-lead  deposits  of  Eureka,  Nevada,  by  Joseph  Story  Curtis.  1884.  4^^.  xiii,  200  pp.. 
16  pis.     Price,  $1.20. 

VIII.  Paleontology  of  the  Eureka  district,  by  Charles  Doolittle  Walcott.  1884.  4°.  xiii,  298 
pp.,  24  11. ,  24  pis.     Price,  $1.10. 

IX.  Brachiopoda  and  Lamellibranchiata  of  the  Raritan  clays  and  greeusaud  marls  of  New 
Jersey,  by  Robert  P.  Whitfield.     1885.     4^.     xx,  338  pp.,  35  pis.,  1  map.     Price,  $1.15. 

X.  Dinocerata.  A  monograph  of  an  extinct  order  of  gigantic  mammals,  by  Othuiel  Charles 
Ma,r,sh.     1886.     4^\     xviii,  243  pp.,  56  11.,  56  pis.     Price,  .$2.70. 

XI.  Geological  history  of  Lake  Lahoutan,  a  Quaternary  lake  of  northwestern  Nevada,  by 
Israel  Cook  Russell.     1885.     4*^.     xiv,  288  pp.,  46  pis.  and  maps.     Price,  $1.75. 

XII.  Geology  and  mining  industry  of  Leadville,  Colorado,  with  atlas,  by  Samuel  Fr;mklin 
Emmons.     1886.     4^.     xxix,  770  pp.,  45  jils.,  and  atlas  of  35  sheets  folio.     Price,  $8.40. 

XIII.  Geology  of  the  quicksilver  deposits  of  the  Pacific  slope,  with  atlas,  by  George  F.  Becker. 
1888.     4- .     xix,  486  pp.,  7  pis.,  and  atlas  of  14  sheets  folio.     Price,  $2.00. 

XIV.  Fossil  fishes  and  fossil  plants  of  the  Triassic  rooks  of  New  Jer.sey  and  the  Connecticut 
Valley,  by  John  S.  Newberry.     1888.     4=.     xiv,  152  pp.,  26  pis.     Price,  $1.00. 

XV.  The  Potomac  or  younger  Mesozoic  flora,  by  William  Morris  Fontaine.  1889.  4'^.  xiv, 
377  pp.,  180  pis.     Text  and  plates  bound  separately.     Price,  $2.50. 

XVI.  The  Paleozoic  fishes  of  North  America,  by  John  Strong  Newberry.  1889.  4^.  340  pp., 
53  pis.     Price,  $1.00. 

XVII.  The  flora  of  the  Dakota  group;  a  posthumous  work,  by  Leo  Lesiiuereu.K,  edited  by  F.  H. 
Knowlton.     1891.     4-.     400  pp.,  66  pis.     Price,  $1.10. 

XVIII.  Gasteropoda  and  Cephalopoda  of  the  Raritan  claj's  and  greensaiul  marls  of  New  .Jersev, 
by  Robert  P.  Whitfield.     1891.     4-^.     402  pp.,  .50  pis.     Price,  $1.00. 

XIX.  The  Penokee  iron-bearing  series  of  northern  Wisconsin  and  Michigan,  by  Roland  D. 
Irving  and  C.  R.  Van  Hise.     1892.     4^.     xix,  534  pp.,  37  pis.     Price,  $1.70. 

XX.  Geology  of  the  Enreka  district,  Nevada,  with  an  atlas,  by  Arnold  Hague.  1892.  4^'.  xvii, 
419  pp.,  8  pis.     Price,  $5.25. 

XXI.  The  Tertiary  rhynchophorous  Coleoptera  of  the  United  States,  by  Samuel  Hubbard 
Scudder.     1893.     4-^.     xi,  206  pp.,  12  pis.     Price,  90  cents. 


II  MONOGRAPHS. 

XXII.  A  manual  of  topographic  methods,  "by  Henry  Gannett,  chief  topographer.  1893.  4*^. 
xiv,  300  pp.,  18  pis.    Price,  $1.00. 

XXIII.  Geology  of  the  Green  Mountains  in  Massachusetts,  by  Raph<ael  Punipelly,  T.  Nelson  Dale, 
and  .J.  E.  Wolff.     1894.     4°.     xiv,  206  pp.,  23  pis.     Price,  $1.. SO. 

XXIV.  Mollusca  and  Crustacea  of  the  Miocene  formations  of  New  Jersey,  by  Robert  Parr 
Whitfield.     1894.     4°.     193  pp.,  24  pis.     Price,  90  cents. 

XXV.  The  Glacial  Lake  Agassiz,  by  Warren  Upham.    1895.   4".  xxiv,  6.58  pp.,  38  pis.    Price,  $1.70. 

XXVI.  Flora  of  the  Amboy  clays,  by  John  Strong  Newberry;  a  p  sthumons  work,  edited  by 
Arthur  Hollick.     1895.     4'=.     260  pp.,  58  pis.     Price,  $1.00. 

XXVII.  Geology  of  the  Denver  Basin  in  Colorado,  by  Samuel  Franklin  Emmons,  Wliitnian  (.'mss, 
and  George  Romans  Eldridge.     1896.     4^'.     556  pp.,  31  pis.     Price,  $1.50. 

XXVIII.  The  Marquette  iron-bearing  district  of  Michigan,  with  atlas,  by  C.  R.  Van  Hise  and 
W.  S.  Bayley,  including  a  chapter  on  the  Republic  trongh,  by  H.  L.  Smyth.  1895.  4°.  608  pp.,  35 
pis.,  and  atlas  of  39  sheets  folio.     Price,  $5.75. 

XXIX.  Geology  of  Old  Hampshire  County,  Massachusetts,  comprising  Franklin,  Haui])sliire,  and 
Hampden  counties,  by  Benjamin  Kendall  Emerson.     1898.     4^.     xxi,  790  pp.,  35  pl.s.     Price,  $1.90. 

XXX.  Fossil  medusiK,  by  Charles  Doolittle  Walcott.     1898.     4^.     ix,  201  pp.,  47  pis.     Price,  $1.50. 

XXXI.  Geology  of  the  Aspen  mining  district,  Colorado,  with  atlas,  by  .Tosiah  Edward  Spurr. 
1898.     i°.     XXXV,  260  pp.,  43  pis.,  and  atlas  of  30  sheets  folio.     Price,  $3.60. 

XXXII.  Geolugy  of  the  Yellowstone  National  Park,  Part  II,  Descriptive  geology,  petrography, 
and  paleontology,  by  Arnold  Hague,  J.  P.  Iddings,  W.  Harvey  Weed,  Charles  D.  Walcott,  6.  H.  Glrty, 
T.  W.  Stanton,  and  F.  H.  Knowlton.     1899.     4'-\     xvii,  893  pp..  121  pis.     Price,  $2.45. 

XXXIII.  Geology  of  the  Narragansett  Basin,  by  N.  S.  Shaler,  J.  B.Woodworth,  and  August  F. 
Foerste.     1899.     4°.     xx,  402  pp.,  31  pis.     Price,  $1.00. 

XXXIV.  The  .';lacial  gravels  of  Maine  and  their  associated  deposits,  by  George  H.  Stone.  1899. 
4".     xiii,  499pp.,52pl8.     Price,  $1.30. 

XXXV.  The  later  extinct  floras  of  North  America,  by  John  Strong  Newberry;  edited  by 
Arthur  Hollick.     1898.    V.     xviii,  295  pp.,  68  pis.     Price,  $1.25. 

XXXVI.  The  Crystal  Falls  iron-bearing  district  of  Michigan,  by  J.  Morgan  Clements  and 
Henry  Lloyd  Smyth ;  with  a  chaiitev  on  the  Sturgeon  River  tongue,  by  William  Shirley  Bayley,  and  an 
introduction  by  Charles  Richard  Van  Hise.    1899.     4^.     xxxvi,  512  pp.,  53  pis.     Price,  $2.00. 

XXXVII.  Fossil  flora  of  the  Lower  Coal  Measures  of  Missouri,  by  David  White.  1899.  4°. 
xi,  467  pp.,  73  pis.     Price,  $1.25. 

XXXVIII.  The  Illinois  glacial  lobe,  by  Frank  Leverett.  1899.  4°.  xxi,  817  pp.,  24  i)ls. 
Price,  $1.60. 

XXXIX.  The  Eoceue  and  Lower  Oligocene  coral  faunas  of  the  United  States,  with  descriptions 
ofafewdoiibtfully  Cretaceonsspecies,byT.Wayland  Vaughan.    1900.   4".    263  pp.,  24  pis.    Price,$1.10. 

XL.  Ailephagous  and  clavicorn  Coleoptera  from  the  Tertiary  deposits  at  Florissant,  Colo- 
rado, with  descriptions  of  a  few  other  forms  and  a  systematic  list  of  the  nou-rhynchophorous 
Tertiary  Coleoptera  of  North  America,  by  Samuel  Hubbard  Scudder.  1900.  4^.  148  pp.,  11  pis. 
Price,  80  cents 

XLI.  Glacial  formations  and  drainage  features  of  the  Erie  and  Ohio  basins,  by  Frank  Leverett. 
1902.     4-^.     802  pp.,  26  pis.     Price,  $1.75. 
In  preparaHon: 

—  Flora  of  the  Laramie  and  allied  formations,  by  Frank  Hall  Knowlton. 


[  Take  tliis  leaf  out  and  paste  the  separated  titles  upon  three  of  your  cata- 
logue cards.  The  lirst  and  second  titles  need  no  addition ;  over  the  tliiid  write 
that  subject  under  which  you  would  place  the  boolt  in  your  library.] 


LIBRARY  CATALOGUE  SLIPS. 

United  States.     Departvient  of  the  interior.     (  U.  S.  geological  survey.) 
Department  of  the  interior  |  —  |  Monographs  |  of  the  |  United 
States   geological    survej'  |  Volume  XLI  |  [Seal   of  the    depart- 
ment] I 
Washington  |  government  printing  oftice  |  1902 
Second    title:    United    States   geological   survey   |   Charles   D. 
Walcott,  director  |  —  |  Glacial  formations  and  drainage  features  | 
of  the  I  Erie  and  Ohio  basins  |  by  |  Frank  Leverett  |  [Vignette]  | 
Washington  |  government  printing  office  |  1902 

4°.    802  pp.,  26  pis. 


Leverett  (Frank). 

United  States  geological  survey  |  Charles  D.  Walcott,  di- 
rector I  —  I  Glacial  formations  and  drainage  features  |  of  the  | 
Erie  and  Ohio  basins  |  by  |  Frank  Leverett  |  [Vignette]  | 

Washington  |  government  printing  office  |  1902 

4°.    802  pp.,  26  pis. 

[United  States.  Department  of  the  interior.  ( U.  S.  yeological  s^irvey.) 
Monograph  5LI.] 


United  States  geological  survey  |  Charles  D.  Walcott,  di- 
rector I  —  I  Glacial  formations  and  drainage  features  |  of  the  | 
Erie  and  Ohio  basins  |  by  |  Frank  Leverett  |  [Vignette]  | 

Washington  |  government  printing  office  |  1902 

4°.    802  pp.,  26  pis. 

[United  States.  Department  of  the  interior.  (U.  A',  geological  survey.) 
Monograph  XLI.] 


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